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NOVEMBER 21 | Birthdays and Events

3 min. read
November 19, 2024 6:57 pm CST

Notable Birthdays for November 21

  • Joseph Plumb Martin (1760-1850) -  Soldier in the Connecticut Militia and Continental Army who became a 23-year-old Sergeant.

  • William Beaumont (1785-1853) - Army surgeon who became known as the Father of Gastric Physiology.

  • Hetty Green (1834-Still Living) - Considered the richest woman in America during the Gilded Age who gained the name the Witch of Wall Street.

  • Tom Horn (1860-1903) - Gunfighter and outlaw.

  • Coleman Hawkins (1904-1969) - Saxophonist credited with bringing the saxophone into mainstream jazz.

  • Buck Ram (1907-1991) - Songwriter and music producer who is considered one of the greatest songwriters of all time.

  • Revaz Dogonadze (1931-1985) - A founder of Quantum electrochemistry.

  • Lewis Binford (1931-2011) - Archaeologist considered to be one of most influential archaeologists of the 20th century.

  • Jean Shepard (1933-2016) - Considered to be one of the first female country music artists.

  • Harold Ramis (1944-2014) - Actor remembered for his role as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters.

  • Vincent Di Fate (1945-Still Living) - Artist who specialized in fantasy, science fiction and realistic space art.

  • Goldie Hawn (1945-Still Living) - Academy Award winning actress known for her roles in Overboard, The Banger Sisters, and The Christmas Chronicles.

  • George Zimmer (1948-Still Living) - Founder of the Men's Warehouse.

  • Troy Aikman (1966-Still Living) - Former NFL quarterback.

  • Alton Mason (1997-Still Living) - The first black male to model for Chanel.

Memorable Events for November 21

  • 1620 - Plymouth settlers sign the Mayflower Compact.

  • 1654 - Black free slave Richard Johnson is granted 550 acres in Virginia.

  • 1787 - Andrew Jackson admitted to the bar at the age of 20.

  • 1789 - North Carolina becomes the 12th state to join the union.

  • 1817 - US soldiers attack Miccosukee Tribe in GA, which later becomes known as the First Seminole War.

  • 1861 - President Jefferson Davis appoints Judah Benjamin as Secretary of War.

  • 1877 - Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph.

  • 1922 - Rebecca Latimer Felton becomes the first female US Senator (Georgia).

  • 1934 - NY Yankees buy Joe DiMaggio.

  • 1945 - The United Auto Workers go on strike against GM for a 30% raise.

  • 1946 - President Truman becomes the first to travel in a submarine.

  • 1952 - The first stamp in two colors is introduced.

  • 1959 - Vice President Richard Nixon (piano) plays a duet with Jack Benny (violin).

  • 1970 - The U.S. Army and Air Force raid the Sơn Tây (Vietnam) POW camp in an attempt to free American prisoners. 

  • 1973 - The attorney for President Nixon reveals the presence of an 18½ minute gap in the Watergate tape recording.

  • 1974 - Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act after President Gerald Ford  vetoed the Act.

  • 1985 - Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard is arrested for spying for Israel.

  • 1980 - Who Shot J.R.? (Dallas) airs.

  • 1986 - Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents allegedly implicating them in the Iran-Contra affair.

  • 1989 - President George H. W. Bush bans smoking on most domestic flights.