90 things happened on 6 November, from AD 447 to 2025. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1217 · 809 years ago
The young King Henry III issued the Charter of the Forest. It gave free men back their right to use the royal forests, a right that had been worn away by William the Conqueror and the kings after him. Because Henry was still a boy, the charter was sealed whil…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
The young King Henry III issued the Charter of the Forest. It gave free men back their right to use the royal forests, a right that had been worn away by William the Conqueror and the kings after him. Because Henry was still a boy, the charter was sealed while William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, ruled for him as regent. Many of its rules stayed in force for centuries.
UK story
Two Royal Navy warships, HMS Alexander and HMS Canada, were sailing home through the Celtic Sea when a large French squadron intercepted them. There had been no warning, because the British ships meant to watch the French port of Brest were away at Plymouth. In the fighting that followed, the French captured HMS Alexander. It happened during the French Revolutionary Wars between France and Britain and its allies.
UK story
Mary Ann Evans sent off the first story of what became Scenes of Clerical Life, her first published work of fiction. It was also the first work she released under her famous pen name, George Eliot. A pen name is a made-up name that an author writes under. She went on to write seven novels, including Silas Marner and Middlemarch, and became one of the leading writers of the Victorian era.
A powerful earthquake destroyed large parts of the walls of Constantinople, including 57 of their towers. These stone walls had protected the city, now called Istanbul in Turkey, since Constantine the Great made it the new capital of the Roman Empire. They were repaired and added to many times, and they became the last great fortification system of the ancient world.
Abraham Lincoln won the US presidential election, becoming the 16th president of the United States. In a race between four candidates, he won with only about 40% of the votes cast by the public. Lincoln went on to lead the country through the American Civil War, and he played a major role in ending slavery.
Red Cloud, a leader of the Oglala Lakota people, signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie. It ended Red Cloud's War against the United States Army and set up the Great Sioux Reservation, an area of land kept for his people. The Lakota had won the war, which made them the only nation to defeat the United States on American soil.
In New Brunswick, New Jersey, Rutgers College beat the College of New Jersey 6–4. It was the first official American football game played between two colleges. The College of New Jersey later became Princeton University, one of the oldest universities in the United States.
During the First World War, Canadian forces captured the village of Passchendaele in Belgium from the Germans. It came after three months of fighting in the Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres. The Allies were fighting for control of the ridges near the Belgian city of Ypres, and Passchendaele stood on the last of these ridges.
Synod of Rome: Emperor Otto I calls a council at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Pope John XII is deposed on charges of an armed rebellion against Otto.
Battle of Jemappes in the French Revolutionary Wars.
American Civil War: A Union brigade defeated a Confederate force at the Battle of Droop Mountain in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
President William McKinley is re-elected, along with his vice-presidential running mate, Governor Theodore Roosevelt of New York.
Spanish Civil War: The republican government flees from Madrid to Valencia, leading to the formation of the Madrid Defense Council in its stead.
World War II: The 1st Ukrainian Front liberates Kyiv from German occupation.
The B Reactor at the Hanford Site in the U.S. state of Washington began producing plutonium, with the facility later going on to create more for nearly the entire American nuclear arsenal.
Meet the Press, the longest running television program in history, makes its debut on NBC Television.
Uttawar forced sterilisations: Mass vasectomy of nearly 800 men of Uttawar village, Palwal district, Haryana during India's Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi.
Colombian conflict: leftist guerrillas of the 19th of April Movement seize control of the Palace of Justice in Bogotá.
Cleveland Browns relocation controversy: Art Modell announces that he signed a deal that would relocate the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore.
Jiang Lijun is detained by Chinese police for signing the Open Letter to the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay politician to be elected to the United States Senate.
Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces launched a successful military campaign to isolate and eventually capture Raqqa, the Islamic State's capital.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “Henry III issues the Charter of the Forest”?
C: 1217. 1217 — that’s 809 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “French warships capture HMS Alexander in the Celtic Sea”?
B: 1794. 1794 — that’s 232 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
B: Henry III issues the Charter of the Forest. 1856: George Eliot sends off her first story for publication · 1217: Henry III issues the Charter of the Forest · 1794: French warships capture HMS Alexander in the Celtic Sea Find it on the page
“George Eliot sends off her first story for publication” happened in 1856. How many years ago was that?
B: 170 years. 2026 − 1856 = 170. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 6 November.
Suleiman I, known as Suleiman the Magnificent, was born. He became sultan, or ruler, of the Ottoman Empire in 1520 and reigned until 1566, the longest reign of any Ottoman sultan. Under his rule the empire reached a peak of wealth and power, and the number of people it ruled grew to at least 25 million.
Well-known people who died on 6 November.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 6 November somewhere in the world.
UK story
This is the feast day of St Illtud, a 6th-century Welsh saint also known as Illtud the Knight. He founded a monastery and school at Llanilltud Fawr in Glamorgan, Wales. The school is believed to be Britain's earliest centre of learning. At its height it had over a thousand pupils, and it taught many famous saints, including St David.
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 6” 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.