Historical Events on November 2

  • 1868: A national standard time is officially adopted by New Zealand.
  • 1889: North Dakota becomes the 39th United States’ State. Its motto will become: “Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable.”
  • 1889: South Dakota becomes the 40th United States’ State. Its motto will become: “Under God the people rule.”
  • 1912: The Ottoman Empire is defeated by Bulgaria at the Battle of Lule Burgas during the First Balkan War.
  • 1914: Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
  • 1936: The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. is founded.
  • 1940: The Battle of Elaia-Kalamas begins between the Italians and the Greeks during World War II.
  • 1947: Howard Hughes takes the Spruce Goose – otherwise known as a H-4 Hercules – on its maiden flight. It is also the only flight of this large fixed-wing aircraft.
  • 1983: The bill creating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is signed by then United States President Ronald Reagan.
  • 1984: The first woman to be executed in the U.S since 1962 is Velma Barfield who was executed at Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina.
  • 1988: The first computer worm to be distributed via the Internet and receive mainstream media attention is launched from MIT on this day. It’s called the Morris Worm.

Famous Birthdays on November 2

  • American explorer and frontiersman Daniel Boone is born in 1734.
  • Austrian-French Queen of Louis VVI of France, Marie Antoinette is born in 1755.
  • American lawyer, politician and 11th President of the United States, James K. Polk is born in 1795.
  • French illustrator and painter Emile Bayard is born in 1837.
  • French author and philosopher Georges Sorel is born in 1847.
  • American journalist and 29th President of the United States, Warren G. Harding is born in 1865.
  • American actor Burt Lancaster is born in 1913.
  • American actor Ray Walston is born in 1914.
  • American actress Ann Rutherford is born in 1917.
  • American actor Warren Stevens is born in 1919.