Today:
1095: Pope Urban II declared the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont, appealing to Christians to retake the Holy Land.
1703: The Great Storm of 1703, one of the most severe storms to ever strike southern England, finally dissipated after two weeks, having caused massive damage and loss of life.
1779: The College of Pennsylvania was renamed and legally recognized as the University of Pennsylvania, becoming the first university in America to achieve this distinction.
1895: Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel signed his final will, setting aside the bulk of his estate to establish the Nobel Prizes.
1924: The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was held in New York City, originally called the Macy’s Christmas Parade.
1940: During World War II, at the Battle of Cape Spartivento, the British Royal Navy engaged the Italian Regia Marina in the Mediterranean Sea.
1942: World War II: The French navy scuttled its ships and submarines in the harbor of Toulon to prevent them from falling into Nazi German hands.
1978: San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk, a prominent gay rights activist, were assassinated inside City Hall by former supervisor Dan White.
1989: Avianca Flight 203, a Boeing 727, exploded in mid-air over Colombia, killing all 107 people on board and three on the ground. The Medellín Cartel claimed responsibility.
2001: The Hubble Space Telescope detected a hydrogen atmosphere around the extrasolar planet HD 209458 b (Osiris), the first atmosphere discovered on an exoplanet.