Delhi, Nov.11
2004
Yasser Arafat—who was president (1996–2004) of the Palestinian Authority (PA), chairman (1969–2004) of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and leader of Fatah, the largest of the constituent PLO groups—died in Paris.
1992
The Church of England voted to ordain women as priests; the first ordination took place two years later.
1975
Angola declared independence after the Portuguese withdrew.
1974
American actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who was noted for his portrayals of unconventional and complex characters, was born.
1966
Gemini 12, the last spacecraft in the Gemini series and the first to make an automatically controlled reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, was launched.
1920
Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of World War I, was marked with the burial of unknown soldiers in tombs in Paris and London, and a similar ceremony was held at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, in 1921.
1889
Washington was admitted to the union as the 42nd U.S. state.
1880
Australian outlaw Ned Kelly, who was the most famous of the bushrangers (bandits of the Australian outback), was hanged in Melbourne.
1865
For her work as a surgeon during the American Civil War, physician Mary Edwards Walker became the first woman to be granted the U.S. Medal of Honor; the award was rescinded in 1917 but reinstated in 1977.
1831
Black American slave Nat Turner was hanged after leading a slave rebellion that resulted in the deaths of some 60 white people; in addition, many innocent slaves were massacred in the accompanying hysteria.
1813
British troops under Colonel J.W. Morrison defeated U.S. forces led by General John Boyd at the Battle of Crysler’s Farm during the War of 1812.
1778
During the American Revolution, Iroquois, in direct retaliation for colonial assaults on two Indian villages, attacked a New York frontier settlement in the Cherry Valley Raid.
1493
Christopher Columbus sighted the island of St. Martin.
1417
Martin V was unanimously elected pope, bringing an end to the Great Schism.
