On This Day - What Happened On November 21 | Britannica

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1620 Signing of Mayflower Compact On this day in 1620, 41 male passengers on the Mayflower, prior to landing at Plymouth, Massachusetts, signed the Mayflower Compact, by which they agreed to abide by the laws of the new government they would establish. Prints and Photographs Division/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital. id. cph 3g07155)

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Voltaire French philosopher and author bornNovember 21, 1694Paris, FrancediedMay 30, 1778 (aged 83)Paris, FrancePhotos.com/Thinkstock 1971 Michael Strahan American football player 1969 Ken Griffey, Jr. American baseball player 1966 Troy Aikman American football player 1965 Björk Icelandic musician 1898 René Magritte Belgian artist See All Biographies On This Day SIGN UP FOR History's Biggest Headlines Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors. SIGN UP Thanks for signing up for Today in History. Your first newsletter will arrive soon! SIGN UP By clicking "Sign Up" you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

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2017 After some 37 years as leader of Zimbabwe—first as prime minister and later as president—Robert Mugabe resigned from office as the parliament began impeachment proceedings against him. Test your knowledge of African leadersUnited States Navy 2002 A North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit meeting in Prague extended an official invitation to become new alliance members to Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about world organizationsEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2000 The United Farm Workers (UFW) called off the boycott of California table grapes begun in 1984 by union organizer Cesar Chavez to protest the use of dangerous pesticides. It was part of a series of UFW strikes that had started with the Delano grape strike in 1965–70.National Archives, Washington, D.C. (544069) 1995 A peace agreement, known as the Dayton Accords, was reached by the presidents of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia, ending the Bosnian War. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about European historyStaff Sgt. Brian Schlumbohm/U.S. Air Force 1964 The Verrazzano- (originally Verrazano-) Narrows Bridge, spanning New York Harbor from Brooklyn to Staten Island, opened to traffic. How much do you know about bridges?Marvin Konerest/Comstock Inc. 1931 The horror classic Frankenstein, based on a stage adaptation of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's 1818 novel, was released in the United States, and it helped make the hulking monster, who was portrayed by Boris Karloff, one of the most recognizable characters in film history. Take our quiz about monsters, ghouls, and ghosts© 1931 Universal Pictures Company, Inc.; photograph from a private collection 1922 Rebecca Ann Felton of Georgia was sworn into office, becoming the first woman seated in the U.S. Senate; Felton, who was appointed to the seat, served only two days. Discover other female firsts in U.S. politicsLibrary of Congress, Washington, D.C.; neg. no. LC USZ 62 20175 1920 On Bloody Sunday, the Irish Republican Army killed 11 Englishmen suspected of being intelligence agents, and the Black and Tans took revenge the same afternoon, attacking spectators and players at a Gaelic football match in Croke Park, Dublin, killing 12 and wounding 60. 1920 American baseball player Stan Musial, who was considered one of the game's greatest hitters, was born. Find out if Stan Musial made our list of the 10 greatest baseball players of all timePictorial Parade 1898 Belgian artist René Magritte—one of the most prominent Surrealist painters, whose bizarre flights of fancy blended horror, peril, comedy, and mystery—was born. Learn about tongue-twisting painting techniques 1878 Lord Lytton, the viceroy of India, launched the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Test your knowledge of the history of warfarePhotos.com/Jupiterimages 1806 The Continental System, a blockade designed to close the entire European continent to British trade, was proclaimed when Napoleon issued the Berlin Decree.© Photos.com/Jupiterimages 1783 The first crewed hot-air balloon flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent, marquis d'Arlandes, traveling from the Château de la Muette across the Bois de Boulogne on the edge of Paris in a balloon made by Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier. Take our quiz about early aviation© Photos.com/Jupiterimages