Susan B. Anthony and other women's suffrage activists are arrested for voting in the U.S. presidential election. After casting her ballot in her hometown of Rochester, New York, she was arrested, indicted, tried, and convicted for voting illegally. She later described her trial as “the greatest judicial outrage history has ever recorded. More
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What Happened in November?
Pioneering feminist, Susan B. Anthony, was arrested, on November 18, 1872 for voting illegally in a presidential election at her hometown of Rochester, New York. She was indicted, tried, convicted and sentenced to pay a fine of $100 and court costs. More
The National Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is founded in the United States on November 18, 1874. More
Rutherford B. Hayes is elected President of the United States in one of the most disputed elections in U.S. history.
New York City politician William Magear "Boss" Tweed, is handed over to N.Y. City authorities, after being captured in Spain where he had escaped to after being unable to make bail.
Tweed had been the leader of a corrupt political organization which had systematically plundered New York City of sums estimated at between $30 million and $200 million (equivalent to $5 billion in 2023). Tweed dominated the Democratic Party in both the city and the state and had his candidates elected mayor of New York City, governor, and speaker of the state assembly. After his recapture he was returned to custody. He died in the Ludlow Street Jail in 1878. More
The United States adopts Standard Time Zones, establishing the system still in use today. Before Nov. 18, 1883, there were more than 100 local times across North America. The adoption of a standardized time by the U.S. and Canadian railroads eliminated the confusion and helped to keep trains and people on schedule.
On the case of Elk v. Wilkins, the US Supreme Court (Chief Justice Morrison Waite), rules 7-2, on November 3, 1884 that Native Americans can be barred from voting in the U.S. The majority Opinion stated that Elk had no claim to citizenship because he had never been naturalized as an American citizen through a treaty or statute.
Even though he was born within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, the 14th Amendment didn’t apply to Elk, because Elk was born as a subject of an Indian nation that was an alien power. The issue of American Indian birthright citizenship wouldn’t fully be settled until 1924 when Congress conferred citizenship on all American Indians under the Indian Citizenship Act. Image shown is of Chief Justice Morrison Waite. More
Democrat Grover Cleveland defeats Republican James G. Blaine Becoming the 22nd President of the United States and the first Democrat to occupy the White House after the Civil War. President Grover Cleveland was the only President to leave the White House and return for a second term four years later becoming also the 24th President. More
Canada's transcontinental railway is completed on November 7, 1885 as Donald Smith, later known as Lord Strathcona, drives the ceremonial last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway, at Craigellachie, BC. More
South Dakota is admitted to the United States of America becoming the 40h State. View list of Admission
North Dakota is admitted to the United States of America becoming the 39th State. View list of Admission
German physicist, Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovers X-rays while experimenting with cathode rays on November 8, 1895, he noticed a fluorescent screen glowing in the dark; realizing that unknown rays were passing through solid objects. He captured the first X-ray image of his wife's hand to prove the discovery. More
Alfred Bernhard Nobel signed the final version of his will, leaving the bulk of his immense fortune to a fund for the financing of annual honorary awards to be made in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine or physiology, literature and peace. He died a year later on December 1896. The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901. More
The first auto race in the U.S. is held in Chicago on Thanksgiving Day. The race was promoted by H. H. Kohlsaat, the publisher of the Chicago Times-Herald. the Duryea, built and driven by J. Frank Duryea crossed the finish line first, 7 hours and 53 minutes later, with an average speed of 7 miles per hour. The official distance was 54.36 miles, and this was accomplished on 3.5 gallons of gas. More
A political coup and massacre takes place in which the multiracial Fusionist (Republican and Populist) city government of Wilmington, North Carolina, is violently overthrown by a group of the state's white Southern Democrats conspiring and leading a mob of 2,000 white men to overthrow the legitimately elected government in Wilmington.
They expelled the opposition black and white political leaders from the city, destroyed the property and businesses of black citizens built up since the American Civil War, including the only black newspaper in the city, and killed from an estimated 60 to more than 300 people. More
The Boxer Rebellion begins in Shandong, China on November 2, 1899 with attacks on missionaries and Chinese converts. The uprising aimed to stop the spread of Western and Japanese influence including western religion begun by peasants but was eventually supported by the government.
The rebellion lasted from November 1899 until September 7, 1901, when the Boxer Rebellion was put down by the Eight-Nation Alliance of the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Japan, Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary and the Boxer Protocol was was signed to end the conflict. More
Panama declares independence from Colombia with U.S, Support while simultaneously negotiating a treaty granting the U.S. the right to construct the canal. The United States recognized Panama three days later The treaty that allowed the United States to build and operate a canal that traversed Panama.
The treaty also gave the United States the right to govern a ten-mile wide Canal Zone that encompassed the waterway, which was completed in 1914. In 1979, the United States transferred control of the Canal Zone to Panama, and in 1999 transferred control and responsibility for the Canal to Panama. More
Mary Anderson is granted a patent for a windshield wiper. The United States Patent Office awarded Anderson patent number 743,801 for her Window Cleaning device which consisted of a lever inside the vehicle that controlled a rubber blade on the outside of the windshield. More