119 things happened on 2 November, from AD 971 to 2024. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1815 · 211 years ago
The English mathematician and philosopher George Boole was born. Logic is the study of how we reason, and for centuries it had been treated as a question of language. Boole changed that by turning logic into a kind of algebra, using equations and binary value…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
During the Second Boer War, Boer forces surrounded the British-held town of Ladysmith in Natal, South Africa. A siege is when an army surrounds a place to cut it off. The Boers were descendants of early settlers in southern Africa, and their name comes from the Dutch word for ‘farmer’. The siege lasted 118 days, until 28 February 1900.
UK story
During the First World War, the British government announced its support for a ‘national home for the Jewish people’ in Palestine. The statement was written as a letter from the Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, to Lord Rothschild, a leader of Britain's Jewish community. At the time, Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire, and most of the people living there were Arabs.
UK story
The BBC Television Service began its regular programmes. It was the world's first regular ‘high-definition’ TV service. In those days, high-definition meant a picture made from at least 200 lines. The channel was renamed BBC1 in 1964, and as BBC One it is still the BBC's oldest channel.
UK story
The first stretch of the M1 opened to traffic, along with two shorter motorways, the M10 and the M45. It was the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, meaning a motorway built to link cities. Britain's very first motorway was actually the Preston Bypass, which later became part of the M6. The finished M1 connects London with Leeds.
UK story
Channel 4 started broadcasting as Britain's fourth television channel. Until then, viewers could only choose between BBC1, BBC2 and ITV. Channel 4 is owned by the public, but unlike the BBC it receives no public money. Instead, it pays its way through things like advertising.
UK story
British racing driver Lewis Hamilton won the Formula One World Championship in dramatic style. In the final corners of the Brazilian Grand Prix, he overtook the German driver Timo Glock. That move gave him the title by a single point. Hamilton went on to win seven world titles, a joint record he shares with Michael Schumacher.
UK story
Plymouth Colony governor Josiah Winslow leads a colonial militia against the Narragansett during King Philip's War.
UK story
Four British naval vessels run aground on the Isles of Scilly because of faulty navigation. In response, the first Longitude Act is enacted in 1714.
UK story
Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the trial R v Penguin Books Ltd, the Lady Chatterley's Lover case.
UK story
British Satellite Broadcasting and Sky Television plc merge to form BSkyB as a result of massive losses.
New Zealand officially chose a standard time to be used right across the country. An area where everyone keeps the same official time is called a time zone. Time zones usually follow the borders of countries rather than exact lines on a map, because it is handy for places that work together to share the same clock time. The main islands of New Zealand keep a standard time that is 12 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
US President Ronald Reagan signed a law creating a national holiday in honour of Martin Luther King Jr. King was the chief spokesperson of the civil rights movement. It used peaceful protest to challenge laws that treated people unfairly because of their race. The holiday is held on the third Monday of January each year.
American astronaut William Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko arrived at the International Space Station. Known as Expedition 1, they were the station's first resident crew, and they stayed on board for 136 days. Their arrival began an unbroken run of people living on the station that was still going in 2026.
The Peace of Bicêtre suspends hostilities in the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War.
The French Directory, a five-man revolutionary government, is created.
James A. Garfield was elected as president of the United States; the election is the closest to date by popular vote margin.
The great fire destroys a large part of Oulu's city center in Oulu Province, Finland.
North Dakota and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states.
World War I: The Russian Empire declares war on the Ottoman Empire and the Dardanelles is subsequently closed.
In the United States, KDKA of Pittsburgh starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast is the result of the 1920 United States presidential election.
The Australian military began a "war against emus", flightless native birds blamed for widespread damage to crops in Western Australia.
World War II: First day of Battle of Elaia–Kalamas between the Greeks and the Italians.
World War II: A U.S. Navy task force turned away an Imperial Japanese Navy formation at the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, thus protecting the landings at Cape Torokina.
In California, designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden (and only) flight of the Hughes H-4 Hercules (also known as the "Spruce Goose"), the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built until Scaled Composites rolled out their Stratolaunch in May 2017.
The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference ended with the Netherlands agreeing to transfer sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies to the United States of Indonesia.
Canada in the Korean War: A platoon of The Royal Canadian Regiment defends a vital area against a full battalion of Chinese troops in the Battle of the Song-gok Spur. The engagement lasts into the early hours the next day.
Hungarian Revolution: Nikita Khrushchev meets with leaders of other Communist countries to seek their advice on the situation in Hungary, selecting János Kádár as the country's next leader on the advice of Josip Broz Tito.
A large number of people witnessed a fiery object in the sky near Levelland, Texas, which the United States Air Force said was ball lightning.
King Saud of Saudi Arabia is deposed by a family coup, and replaced by his half-brother Faisal.
Norman Morrison, a 31-year-old Quaker, sets himself on fire in front of the river entrance to the Pentagon to protest the use of napalm in the Vietnam war.
The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the United States.
Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson and "The Wise Men" conclude that the American people should be given more optimistic reports on the progress of the war.
The Morris worm, the first Internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, is launched from MIT.
The Chicago Cubs defeat the Cleveland Indians in the World Series, ending the longest Major League Baseball championship drought at 108 years.
A peace agreement is signed between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front, ending the Tigray War.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “Lewis Hamilton wins the Formula One title by just one point”?
A: 2008. 2008 — that’s 18 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “Britain issues the Balfour Declaration about Palestine”?
C: 1917. 1917 — that’s 109 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
C: The Siege of Ladysmith begins in South Africa. 2008: Lewis Hamilton wins the Formula One title by just one point · 1917: Britain issues the Balfour Declaration about Palestine · 1899: The Siege of Ladysmith begins in South Africa Find it on the page
“The Siege of Ladysmith begins in South Africa” happened in 1899. How many years ago was that?
A: 127 years. 2026 − 1899 = 127. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 2 November.
UK story
The English mathematician and philosopher George Boole was born. Logic is the study of how we reason, and for centuries it had been treated as a question of language. Boole changed that by turning logic into a kind of algebra, using equations and binary values, which have just two possible states, such as true or false. He is often credited with revolutionising logic.
UK story
Edward V, who would briefly be King of England, was born. He became king in April 1483 when his father, Edward IV, died, but he was never crowned. Just 11 weeks later, his uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, removed him from the throne and became King Richard III. Edward was only 12 years old at the time.
Well-known people who died on 2 November.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 2 November somewhere in the world.
All Souls' Day is a Christian day of prayer and remembrance for people who have died. In Western churches it comes straight after Halloween (All Hallows' Eve) and All Saints' Day, making the third day of a short season called Allhallowtide. The date of 2 November was fixed by St Odilo of Cluny in the 10th century.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “November 2” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.