50 Fun Facts About November

November's name comes from the Latin word for which number?

Nine: November comes from Latin novem, 'nine', because it was the ninth month of the early Roman calendar, which began in March; it kept the name after January and February were placed at the start of the year.

Which gemstone is November's traditional birthstone, said to symbolise friendship?

Topaz is November's traditional birthstone; the golden-yellow 'imperial' topaz is the classic November gem, and birthstone lore makes it a token of friendship and affection.

What is the birth flower of November?

The chrysanthemum is November's birth flower. It blooms in late autumn, and in Japan the flower is the emblem of the imperial family, whose throne is called the Chrysanthemum Throne.

A person born on November 10 falls under which Western zodiac sign?

Scorpio covers birthdays from about October 23 to November 21, so November 10 is a Scorpio; the sign is symbolised by the scorpion.

US Thanksgiving is celebrated on which day of November?

Franklin Roosevelt broke with the last-Thursday tradition in 1939 to lengthen the shopping season, and Congress settled on the fourth Thursday in 1941. Some years the two are the same day; some years they are not.

Which president did editor Sarah Josepha Hale finally persuade to proclaim an annual national Thanksgiving?

Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving for the last Thursday of November on 3 October 1863, after years of lobbying by Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey's Lady's Book, starting the unbroken annual tradition.

The Pilgrims' 1621 harvest celebration at Plymouth, often called the first Thanksgiving, lasted how long?

Three days: colonist Edward Winslow wrote that the 1621 gathering of about 50 colonists and 90 Wampanoag lasted three days, with venison the Wampanoag brought and wildfowl the colonists shot; turkey is not specifically recorded.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York has been held since which year?

1924: the first parade, billed as the Macy's Christmas Parade, marched on 27 November 1924 with live animals from the Central Park Zoo; giant balloons arrived in 1927, and wartime shortages suspended it from 1942 to 1944.

Who always arrives at the very end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?

Santa Claus rides the final float; his arrival at Macy's Herald Square store is treated as the start of the Christmas season, a tradition dating to the first parade in 1924.

Canada also celebrates Thanksgiving, but in which month?

It falls on the second Monday of October, six weeks before the American holiday, reflecting Canada's earlier harvest.

Black Friday got its name from police in which US city describing the traffic chaos?

Philadelphia police coined 'Black Friday' in the 1950s and 1960s for the traffic and crowds that jammed the city the day after Thanksgiving; the 'retailers go into the black' story came later, in the 1980s.

Which US holiday is observed every year on November 11?

Veterans Day falls on November 11 because the First World War ceasefire took effect at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918; Memorial Day, in May, honours those who died in service.

Before 1954, the US federal holiday on November 11 was known by what name?

Armistice Day: Congress renamed the November 11 holiday Veterans Day in June 1954 so it would honour those who served in every war, not only the First World War; Britain and the Commonwealth know the date as Remembrance Day.

The red poppy worn in November for Remembrance Day was inspired by which First World War poem?

'In Flanders Fields', written by Canadian army doctor John McCrae on 3 May 1915 after a friend's burial, opens with poppies blowing between the crosses; its imagery led to the first British Poppy Day on 11 November 1921.

Guy Fawkes was arrested guarding explosives beneath which building?

The House of Lords: Fawkes was found in the undercroft beneath the Lords chamber early on 5 November 1605 with 36 barrels of gunpowder, meant to kill James I at the state opening of Parliament.

Which English town's bonfire societies stage the country's most extravagant 5 November celebrations?

Lewes in East Sussex: its bonfire societies parade with flaming torches and burn effigies, and the town also commemorates the 17 Protestant martyrs burned there under Mary I in the 1550s.

Movember, the moustache-growing charity campaign, started with 30 men in which country?

Australia: Movember started in Melbourne, where 30 men grew moustaches in 2003; 'mo' is Australian slang for a moustache, and the foundation raised its first prostate-cancer funds in 2004.

Mexico's Day of the Dead is traditionally celebrated on which two dates?

November 1 and 2: families build ofrendas and visit graves, November 1 (Día de los Angelitos) honouring dead children and November 2 honouring adults; UNESCO inscribed the tradition as intangible heritage in 2008.

Which orange flower, cempasúchil in Mexico, is thought to draw souls of the dead to Day of the Dead altars?

The marigold, cempasúchil in Mexico, is the Day of the Dead flower; its bright orange petals and strong scent are believed to guide souls to the ofrenda, so families scatter them in paths from the street.

Mexico City's huge Day of the Dead parade only began in 2016, after being invented for the opening of which film?

Spectre (2015) opened with a Day of the Dead parade staged for the film; no such parade existed, so Mexico City held its first real one in October 2016, and it became an annual event.

Which Christian feast falls on November 1, with Halloween as its eve?

All Saints' Day, also called All Hallows' Day, falls on November 1, which is why October 31 is All Hallows' Eve, contracted to Halloween; All Souls' Day follows on November 2.

The Berlin Wall was opened on the night of which date in 1989?

9 November 1989: at an evening press conference East German spokesman Günter Schabowski, asked when the new travel rules took effect, fumbled 'immediately, without delay', and crowds forced the checkpoints open that night.

Between which dates of November can US Election Day fall?

2nd and 8th: Election Day is the Tuesday after November's first Monday, which can fall on the 1st to the 7th, so the vote lands between November 2 and 8; the 1845 law's wording kept it off All Saints' Day.

Which year's presidential election produced the first Republican president and triggered Southern secession?

1860: Abraham Lincoln won the November 1860 election as the first Republican president, and seven Southern states, starting with South Carolina on 20 December 1860, seceded before his inauguration in March 1861.

The Gettysburg Address, delivered on November 19, 1863, was how long?

About 270 words: Lincoln spoke for under two minutes after Edward Everett's two-hour oration; Everett wrote to him afterwards that Lincoln had come nearer the day's central idea in two minutes than he had in two hours.

On 4 November 1922 Howard Carter's team uncovered the first step leading down to whose tomb?

Tutankhamun: the step found on 4 November 1922 led to tomb KV62 in the Valley of the Kings; Carter peered into the antechamber on 26 November and reported seeing 'wonderful things', with patron Lord Carnarvon beside him.

Which children's television show premiered on public television on November 10, 1969?

Sesame Street premiered on 10 November 1969 on NET, the forerunner of PBS; it was created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, with Jim Henson's Muppets as its stars.

Mickey Mouse's official 'birthday' is November 18, marking the 1928 premiere of which cartoon?

Steamboat Willie opened at New York's Colony Theatre on 18 November 1928, the first Mickey Mouse cartoon released with a synchronised soundtrack; Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho had been made earlier but were released later with sound.

Which landmark science book, published 24 November 1859, sold out its 1,250-copy first printing before release?

On the Origin of Species: John Murray printed 1,250 copies priced at fifteen shillings, and booksellers ordered more than that at his trade sale on 22 November 1859, two days before publication.

Laika, the first animal to orbit Earth, was launched aboard Sputnik 2 on 3 November of which year?

1957: Sputnik 2 lifted off on 3 November 1957, a month after Sputnik 1; Laika, a stray from the streets of Moscow, died of overheating within hours, a fact the Soviet Union concealed until 2002.

On November 14, 1889, journalist Nellie Bly set off to beat the fictional record in which novel?

Around the World in Eighty Days: Bly set out to beat Phileas Fogg's fictional 80 days and returned to New Jersey on 25 January 1890 after 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes, having met Jules Verne in Amiens.

In which year did the first free human balloon flight take place over Paris?

1783: on 21 November 1783 Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes rose from the Château de la Muette in a Montgolfier hot-air balloon and flew about nine kilometres across Paris in roughly 25 minutes.

Which Agatha Christie play, open in London since 25 November 1952, is the world's longest-running?

The Mousetrap opened in the West End at the Ambassadors Theatre on 25 November 1952 and moved next door to St Martin's Theatre in 1974; Christie expected an eight-month run, and audiences are asked not to reveal the killer.

What Billboard record did 'November Rain' hold until Taylor Swift broke it in 2021?

Longest song to reach the Hot 100 top ten: 'November Rain' runs 8:57 and peaked at No. 3 in 1992; Taylor Swift's 10-minute 'All Too Well' debuted at No. 1 in November 2021 and took the record.

The Melbourne Cup, 'the race that stops the nation', is run on which day?

First Tuesday in November: the 3,200-metre handicap at Flemington has been run every year since 1861, and the day is a public holiday in metropolitan Melbourne, which is why it 'stops the nation'.

Saint Andrew's Day, Scotland's national day, is celebrated on which date?

November 30: Saint Andrew's Day became a Scottish bank holiday under a 2007 Act, though banks need not close; Andrew is also patron saint of Greece, Romania, Russia and Barbados, which became independent on 30 November 1966.

Thailand's Loy Krathong festival, usually in November, involves floating what onto rivers and lakes?

Small decorated baskets with candles: a krathong is a float, traditionally a slice of banana trunk dressed with banana leaves, flowers, incense and a candle, set adrift on the full moon of the twelfth Thai lunar month.

World Diabetes Day is held on 14 November because it is the birthday of which co-discoverer of insulin?

Frederick Banting, born 14 November 1891, isolated insulin with Charles Best in Toronto in 1921 and shared the 1923 Nobel Prize; the International Diabetes Federation marks his birthday as World Diabetes Day with a blue circle symbol.

What are the small oil lamps lit for Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, called?

Diyas are small clay oil lamps lit in rows for Diwali, whose name comes from Sanskrit dipavali, 'row of lamps'; one tradition ties the lights to Rama's return to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile.

Which US president was assassinated in Dallas on Friday, November 22, 1963?

John F. Kennedy was shot while riding through Dealey Plaza in an open 1961 Lincoln Continental; Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office aboard Air Force One at Love Field at 2:38 pm that afternoon.

Who shot Lee Harvey Oswald dead in a Dallas police basement two days after Kennedy's assassination?

Ruby was a local nightclub owner. The Warren Commission later concluded that Oswald acted alone and found no evidence either man was part of a conspiracy.

What did the Anglo-Saxons call the month of November?

Blōtmōnaþ, 'blood month': Bede recorded that the Anglo-Saxons called November Blotmonath because cattle that could not be fed through winter were slaughtered then, with some consecrated to the gods.

Which two French Republican calendar months overlapped with November?

Brumaire and Frimaire: Brumaire, from brume (mist), ran from about 22 October to 20 November, and Frimaire, from frimas (hoar-frost), from about 21 November to 20 December; Napoleon's 1799 coup was on 18 Brumaire.

Which meteor shower occurs from November 15 to 20 each year?

The Leonids, debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle, radiate from the constellation Leo and peak around 17-18 November; the 1833 storm produced tens of thousands of meteors an hour over North America.

Which Western zodiac sign begins on November 22?

Sagittarius, the archer, covers birthdays from November 22 to December 21, so November is split between Scorpio and Sagittarius; the sign's symbol is a centaur drawing a bow.

Besides its better-known yellow gem, which other stone is listed as a November birthstone?

Citrine, a yellow-to-orange variety of quartz, was added beside topaz as a November birthstone on the American list in 1952; the two are often confused because both come in golden tones.

In Catholic tradition, November is the month of prayer for whom?

The Holy Souls in Purgatory: the Church dedicates November to praying for the dead, beginning with All Souls' Day on November 2, and Masses, cemetery visits and lists of names of the departed mark the month.

On which date are World Toilet Day and International Men's Day both observed?

The 19th: World Toilet Day, recognised by the UN in 2013, and International Men's Day, first marked in 1999, share 19 November, which is also Monaco's national day and Brazil's Flag Day.

Which country marks Revolution Day on November 20?

Mexico: Revolution Day marks 20 November 1910, when Francisco Madero's call to arms against Porfirio Díaz began the Mexican Revolution; Algeria's revolution anniversary is November 1 and Russia's Unity Day November 4.

What name is given to the online-shopping day that follows the US Thanksgiving weekend?

Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving, was coined in 2005 by the National Retail Federation's Shop.org after it noticed a surge in online sales as shoppers returned to work computers; it follows Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.