On this day: November 2

Events on November 2

• 619 A qaghan of the Western Turkic Khaganate is assassinated in a Chinese palace by Eastern Turkic rivals after the approval of Tang emperor Gaozu. Wikipedia
• 1868 Time zone: New Zealand officially adopts a standard time to be observed nationally. Wikipedia
• 1880 James A. Garfield was elected as president of the United States; the election is the closest to date by popular vote margin. Wikipedia
• 1889 North Dakota and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states. Wikipedia
• 1912 Bulgaria defeats the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Lule Burgas, the bloodiest battle of the First Balkan War, which opens her way to Constantinople. Wikipedia
• 1914 World War I: The Russian Empire declares war on the Ottoman Empire and the Dardanelles is subsequently closed. Wikipedia
• 1917 The British government issued the Balfour Declaration in support of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, then an Ottoman region with a small Jewish minority. Wikipedia
• 1917 The Balfour Declaration proclaims British support for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" with the clear understanding "that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities". Wikipedia
• 1917 The Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, in charge of preparation and carrying out the Russian Revolution, holds its first meeting. Wikipedia
• 1920 In the United States, KDKA of Pittsburgh starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast is the result of the 1920 United States presidential election. Wikipedia
• 1932 The Australian military began a "war against emus", flightless native birds blamed for widespread damage to crops in Western Australia. Wikipedia
• 1936 The BBC Television Service, the world's first regular, "high-definition" (then defined as at least 200 lines) service begins. Renamed BBC1 in 1964, the channel still runs to this day. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: First day of Battle of Elaia–Kalamas between the Greeks and the Italians. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: A U.S. Navy task force turned away an Imperial Japanese Navy formation at the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, thus protecting the landings at Cape Torokina. Wikipedia
• 1956 Hungarian Revolution: Nikita Khrushchev meets with leaders of other Communist countries to seek their advice on the situation in Hungary, selecting János Kádár as the country's next leader on the advice of Josip Broz Tito. Wikipedia
• 1963 South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm is assassinated following a military coup. Wikipedia
• 1964 King Saud of Saudi Arabia is deposed by a family coup, and replaced by his half-brother Faisal. Wikipedia
• 1966 The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the United States. Wikipedia
• 1967 Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson and "The Wise Men" conclude that the American people should be given more optimistic reports on the progress of the war. Wikipedia
• 1983 U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Wikipedia
• 1984 Capital punishment: Velma Barfield becomes the first woman executed in the United States since 1962. Wikipedia
• 1999 Honolulu shootings: In the worst mass murder in the history of Hawaii, a gunman shoots at eight people in his workplace, killing seven. Wikipedia
• 2000 As members of Expedition 1, American astronaut William Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko (all pictured) became the first resident crew to arrive at the International Space Station. Wikipedia
• 2000 Expedition 1 arrived at the International Space Station for the first long-duration stay onboard. From this day to present, a continuous human presence in space on the station remains uninterrupted. Wikipedia
• 2008 Lewis Hamilton secured his maiden Formula One Drivers' Championship Title by one point ahead of Felipe Massa at the Brazilian Grand Prix, after a pass for fifth place against the Toyota of Timo Glock on the final lap of the race. Wikipedia
• 2020 In Vienna's Innere Stadt district, an ISIL sympathizer shoots and kills four people and injures 23 more, before being shot and killed by the police. Wikipedia

Born on November 2

• 971 Mahmud of Ghazni (died 1030) Wikipedia
• 1470 Edward V, King of England (died 1483) Wikipedia
• 1699 Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter and educator (died 1779) Wikipedia
• 1755 Marie Antoinette, Austrian-French queen consort of Louis XVI of France (died 1793) Wikipedia
• 1795 James K. Polk, American lawyer and politician, 11th President of the United States (died 1849) Wikipedia
• 1808 Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly, French author and critic (died 1889) Wikipedia
• 1815 George Boole, English mathematician and philosopher (died 1864) Wikipedia
• 1844 Mehmed V, Ottoman sultan (died 1918) Wikipedia
• 1847 Georges Sorel, French philosopher and author (died 1922) Wikipedia
• 1865 Warren G. Harding, American journalist and politician, 29th President of the United States (died 1923) Wikipedia
• 1885 Harlow Shapley, American astronomer and academic (died 1972) Wikipedia
• 1892 Alice Brady, American actress (died 1939) Wikipedia
• 1906 Luchino Visconti, Italian director and screenwriter (died 1976) Wikipedia
• 1911 Odysseas Elytis, Greek poet and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1996) Wikipedia
• 1913 Burt Lancaster, American actor (died 1994) Wikipedia
• 1929 Richard E. Taylor, Canadian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2018) Wikipedia
• 1938 Queen Sofía of Spain, Queen Consort of King Juan Carlos of Spain Wikipedia
• 1963 Borut Pahor, Slovenian lawyer and politician, 4th President of Slovenia Wikipedia
• 1965 Shah Rukh Khan, Indian film actor, producer and television host Wikipedia
• 1966 David Schwimmer, American actor Wikipedia
• 1974 Nelly, American rapper Wikipedia
• 1980 Diego Lugano, Uruguayan footballer Wikipedia

Died on November 2

• 1083 Matilda of Flanders, Queen Consort of England (born 1031) Wikipedia
• 1887 Jenny Lind, Swedish operatic soprano (born 1820) Wikipedia
• 1887 Alfred Domett, English-New Zealand poet and politician, 4th Prime Minister of New Zealand (born 1811) Wikipedia
• 1944 Thomas Midgley Jr., American chemist and engineer (born 1889) Wikipedia
• 1950 George Bernard Shaw, Irish author, playwright, and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1856) Wikipedia
• 1960 Dimitri Mitropoulos, Greek conductor and composer (born 1896) Wikipedia
• 1961 James Thurber, American humorist and cartoonist (born 1894) Wikipedia
• 1963 1963 South Vietnamese coup Wikipedia
• 1966 Peter Debye, Dutch-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1884) Wikipedia
• 1975 Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1922) Wikipedia
• 1996 Eva Cassidy, American singer (born 1963) Wikipedia
• 2004 Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the 1st president and founder of the UAE (born 1918) Wikipedia
• 2004 Theo van Gogh, Dutch actor, director, and producer (born 1957) Wikipedia
• 2014 Herman Sarkowsky, German-American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded the Seattle Seahawks (born 1925) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Agapius and companions Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Domninus of Vienne Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Erc of Slane (Ireland) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Justus of Trieste Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Victorinus of Pettau Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: November 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• All Souls' Day (Roman Catholic Church and Anglican Communion) Wikipedia
• Coronation of Haile Selassie (Rastafari) Wikipedia
• Day of the Dead, the second day of Day of the Dead or El Dia de los Muertos celebration (Mexico) Wikipedia
• Dziady (Belarus) Wikipedia
• Arrival of Indentured Labourers (Mauritius) Wikipedia
• International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists (United Nations) Wikipedia
• Statehood Day (North Dakota and South Dakota, United States) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “November 2” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.