Nuremberg trials begin

The American whaler Essex, which hailed from Nantucket, Massachusetts, is attacked by an 80-ton sperm whale 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America. The 238-ton Essex was in pursuit of sperm whales, specifically the precious oil and bone that could be derived from them, when an enraged bull whale rammed the ship twice […]

On November 20, 1866, a Frenchman named Pierre Lallement receives a U.S. patent for the nation’s first pedal bicycle. Lallement had arrived in the United States the year before, carrying the plans and components for his invention. Lallement constructed and patented the first bicycle in the United States, but received no significant reward or recognition […]

At dawn on the morning of November 20, 1917, six infantry and two cavalry divisions of the British Expeditionary Force—with additional support from 14 squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps—join the British Tank Corps in a surprise attack on the German lines near Cambrai, France. After the British debuted the first armored tanks during the […]

In a lavish wedding ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London, Princess Elizabeth marries her distant cousin, Philip Mountbatten, a dashing former prince of Greece and Denmark who renounced his titles in order to marry the English princess. Princess Elizabeth, heir to the British throne, was 21 years old. Philip Mountbatten, age 26, had fought as […]

On November 20, 1992, Windsor Castle, the historic English royal residence and home to Queen Elizabeth II, catches fire. The blaze comes during a particularly difficult year for the royal family. According to the Royal Collection Trust, at around 11:30 in the morning, a fire broke out in the Queen’s Private Chapel after a faulty […]

On November 20, 2003, Phil Spector, the influential, eccentric music producer who worked with a long list of performers including The Righteous Brothers, The Ronettes, Ike and Tina Turner, John Lennon and the Ramones, is charged in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson. Spector pleaded not guilty to the charges. The 40-year-old Clarkson was found […]