Events on 21 November 55
See all →Year 235
Pope Anterus succeeds Pontian as the nineteenth pope. During the persecutions of emperor Maximinus Thrax he is martyred.
Year 1386
Timur of Samarkand captures and sacks the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, taking King Bagrat V of Georgia captive.
Year 1676
The Danish astronomer Ole Rømer presents the first quantitative measurements of the speed of light.
Year 1783
In Paris, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes, make the first untethered hot air balloon flight.
Year 1789
North Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution and is admitted as the 12th U.S. state.
Year 1861
American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints Judah Benjamin Secretary of War.
Year 1877
Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record and play sound.
Public Holidays Around The World On This Day 1
Birthdays on 21 November 171
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John Bale
b. 1495 – d. 1563
John Bale, English bishop and historian (d. 1563)
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Anne de Xainctonge
b. 1567 – d. 1621
Anne de Xainctonge, French saint, founded the Society of the Sisters of Saint Ursula of the Blessed Virgin (d. 1621)
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Catharina Questiers
b. 1631 – d. 1669
Catharina Questiers, Dutch poet (d. 1669)
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Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni
b. 1692 – d. 1768
Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni, Italian poet and academic (b. 1692)
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Voltaire
b. 1694 – d. 1778
Voltaire, French historian, playwright, and philosopher (d. 1778)
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Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg
b. 1718 – d. 1795
Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg, German composer, critic, and theorist (d. 1795)
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Josiah Bartlett
b. 1729 – d. 1795
Josiah Bartlett, American physician and politician, 6th Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1795)
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José Antonio Alzate y Ramírez
b. 1737 – d. 1799
José Antonio Alzate y Ramírez, Spanish-Mexican scientist and cartographer (d. 1799)
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Joseph Plumb Martin
b. 1760 – d. 1850
Joseph Plumb Martin, American sergeant (d. 1850)
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Friedrich Schleiermacher
b. 1768 – d. 1834
Friedrich Schleiermacher, German theologian, philosopher, and scholar (d. 1834)
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William Beaumont
b. 1785 – d. 1853
William Beaumont, American surgeon, "Father of Gastric Physiology" (d. 1853)
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Samuel Cunard
b. 1787 – d. 1865
Samuel Cunard, Canadian businessman, founded the Cunard Line (d. 1865)
Deaths on 21 November 102
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Columbanus
d. 615 (b. 543)
Columbanus, Irish missionary and saint (b. 543)
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Al-Tahawi
d. 933 (b. 853)
Al-Tahawi, Arab imam and scholar (b. 853)
Emperor Reizei
d. 1011 (b. 950)
Reizei, emperor of Japan (b. 950)
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William de Corbeil
d. 1136 (b. 1070)
William de Corbeil, English archbishop (b. 1070)
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García Ramírez of Navarre
d. 1150 (b. 1112)
García Ramírez of Navarre (b. 1112)
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Yury of Moscow
d. 1325
Yury of Moscow, Prince of Moscow and Vladimir
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Philip I, Duke of Burgundy
d. 1361 (b. 1346)
Philip I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1346)
Georgius Agricola
d. 1555 (b. 1494)
Georgius Agricola, German mineralogist, philologist, and scholar (b. 1490)
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Annibale Caro
d. 1566 (b. 1507)
Annibale Caro, Italian poet and author (b. 1507)
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Thomas Gresham
d. 1579 (b. 1519)
Thomas Gresham, English merchant and financier (b. 1519)
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Henry Grey, 8th Earl of Kent
d. 1639 (b. 1583)
Henry Grey, 8th Earl of Kent, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire (b. 1583)
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Jan Brożek
d. 1652 (b. 1585)
Jan Brożek, Polish mathematician, physician, and astronomer (b. 1585)