21 Nov 1887
Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
- Hein ter Poorten was born in Buitenzorg, Java, Dutch East Indies (now Bogor, Indonesia).
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- Clarence Tinker was born near Pawhuska, Oklahoma, United States.
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21 Nov 1908
Japan
Japan
- Chuichi Nagumo graduated from the Japanese naval academy and was promoted to the rank of midshipman.
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21 Nov 1914
- Three British RNAS Avro 504 aircraft led by Wing Commander E. F. Briggs bombed the Zeppelin sheds at Friedrichshafen, Germany.
21 Nov 1916
- Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria died. He was succeeded by Charles, son of the Archduke Otto. One of Charles's first actions on becoming Emperor was to issue a declaration that he wished to end Austria's participation in the war.
21 Nov 1917
- Lenin ordered General Dukhonin to begin armistice negotiations with representatives of the Central Powers. Dukhonin refused to obey and was dismissed.
21 Nov 1920
- Umrao Singh was born.
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21 Nov 1930
- Douglas MacArthur became the Chief of Staff of the US Army at the rank of general.
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21 Nov 1932
- Adolf Hitler again attempted to argue for his appointment as German Chancellor with the power to dissolve the Reichstag; President Paul von Hindenburg again refused to grant him such powers.
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21 Nov 1935
Russia
Russia
- Russian test pilot V. Kokkinaki flying a specially modified TsKB-3 raised the world altitude record to 47,818 feet.
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21 Nov 1938
- Historical document written: Meeting Minutes of International Commission on Sudetenland, 21 Nov 1938
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21 Nov 1939
- The United Kingdom declared an embargo on Germany, seizing all goods in the UK en route to Germany.
- Lufthansa's Do 18F flying boat, upgraded with BMW 132N radial engines and redesignated Do 18L, took its first flight after the upgrade work. After two days of testing, it was found that the BMW engine suffered overheating problems.
» In-depth article - Heinrich Himmler announced that the United Kingdom was responsible for the 8 Nov 1939 attempt on Adolf Hitler's life. Two British agents were kidnapped in the Netherlands several days prior, who were blamed for plotting the attack. The attack, however, was actually planned by the Germans as means to raise Hitler's standing within Germany.
21 Nov 1940
- Greek troops defeated the Italian IX Army and captured Koritza, Albania. The Greeks took 2,000 prisoners and captured 135 field guns and 600 machine guns. The surviving elements of the Greek IX Army was able to escape without being harassed as the Greeks were poorly motorized and could not give chase.
» In-depth article - German warships Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Köln, and Leipzig departed for a sweep against Allied shipping between Iceland and the Faroe Islands.
» In-depth article - The German 6th Army exercised a simulated invasion of Ireland.
- German armed merchant cruiser Pinguin attacked British freighter Port Brisbane in the southern Indian Ocean after sundown, killing the radio operator in the process; 67 were taken prisoner and 27 escaped in a lifeboat. Port Brisbane was sunk by torpedo after scuttling charges failed to sink her.
- German submarine U-103 fired torpedoes from a surfaced position at Allied convoy OB-244 200 miles northwest of Ireland at 0740 hours, sinking British ship Daydawn (2 killed, 36 survived) and Greek ship Victoria (entire crew of 27 survived). A ship in the convoy attempted to ram U-103, but U-103 dodged the ramming attack; U-103 fired a torpedo at her attacker, but that torpedo, though striking the target, failed to detonate.
- A German aircraft bombed the British Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom, damaging the diplomatic section, the telephone exchange, and the typists room. There were no casualties. The attack was almost certainly accidental, as the Germans did not know of the importance of this site.
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21 Nov 1941
- American destroyer Shaw and oiler Sabine were damaged in a collision in Hawaiian waters.
- The Allied garrison at Tobruk, Libya attempted a breakout to link up with the main attack force coming from Egypt, which engaged with German 15th Panzer Division in a large-scale tank battle that would last for the next three days near Sidi Rezegh. Pressed for fuel, Erwin Rommel dispatched Italian cruiser Cardona from Brindisi, unescorted, to bring fuel to Benghazi.
» In-depth article - The construction of the future Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point began in North Carolina, United States.
- Heinz Guderian wrote Franz Halder from Russia, noting the miserable cold and fierce Soviet resistance.
» In-depth article - The horse-drawn sleigh team returned to Leningrad, Russia from Kobona, bringing back flour, sugar, and fat across the frozen Lake Ladoga for the first time since the city was surrounded.
» In-depth article - British submarine HMS Utmost attacked and damaged Italian cruiser Trieste 10 miles east of Catania, Sicily, Italy at 2312 hours.
» In-depth article - Hans-Joachim Marseille was officially awarded the German cross in Gold, but he would not physically receive this medal until 17 Dec 1941.
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- Joseph Rochefort's US Navy cryptanalytic team in Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii detected the arrival of a Japanese submarine squadron in the Marshall Islands.
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- Japanese Navy acquired luxury ocean liner Hikawa Maru for use as a hospital ship; Hikawa Maru was assigned to the Yokosuka Naval District, Japan.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
21 Nov 1942
- Colonel General Eberhard von Mackensen replaced Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist as the commander of the German 1.Panzerarmee.
- Philip was commissioned into service.
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- Lieutenant General Hitoshi Imamura met with the staff of the Combined Fleet at Truk, Caroline Islands and decided to give up Buna, Australian Papua.
» In-depth article
- Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Yokosuka, Japan.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
- German Paratroop Engineer Battalion "Witzig" and Italian 1st Paratroop Battalion attacked British troops near Djebel Abjod, Tunisia; initially successful, they suffered heavy casualties when the British counterattacked later in the day.
» In-depth article
21 Nov 1943
See all photos dated 21 Nov 1943
- Feldmarschall Kesselring was appointed commander of all German forces in Italy.
» In-depth article - Feldmarschall Rommel was placed in command of Atlantikwall defenses in France.
» In-depth article - Journalist Drew Pearson publicized George Patton's "slapping incident" of 3 Aug 1943, stirring controversy.
» In-depth article - Winston Churchill met with Chiang Kaishek for the first time in Cairo, Egypt. In the evening, he dined with Alan Brooke, Charles Portal, John Dill, Sholto Douglas, and Louis Mountbatten.
» In-depth article - The French Committee of National Liberty decided to release the President of Lebanon and the other arrested ministers.
- Naka departed Truk, Caroline Islands.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
See all photos dated 21 Nov 1943
21 Nov 1944
- USS Franklin arrived at Pearl Harbor.
» In-depth article - Albanian partisan units liberated the capital city of Tirana, Albania.
- The Hinzert Concentration Camp became a satellite camp of Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
» In-depth article
- Light carrier Ryuho departed Kure, Japan and arrived at Matsuyama, Japan later on the same day.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
- USS Puffer completed her scheduled overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, United States.
» In-depth article
- Bulgarian troops captured Pristina, Yugoslavia.
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21 Nov 1945
- All accused at the Trial of the Major War Criminals of the Nuremberg Trials pleaded innocent.
» In-depth article - The Auto Workers Union closed 100 General Motors factories in the United States.
- Otto Skorzeny was transferred to the witness wing at Nuremberg, Germany.
» In-depth article
21 Nov 1949
Libya
Libya
- The United Nations passed the resolution for Libya's full independence.
21 Nov 1952
- Commander Thomas Rudden Jr. became the commanding officer of USS Cassin Young.
» In-depth article
21 Nov 2005
- Umrao Singh passed away.
» In-depth article
21 Nov 2010
- The Pacific Battleship Center submitted the initial application to the US Navy to acquire battleship Iowa.
» In-depth article
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
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"We no longer demand anything, we want war."Joachim von Ribbentrop, German Foreign Minister, Aug 1939