109 things happened on 22 November, from AD 365 to 2013. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1819 · 207 years ago
George Eliot was the pen name of Mary Ann Evans, one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. A pen name is a made-up name that an author writes under. She wrote seven novels, including The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner and Middlemarch. Her stories are …
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, laid the foundation stone of the Birmingham and Midland Institute in Birmingham. A foundation stone is one of the first stones laid when a new building is started. The institute had been founded in 1854 to help adults learn about science and technology. It still offers lectures, exhibitions and concerts.
UK story
The tea clipper Cutty Sark was launched at Dumbarton, on the River Leven in Scotland. Clippers were sailing ships designed for speed, and Cutty Sark was one of the fastest. She was named after a speedy witch in Robert Burns's poem Tam o' Shanter. Since 1954 she has been on display in a dry dock at Greenwich, London.
UK story
During the Second World War, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and China's leader Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo, Egypt. At the Cairo Conference they discussed how to defeat Japan. They also made decisions about what would happen in Asia after the war. It was one of fourteen summit meetings held during the war.
UK story
The Beatles released a double album called simply The Beatles. It became known as the White Album because its cover was plain white, with only the band's name in raised letters. It has 30 songs, and 19 of them were written while the band was in Rishikesh, India. The album topped the charts in Britain and the United States, and is often called one of the greatest albums of all time.
UK story
Margaret Thatcher pulled out of the contest to stay as leader of the Conservative Party, which meant she would stop being Prime Minister. She had been Prime Minister since 1979. Thatcher was the first woman to hold the job and the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century. She was nicknamed the 'Iron Lady', and was followed as Prime Minister by John Major.
UK story
Canadian journalist and politician William Lyon Mackenzie calls for a rebellion against the United Kingdom in his essay "To the People of Upper Canada", published in his newspaper The Constitution.
Spanish explorer Juan Fernández discovered a group of volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean, about 670 kilometres off the coast of Chile. They are now called the Juan Fernández Islands. From 1704, a sailor called Alexander Selkirk was marooned, or left stranded, there for more than four years. His story may have inspired Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe, and one of the islands is now named Robinson Crusoe Island.
A Pan American Airways flying boat called the China Clipper set off from Alameda, California, for Manila. Its journey began the first commercial airmail service across the Pacific Ocean. A flying boat is an aeroplane that can take off from and land on water. With four engines, the China Clipper was one of the largest aeroplanes of its time.
Toy Story was released in cinemas in the United States. Made by Pixar, it was the first feature film made entirely with computer animation. It follows Woody, an old-fashioned cowboy doll, who becomes jealous when a space toy called Buzz Lightyear arrives. The film set a record for the biggest opening weekend and led to four sequels.
Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen beat India's Viswanathan Anand to become World Chess Champion. The match was held in Chennai, India, and Carlsen won after ten of the twelve planned games. He was the first champion to have developed his game in the age of super-strong chess computers. Carlsen went on to win the world title five times.
The first duke of Brittany, Nominoe, defeats the Frankish king Charles the Bald at the Battle of Ballon near Redon.
The Castle of Termes falls to Simon de Montfort after a four-month siege during the Albigensian Crusade.
Frederick II is crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Rome by Pope Honorius III.
Dutch colonial forces on Formosa launched a three-month pacification campaign against Taiwanese indigenous peoples.
The Geisel School of Medicine, the fourth oldest medical school in the United States, was founded by the physician Nathan Smith.
The Congress of Manastir establishes the Albanian alphabet.
World War II: Following the initial Italian invasion, Greek troops counterattack into Italian-occupied Albania and capture Korytsa.
Lebanon gains independence from France, nearly two years after it was first announced by the Free French government.
The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 242 in the aftermath of the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.
The serpent labret with articulated tongue (pictured articulating between positions), "perhaps the finest Aztec gold ornament to survive the crucibles of the sixteenth century", was sold at Sotheby's.
Mike Tyson defeated Trevor Berbick to win the World Boxing Council title, becoming the youngest heavyweight champion in history.
NASA launches Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-33, a classified mission for the United States Department of Defense.
Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident: Shortly after takeoff, a DHL Express cargo plane is struck on the left wing by a surface-to-air missile and forced to land.
The Orange Revolution begins in Ukraine, resulting from the presidential elections.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “The Beatles release the White Album”?
A: 1968. 1968 — that’s 58 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “Margaret Thatcher's time as Prime Minister comes to an end”?
C: 1990. 1990 — that’s 36 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
A: Prince Albert lays the first stone of the Midland Institute. 1855: Prince Albert lays the first stone of the Midland Institute · 1990: Margaret Thatcher's time as Prime Minister comes to an end · 1968: The Beatles release the White Album Find it on the page
“George Eliot” happened in 1819. How many years ago was that?
A: 207 years. 2026 − 1819 = 207. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 22 November.
UK story
George Eliot was the pen name of Mary Ann Evans, one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. A pen name is a made-up name that an author writes under. She wrote seven novels, including The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner and Middlemarch. Her stories are known for their realistic characters and detailed descriptions of the countryside.
UK story
Benjamin Britten was an English composer, conductor and pianist, and a central figure in 20th-century British music. He wrote operas, songs and music for orchestras. His best-known works include the opera Peter Grimes and the War Requiem. He also wrote The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, an orchestral showpiece first heard in 1945.
Well-known people who died on 22 November.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 22 November somewhere in the world.
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 22” 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.