November 22
1497
Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama became the first navigator to sail around the Cape of Good Hope in his search for a sea route to India.
1718
Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard the pirate, was killed off the east coast of North America.
1842
Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupted. Ash fallout reached as far as 48 mi away.
1906
“S-O-S” was adopted as a distress signal at the International Radio Telegraphic Convention in Berlin.
1943
President Franklin Roosevelt, British prime minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo to discuss measures for defeating Japan.
1963
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas.
1990
Margaret Thatcher announced her resignation as prime minister of the United Kingdom.
Birthdays
Billie Jean King
1943–, American Tennis Player.
Richard Neville
nobleman, called the Kingmaker (1428)
Robert Cavelier de La Salle
explorer (1643)
Abigail Adams
First Lady, writer (1744)
Thomas Cook
travel agent (1808)
George Eliot
novelist (1819)
Charles De Gaulle
general and statesman (1890)
Wiley Post
aviator (1899)
Benjamin Britten
composer (1913)
Rodney Dangerfield
comedian (1921)
Geraldine Page
actress (1924)
Jamie Lee Curtis
actress (1958)
Andr
tennis player (1967)
Scarlett Johansson
actor (1984)