In a letter that General George Washington receives on November 4, 1777, he is informed that a conspiracy is afoot to discredit him with Congress and have him replaced by General Horatio Gates. Thomas Conway, who would be made inspector general of the United States less than two months later on December 14, led the […]

On November 4, 1842, struggling lawyer Abraham Lincoln marries Mary Anne Todd, a Kentucky native, at her sister’s home in Springfield, Illinois. Mary Todd, whose nickname was Molly, was the child of wealthy parents and received her education in prestigious all-girls schools where she excelled in cultural studies and the arts. Her father socialized with […]

On November 4, 1924, California voters pass a measure to legalize professional boxing, a sport outlawed in the state because of safety concerns since 1914. “Manly Art Returns,” reads a headline in one newspaper. From 1914 to 1924, professional boxing had become a national phenomenon, spearheaded by champions such as heavyweight Jack Dempsey and lightweight […]

On November 4, 1948, T.S. Eliot wins the Nobel Prize in Literature, for his profound effect on the direction of modern poetry. Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a long-established family. His grandfather had founded Washington University in St. Louis, his father was a businessman, and his mother was involved in local charities. […]

In a groundbreaking discovery, primatologist Jane Goodall witnesses a chimpanzee in the act of making and using tools on November 4, 1960—an ability previously believed to be exclusive to humans.  At the time of the observation, Goodall, a 26-year-old English primatologist, was conducting research at Gombe Stream National Park in Northern Tanzania, where she closely […]

Student followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini send shock waves across America when they storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979. The radical Islamic fundamentalists took 90 hostages. The students were enraged that the deposed Shah had been allowed to enter the United States for medical treatment and they threatened to murder hostages if […]

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is fatally shot after attending a peace rally held in Tel Aviv’s Kings Square in Israel. Rabin later died in surgery at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv. The 73-year-old prime minister was walking to his car when he was shot in the arm and the back by Yigal Amir, a […]

With over 13 million votes cast, California voters approve Proposition 8 on November 4, 2008, amending the state’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Only months earlier, in May 2008, the California Supreme Court had deemed the state’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, making California the second state in the country to legalize gay marriage. Thus, […]