Historical Events on November 14

  • 1851: Herman Melville publishes his novel Moby-Dick in the United States on this day.
  • 1862: During the American Civil War, General Ambrose Burnside’s plans to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia was approved by U.S President Abraham Lincoln. This would set the stage for the Battle of Fredericksburg.
  • 1914: The Ottoman Empire issues a declaration of war against France, Russia, Britain, Serbia and Montenegro.
  • 1918: Czechoslovakia officially becomes a republic.
  • 1940: Coventry, England is heavily bombarded by German Luftwaffe bombers during WWII. Many buildings are almost completely destroyed – including Coventry Cathedral.
  • 1941: The Royal Navy aircraft carrier, the HMS Ark Royal, finally sinks after receiving extensive torpedo damage from the German sub U-81 on the previous day.
  • 1941: German forces murder nine thousand Jews in a single day during Operation Barbarossa in Slonim.
  • 1960: On this day, Ruby Bridges becomes the first African-American child to attend an all white elementary school in the U.S state of Louisiana.
  • 1969: The second crewed mission to the Moon, Apollo 12, is launched by NASA on this day.
  • 1995: The U.S government has to temporarily close museums and national parks, as well as run government offices with only a minimum of staff members due to a budget standoff between Democrats and Republicans in the United States Congress.
  • 2008: The 1st G-20 Economic Summit begins in Washington, D.C.

Famous Birthdays on November 14

  • American engineer and inventor of the steamboat, Robert Fulton is born in 1765.
  • French anatomist and physiologist Marie François Xavier Bichat is born in 1771.
  • French painter Claude Monet is born in 1840.
  • Swiss author Jakob Schaffner is born in 1875.
  • Canadian physician and Nobel Prize laureate, Frederick Banting is born in 1891.
  • Charles Prince of Wales is born in 1948.
  • Italian painter Enzo Cucchi is born in 1949.
  • Japanese actor Ryp Hayami is born in 1949.