Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on November 21st?

Pope Formosus dies, leading to a period of chaos and scandal in the papacy known as the Cadaver Synod.

The Battle of Lincoln takes place during the First Barons' War in England, resulting in a victory for royalist forces.

Giovanni Gaetano Orsini is elected as Pope Nicholas III.

The Dutch East India Company is founded, becoming one of the world's first multinational corporations.

Henry Hudson, an English sea explorer, is set adrift in the Hudson Bay by his mutinous crew.

The Mayflower lands on Cape Cod at what is now Provincetown, Massachusetts. More

English pirate Henry Every (also known as "Captain Kidd") and his crew capture the Ganj-i-Sawai, a wealthy Indian ship.

The second Battle of Humenne takes place during the Rakoczi's War for Hungarian independence, with an Austrian victory.

The first free flight of a hot air balloon carrying a human takes place in Paris, France. The balloon carried two men, Francois Pilatrê de Rozier and Francois Laurent, Marquis of Arlanders. The hot air balloon made of paper and silk was made by the Montgolfier brothers. More

North Carolina ratifies the Articles of Confederation becoming the12th State.

The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The first modern parachute is tested by André-Jacques Garnerin in France.

The Hospital ship HM Britannic, Sister ship to the Titanic, sinks on her sixth voyage when she struck a mine and sank off the Greek coast in the Agean Sea. More than 1,000 crew, doctors and nurses were on board, and 30 people lost their lives. The Britannic sank in 55 minutes and was the largest ship lost in the First World War. More