Just for fun, this week's column will detail some of the historical events that have occurred in the month of November. Some events may be more historical than legal, but that's part of the fun of it!
One of the funnest websites I found during my research was This Day in SI History. I think you will enjoy it, too. You can follow along with events all year long.
1 November 1765 - British Stamp Act was the first direct tax imposed on the American colonies by the British Parliament.
2 November 2026 - Supreme Court denies President Trump's attempt to set aside 20K California mail ballots before vote counting even begins.
4 November 2008 - Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States. He went on to serve two terms and was the first black President of the US.
5 November 1872 - Susan B. Anthony voted illegally in a New York Congressional election when New York did not allow women to vote. The court fined her $100.
6 November 1917 - The state of New York passed a constitutional amendment that gave women the right to vote.
7 November 1917 - The Bolsheviks seize power in Russia, led by Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky.
9 November 1989 - The Berlin Wall falls.
13 November 1956 - The Supreme Court found in Browder v Gayle that laws segregating people using public buses based on race in Montgomery, Alabama were unconstitutional.
17 November 1777 - The Articles of Confederation were submitted to the states for ratification. The Articles of Confederation then served as the United States first Constitution.
19 November 1863 - President Abraham Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg.
21 November 1620 - The Mayflower Compact was written and signed by the new settlers in New Plymouth after crossing the Atlantic on the Mayflower. It governed the Plymouth Colony, and set the basis for law in the New World.
22 November 1963 - President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
24 November 1963 - Two days after Kennedy's assassination, Lee Harvey Oswald was shot and killed by Jack Ruby.
27 November 1973 - In a vote 92-3, the US Senate confirmed Gerald Ford as Vice-President of the United States. This was the first time the 25th Amendment to the Constitution had been invoked, as it established proceedings for replacing the Vice-President.
Submitted by Eric Taylor, Evening Reference Librarian on November 3, 2026
This article appears in the categories: Law Library
