November 20: What Happened on This Day in History (Elementary Level)?

(Page last edited 10/12/2017)

1. 1789 - New Jersey becomes the first U.S. state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
2. 1820 - An 80-ton sperm whale attacks the Essex (a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts) 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America (Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick is in part inspired by this story).
3. 1985 - Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released.
4. 1998 - The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, is launched.
5. 2001 - In Washington, D.C., U.S. President George W. Bush dedicates theUnited States Department of Justice headquarters building as the Robert F. Kennedy Justice Building, honoring the late Robert F. Kennedy on what would have been his 76th birthday.
6. Famous Birthdays: Otto von Guericke (German physicist), Victor D'Hondt (Belgian mathematician), Edwin Hubble (American astronomer), James Collip (Canadian biochemist, co-discovered of insulin ), Joe Biden (American politician, 47th Vice President of the United States)

For famous birthdays and other daily events in history, visit our Daily Dose Activities.

Click Here for Yesterday in History: November 19

Click Here for Tomorrow in History: November 21

For more history resources on Internet 4 Classrooms, visit our Social Studies and History index. For Pre K-8th Grade Level History and Social Studies Resources, visit our Grade Level Index.