History Events on November 26

The 7.5 Mw? Ambrym earthquake shakes Vanuatu and a destructive tsunami follows. Ten people were killed and forty were injured.

#1999_Ambrym_earthquake

The Battle of Berezina begins during Napoleon's retreat from Russia.

#Battle_of_Berezina

Battle of Papudo: A Spanish navy schooner is defeated by a Chilean corvette north of Valparaíso, Chile.

#Battle_of_Papudo

Official opening of Thomas Telford's Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.

#Thomas_Telford

Battle of Caishi: A Song dynasty fleet fights a naval engagement with Jin dynasty ships on the Yangtze river during the Jin-Song Wars.

#Battle_of_Caishi

In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui.

#Hawaiian_Islands

World War II: Yugoslav Partisans convene the first meeting of the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia at Biha? in northwestern Bosnia.

#Yugoslav_Partisans

The last Po?ouli (Black-faced honeycreeper) dies of avian malaria in the Maui Bird Conservation Center in Olinda, Hawaii, before it could breed, making the species in all probability extinct.

#Po?ouli

United States President Abraham Lincoln proclaims November 26 as a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated annually on the final Thursday of November. Following the Franksgiving controversy from 1939 to 1941, it has been observed on the fourth Thursday in 1942 and subsequent years.

#Abraham_Lincoln

World War II: Germany begins V-1 and V-2 attacks on Antwerp, Belgium.

#Nazi_Germany

The trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of committing war crimes as a guard at the Nazi Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem.

#John_Demjanjuk

World War II: HMT Rohna is sunk by the Luftwaffe in an air attack in the Mediterranean north of Béjaïa, Algeria.

#HMT_Rohna

The Toll of the Sea debuts as the first general release film to use two-tone Technicolor. (The Gulf Between was the first film to do so, but it was not widely distributed.)

#The_Toll_of_the_Sea

Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Oireachtas, the parliament of the Republic of Ireland.

#Tony_Blair

Mumbai attacks by Lashkar-e-Taiba.

#2008_Mumbai_attacks

George W. Bush is certified the winner of Florida's electoral votes by Katherine Harris, going on to win the United States presidential election, despite losing in the national popular vote.

#George_W._Bush

The Concorde makes its final flight, over Bristol, England.

#Concorde

Casablanca, the movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, premieres in New York City.

#Casablanca_(film)

The Delta II rocket makes its maiden flight.

#Delta_II

The Manchester Guardian publishes the 1916 secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between the United Kingdom and France.

#The_Guardian

World War II: A German V-2 rocket hits a Woolworth's shop in London, United Kingdom, killing 168 people.

#Nazi_Germany

The University of Notre Dame is founded.

#University_of_Notre_Dame

Shelling of Mainila: The Soviet Army orchestrates an incident which is used to justify the start of the Winter War with Finland four days later.

#Shelling_of_Mainila

The Asturian queen Adosinda is held at a monastery to prevent her kin from retaking the throne from Mauregatus.

#Kingdom_of_Asturias

In Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, 1.5 inches (38.1 mm) of rain fall in a minute, the heaviest rainfall ever recorded.

#Basse-Terre

Vietnam War: United States Air Force helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire. He is later awarded the Medal of Honor.

#Vietnam_War

Korean War: Troops from the People's Republic of China launch a massive counterattack in North Korea against South Korean and United Nations forces (Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River and Battle of Chosin Reservoir), ending any hopes of a quick end to the conflict.

#Korean_War

At the Hammaguir launch facility in the Algerian Sahara, France launches a Diamant-A rocket with its first satellite, Asterix-1, on board.

#Hammaguir

World War II: The Kido Butai (Japanese Combined Fleet) leaves the Kuril Islands to strike Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

#Kuril_Islands

The Constituent Assembly of India adopts the constitution presented by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.

#Constituent_Assembly_of_India

Vlad the Impaler defeats Basarab Laiota with the help of Stephen the Great and Stephen V Báthory and becomes the ruler of Wallachia for the third time.

#Vlad_the_Impaler

A national Thanksgiving Day is observed in the United States as proclaimed by President George Washington at the request of Congress.

#Thanksgiving_(United_States)

At Union College in Schenectady, New York, a group of college students form the Kappa Alpha Society, the first college social fraternity.

#Union_College

Iran-Contra affair: U.S. President Ronald Reagan announces the members of what will become known as the Tower Commission.

#Iran-Contra_affair

Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in over 3000 years.

#Howard_Carter

The Mars Science Laboratory launches to Mars with the Curiosity Rover.

#Mars_Science_Laboratory

NATO attack in Pakistan: NATO forces in Afghanistan attack a Pakistani check post in a friendly fire incident, killing 24 soldiers and wounding 13 others.

Ruzhou School massacre: A man stabs and kills eight people and seriously wounds another four in a school dormitory in Ruzhou, China.

The Khanna rail disaster takes 212 lives in Khanna, Ludhiana, India.

National Assembly of Azerbaijan abolishes the autonomous status of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Azerbaijan and renames several cities back to their original names.

Brink's-Mat robbery: In London, 6,800 gold bars worth nearly £26 million are stolen from the Brink's-Mat vault at Heathrow Airport.

An unidentified hijacker named Vrillon, claiming to be the representative of the "Ashtar Galactic Command", takes over Britain's Southern Television for six minutes, starting at 5:12 pm.

"Anarchy in the U.K.", the debut single of the Sex Pistols, is released, heralding the arrival of punk rock

The Montenegran Podgorica Assembly votes for a "union of the people", declaring assimilation into the Kingdom of Serbia.

The National Hockey League is formed, with the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, and Toronto Arenas as its first teams.