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Armistice Day: World War I ends

Born on This Day

George Patton

1885 - 1945

American general nicknamed “Old Blood-and-Guts” who played a crucial role in Allied victories in Europe during World War II.

Kurt Vonnegut

1922 - 2007

Author who blended fantasy, sci-fi and postmodernism is satirical novels like 1969’s Slaughterhouse-Five.

Demi Moore

1962 -

Actor best known for 1990s hits like Ghost, A Few Good Men and Indecent Proposal.

George PattonRoger Viollet via Getty Images

Kurt VonnegutGetty Images

Demi MooreWireImage,

1984

NOV11

The “Three Servicemen” statue is unveiled near the Vietnam War Memorial. Honoring the diversity of soldiers who served in that war, it marks the first time an African American is depicted in a sculpture on the National Mall.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on November 11th

Poor leadership leads to Cherry Valley Massacre

On November 11, 1778, Patriot Colonel Ichabod Alden refuses to believe intelligence about an approaching hostile force. As a result, a combined force of Loyalists and Native Americans, attacking in the snow, killed more than 40 Patriots, including Alden, and took at least an additional 70 prisoners, in what is known today as the Cherry […]

Nat Turner executed in Virginia

Nat Turner, the leader of a bloody revolt of enslaved people in Southampton County, Virginia, is hanged in Jerusalem, the county seat, on November 11, 1831. Turner, an enslaved man and educated minister, believed that he was chosen by God to lead his people out of slavery. On August 21, 1831, he initiated his uprising […]

The destruction of Atlanta begins

On November 11, 1864, on orders from Union General William T. Sherman, Union soldiers begin destroying all railroads, factories and commercial buildings in Atlanta, Georgia—anything that could help support the Confederacy’s military or economic goals. (Historical records cite the destruction starting anywhere from November 10 to November 12.) The actions dealt a crippling blow to […]

Dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Exactly three years after the end of World War I, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is dedicated at Arlington Cemetery in Virginia during an Armistice Day ceremony presided over by President Warren G. Harding. Two days before, an unknown American soldier, who had fallen somewhere on a World War I battlefield, arrived at the […]

Route 66 established

On November 11, 1926, federal and state highway officials adopt a numbered highway system for the 48 continental United States. The iconic Route 66 is among the newly designated interstate highways.

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Draft age is lowered to 18

On November 11, 1942, Congress approves lowering the draft age to 18 and raising the upper limit to age 37. In September 1940, Congress, by wide margins in both houses, passed the Burke-Wadsworth Act, and the first peacetime draft was imposed in the history of the United States. The registration of men between the ages […]

Germans take Vichy France

On November 11, 1942, German troops roll out Operation Case Anton, occupying Vichy France, which had previously been free of an Axis military presence. Since July 1940, upon being invaded and defeated by Nazi German forces, the autonomous French state had been split into two regions. One was occupied by German troops, and the other […]

“Rolling Stone” publishes ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ articles

On November 11, 1971, Rolling Stone magazine publishes journalist Hunter S. Thompson’s most famous work: the two-part, semifictional “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”

Soviet Union refuses to play Chile in World Cup Soccer

The Soviet Union announces that, because of its opposition to the recent overthrow of the government of Chilean President Salvador Allende, it would not play a World Cup Soccer match against the Chilean team on November 21, if the match were held in Santiago. The International Football Federation had given the Soviets until the 11th to […]

‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ makes TV history with a car jump

On November 11, 1978, a stuntman on the Georgia set of “The Dukes of Hazzard” launches the show’s iconic automobile, a 1969 Dodge Charger named the General Lee, off a makeshift dirt ramp and over a police car. That jump, 16 feet high and 82 feet long (its landing totaled the car), made TV history. Although […]

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Police make a grisly discovery in Dorothea Puente’s lawn

Authorities unearth a corpse buried in the lawn of 59-year-old Dorothea Puente’s home in Sacramento, California. Puente operated a residential home for elderly people, and an investigation led to the discovery of six more bodies buried on her property. Puente struggled with mental illness and had already been in trouble with the law. She had […]

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