On this day: November 11

Events on November 11

• 1215 The Fourth Council of the Lateran meets, defining the doctrine of transubstantiation, the process by which bread and wine are, by that doctrine, said to transform into the body and blood of Christ. Wikipedia
• 1572 Tycho Brahe observes the supernova SN 1572. Wikipedia
• 1675 Gottfried Leibniz demonstrates integral calculus for the first time to find the area under the graph of y = ƒ(x). Wikipedia
• 1778 American Revolutionary War: British forces and their Iroquois allies attacked a fort and the village of Cherry Valley, New York, killing 14 soldiers and 30 civilians. Wikipedia
• 1805 War of the Third Coalition: French, Austrian and Russian units suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Dürenstein. Wikipedia
• 1813 War of 1812: British–Canadian forces repelled an American attack at the Battle of Crysler's Farm, forcing the United States to give up their attempt to capture Montreal. Wikipedia
• 1880 Australian bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly was hanged in Melbourne, in spite of sympathizers holding rallies for his reprieve. Wikipedia
• 1889 The State of Washington is admitted as the 42nd state of the United States. Wikipedia
• 1918 The armistice between the German Empire and the Allies was signed in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiègne of France. Wikipedia
• 1918 Józef Piłsudski, appointed the commander-in-chief of Polish forces by the Regency Council, was entrusted with the creation of a national government for the newly independent Poland. Wikipedia
• 1918 Emperor Charles I of Austria relinquishes power. Wikipedia
• 1920 In London, the Cenotaph was unveiled and the Unknown Warrior was buried in Westminster Abbey in remembrance of the First World War. Wikipedia
• 1923 Adolf Hitler is arrested in Munich for high treason for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch. Wikipedia
• 1926 The plan for the United States Numbered Highway System was approved by the American Association of State Highway Officials. Wikipedia
• 1934 The Shrine of Remembrance, a memorial to all Australians who have served in war, opened in Melbourne. Wikipedia
• 1940 Second World War: The Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history against the Italians in the Battle of Taranto. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: France's zone libre is occupied by German forces in Case Anton. Wikipedia
• 1960 A coup attempt by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam against President Ngô Đình Diệm was crushed after he falsely promised reform, allowing loyalists to rescue him. Wikipedia
• 1965 Rhodesia, led by Prime Minister Ian Smith, unilaterally declared independence from the United Kingdom. Wikipedia
• 1966 NASA launches Gemini 12. Wikipedia
• 1975 During a constitutional crisis, Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam's government and dissolved the Parliament of Australia for a double-dissolution election. Wikipedia
• 1981 Antigua and Barbuda joins the United Nations. Wikipedia
• 1982 Space Shuttle Columbia launches from the Kennedy Space Center on STS-5, the first operational mission of the Space Shuttle program. Wikipedia
• 1999 The House of Lords Act was given royal assent, removing most hereditary peers from the British House of Lords. Wikipedia
• 2004 The Palestine Liberation Organization confirms the death of Yasser Arafat from unidentified causes. Mahmoud Abbas is elected chairman of the PLO minutes later. Wikipedia
• 2008 After 30 years in power, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was succeeded by Mohamed Nasheed as president of the Maldives. Wikipedia

Born on November 11

• 1050 Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1106) Wikipedia
• 1154 Sancho I of Portugal (died 1212) Wikipedia
• 1493 Paracelsus, Swiss-German physician, botanist, astrologer, and occultist (died 1541) Wikipedia
• 1748 Charles IV of Spain (died 1819) Wikipedia
• 1821 Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, and philosopher (died 1881) Wikipedia
• 1863 Paul Signac, French painter and educator (died 1935) Wikipedia
• 1864 Alfred Hermann Fried, Austrian journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1921) Wikipedia
• 1869 Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (died 1947) Wikipedia
• 1882 Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden (died 1973) Wikipedia
• 1885 George S. Patton, American general (died 1945) Wikipedia
• 1888 Abul Kalam Azad, Indian activist, scholar, and politician, Indian Minister of Education (died 1958) Wikipedia
• 1922 Kurt Vonnegut, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (died 2007) Wikipedia
• 1925 Jonathan Winters, American actor and screenwriter (died 2013) Wikipedia
• 1928 Carlos Fuentes, Mexican novelist and essayist (died 2012) Wikipedia
• 1945 Daniel Ortega, Nicaraguan politician, President of Nicaragua Wikipedia
• 1955 Jigme Singye Wangchuk, King of Bhutan Wikipedia
• 1960 Stanley Tucci, American actor and director Wikipedia
• 1962 Demi Moore, American actress, director, and producer Wikipedia
• 1966 Benedicta Boccoli, Italian model and actress Wikipedia
• 1974 Leonardo DiCaprio, American actor and producer Wikipedia
• 1983 Philipp Lahm, German footballer Wikipedia
• 1990 Georginio Wijnaldum, Dutch footballer Wikipedia

Died on November 11

• 683 Yazid I, Muslim caliph (born 647) Wikipedia
• 1028 Constantine VIII, Byzantine emperor (born 960) Wikipedia
• 1285 King Peter III of Aragon (born 1239) Wikipedia
• 1855 Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher, author, and poet (born 1813) Wikipedia
• 1861 Pedro V of Portugal (born 1837) Wikipedia
• 1880 Ned Kelly, Australian bushranger (born 1855) Wikipedia
• 1887 Haymarket affair defendants: Wikipedia
• 1917 Liliuokalani of Hawaii (born 1838) Wikipedia
• 1973 Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1895) Wikipedia
• 1976 Alexander Calder, American sculptor (born 1898) Wikipedia
• 2004 Yasser Arafat, Palestinian engineer and politician, 1st President of the Palestinian National Authority, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1929) Wikipedia
• 2005 Peter Drucker, Austrian-American author, theorist, and educator (born 1909) Wikipedia
• 2016 Robert Vaughn, American actor (born 1932) Wikipedia
• 2021 F. W. de Klerk, South African lawyer and politician, former State President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1936) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Birthday of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck (Bhutan) Wikipedia
• Children's Day (Croatia) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Bartholomew of Grottaferrata Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Martin of Tours, and its related observances. Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Menas Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Mercurius (Coptic) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Søren Kierkegaard (Lutheran Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Theodore the Studite Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: November 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• End of World War I-related observances: Armistice Day (France, Belgium and Serbia) Wikipedia
• End of World War I-related observances: National Independence Day (Poland), commemorates the anniversary of Poland's assumption of independent statehood in 1918 Wikipedia
• End of World War I-related observances: Remembrance Day (United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, including Australia and Canada) Wikipedia
• End of World War I-related observances: Veterans Day, called Armistice Day until 1954, when it was rededicated to honor American military (Army, Navy, Marine, and Air Force) veterans. (United States) Wikipedia
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Angola from Portugal in 1975. Wikipedia
• Independence of Cartagena (Colombia) Wikipedia
• Lāčplēsis Day, celebrates the victory over the Bermontians at the Battle of Riga in 1919. (Latvia) Wikipedia
• Opening of carnival ("Karneval"/"Fasching"), on 11-11, at 11:11. (Germany, the Netherlands, and other countries) Wikipedia
• National Education Day (India) Wikipedia
• Republic Day (Maldives) Wikipedia
• Singles' Day (China) Wikipedia
• St. Martin's Day (Sint Maarten, Kingdom of the Netherlands) Wikipedia
• Pepero Day (South Korea) and Pocky Day (Japan), both celebrating the similar dipped biscuit snacks of their respective countries. Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “November 11” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/November 11” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “November 11” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for November 11 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.