138 things happened on 10 November, from AD 461 to 2020. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1871 · 155 years ago
Welsh-American journalist Henry Morton Stanley found the Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone at Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika in what is now Tanzania. Livingstone had gone missing in Africa, and Stanley's search was paid for by the New York Heral…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
Following the Treaty of Westminster, which ended the Third Anglo-Dutch War, the Dutch Republic handed the colony of New Netherland to England. The colony lay on the east coast of North America. Its settlements grew into parts of what are now the US states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Connecticut. England had first captured the colony in 1664, but the Dutch had taken it back in 1673.
UK story
Welsh-American journalist Henry Morton Stanley found the Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone at Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika in what is now Tanzania. Livingstone had gone missing in Africa, and Stanley's search was paid for by the New York Herald newspaper. Stanley later said he greeted him with the words 'Dr Livingstone, I presume?' However, historians think he may have made up the famous line afterwards.
UK story
The British government announced that the last land mine had been removed from the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic. About 30,000 mines had been laid there by Argentine forces in 1982. For years the minefields were fenced off, and with people kept out, they became safe places for plants and penguins. Because of the weather and ground conditions, the mines had to be cleared by hand.
UK story
English colonists under the command of James Moore besiege Spanish St. Augustine during Queen Anne's War.
UK story
The last colonial governor of New Jersey, William Franklin, signs the charter of Queen's College (later renamed Rutgers University).
New York jeweller Harry Winston gave the famous Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Amazingly, he sent it by registered post, in a box wrapped in brown paper. The deep-blue diamond weighs 45.52 carats and was dug from a mine in India in the 17th century. It is still on display at the National Museum of Natural History.
The children's television series Sesame Street was first shown in the United States. It mixes live action, cartoons, comedy sketches and Jim Henson's Muppets. It was the first children's TV show to plan its content around what children should learn. It has won more Emmy and Grammy Awards than any other children's show, and by 2009 it was being shown in more than 140 countries.
The Soviet Union launched the Luna 17 spacecraft, carrying a rover called Lunokhod 1, which means 'Moonwalker'. It became the first robotic rover on the Moon, and the first to travel freely across the surface of another world. It was only designed to work for about three months. In fact, it kept going for 321 Earth days and drove 10.54 kilometres.
Bill Gates introduced Windows 1.0, the first major version of Microsoft Windows. Windows is software that controls how a personal computer works and what appears on its screen. Gates had started Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Windows 1.0 finally went on sale two years after it was announced, in November 1985.
NASA declared its Phoenix mission over, after engineers were unable to contact the lander again. Phoenix had landed on Mars in May 2008 to study the history of water there. It was NASA's first landing in the planet's polar region. The lander completed all its planned experiments, but its solar power dropped as the Martian winter arrived.
Ten Kingdoms: Li Bian usurps the throne and deposes Emperor Yang Pu. The Wu State is replaced by Li (now called "Xu Zhigao"), who becomes the first ruler of Southern Tang.
Fourth Crusade: The Siege of Zara, the first attack on a Catholic city by Catholic crusaders, began in present-day Zadar, Croatia.
Raden Wijaya is crowned as the first monarch of Majapahit kingdom of Java, taking the throne name Kertarajasa Jayawardhana.
The United States Marine Corps is founded at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia by Samuel Nicholas.
A Goddess of Reason is proclaimed by the French Convention at the suggestion of Pierre Gaspard Chaumette.
Cry of Independence by Rufina Alfaro at La Villa de Los Santos, Panama setting into motion a revolt which led to Panama's independence from Spain and to it immediately becoming part of Colombia.
The date of Thomas A. Davis' opening of the San Diego Army and Navy Academy, although the official founding date is November 23, 1910.
The Western Union Cable Office in North Sydney, Nova Scotia, receives a top-secret coded message from Europe (that would be sent to Ottawa and Washington, D.C.) that said on November 11, 1918, all fighting would cease on land, sea and in the air.
Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas led a coup against his own constitutional government, establishing the dictatorial Estado Novo regime.
Finnish author F. E. Sillanpää is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
An earthquake registering 7.7 Mw struck the Vrancea region of Romania.
World War II: Germany invades Vichy France following French Admiral François Darlan's agreement to an armistice with the Allies in North Africa.
With the rollout of the North American Numbering Plan, direct-dial coast-to-coast telephone service begins in the United States.
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicates the USMC War Memorial (Iwo Jima memorial) in Arlington Ridge Park in Arlington County, Virginia.
The Nauru Independence Act 1967 passed the Parliament of Australia, giving independence to the UN Trust Territory of Nauru with effect from 31 January 1968.
In Angola, the MPLA decisively defeated the FNLA in the Battle of Quifangondo, while Portugal simultaneously withdrew all its colonial and military personnel from Luanda.
Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the United Nations General Assembly passes Resolution 3379, determining that Zionism is a form of racism.
Treaty of Osimo between Yugoslavia and Italy
Longtime Bulgarian leader Todor Zhivkov is removed from office and replaced by Petar Mladenov.
Germans begin to tear down the Berlin Wall.
WorldCom and MCI Communications announce a $37 billion merger (the largest merger in US history at the time).
World Anti-Doping Agency is formed in Lausanne.
Veteran's Day Weekend Tornado Outbreak: A tornado outbreak stretching from Northern Ohio to the Gulf Coast, one of the largest outbreaks recorded in November.
The National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia is opened and dedicated by U.S. President George W. Bush, who announces that Marine Corporal Jason Dunham will posthumously receive the Medal of Honor.
At the Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, Chile, King Juan Carlos I of Spain asked Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez "Why don't you shut up?" after Chávez repeatedly interrupted a speech by Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
A skirmish occurred between South Korean and North Korean naval ships off Daecheong Island in the Yellow Sea.
President of Bolivia Evo Morales and several of his government resign after 19 days of civil protests and a recommendation from the military.
Armenia and Azerbaijan sign a ceasefire agreement, ending the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, and prompting protests in Armenia.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “Henry Morton Stanley finds the explorer David Livingstone”?
B: 1871. 1871 — that’s 155 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “The last land mine is cleared from the Falkland Islands”?
B: 2020. 2020 — that’s 6 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
B: The Dutch hand the colony of New Netherland to England. 2020: The last land mine is cleared from the Falkland Islands · 1674: The Dutch hand the colony of New Netherland to England · 1871: Henry Morton Stanley finds the explorer David Livingstone Find it on the page
“The Dutch hand the colony of New Netherland to England” happened in 1674. How many years ago was that?
B: 352 years. 2026 − 1674 = 352. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 10 November.
UK story
William Hogarth, the most important English artist of his generation, was born in the City of London. He was a painter, engraver and cartoonist. Besides portraits, he made series of pictures that told stories, a bit like comic strips. His work used humour to poke fun at the faults of the society around him, and printed copies of his pictures became hugely popular.
Well-known people who died on 10 November.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 10 November somewhere in the world.
World Science Day for Peace and Development is one of the special days marked by UNESCO, the United Nations organisation for education, science and culture. UNESCO was founded in 1945 to help countries build peace by working together. The day highlights the part that science can play in peace and in helping countries develop.
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 10” 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.