WHAT HAPPENED ON 21. NOVEMBER
Want to find out what all happened on 21. November

Two Canadian National Railway trains collide in northeastern British Columbia in the Canoe River train crash; the death toll is 21, with 17 of them Canadian troops bound for Korea. (21. November 1950)

The British Natural History Museum announces that the "Piltdown Man" skull, initially believed to be one of the most important fossilized hominid skulls ever found, is a hoax. (21. November 1953)

American disc jockey Alan Freed, who had popularized the term "rock and roll" and music of that style, is fired from WABC-AM radio for refusing to deny allegations that he had participated in the payola scandal. (21. November 1959)

The Chinese People's Liberation Army declares a unilateral cease-fire in the Sino-Indian War. (21. November 1962)

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opens to traffic. (At the time it is the world's longest suspension bridge.) (21. November 1964)

Second Vatican Council: The third session of the Roman Catholic Church's ecumenical council closes. (21. November 1964)

Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland tells news reporters: "I am absolutely certain that whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing." (21. November 1967)

U.S. President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Sato agree in Washington, D.C., on the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. is to retain its rights to bases on the island, but these are to be nuclear-free. (21. November 1969)

The first permanent ARPANET link is established between UCLA and SRI. (21. November 1969)

Vietnam War: Operation Ivory Coast – A joint Air Force and Army team raids the Son Tay prison camp in an attempt to free American prisoners of war thought to be held there. (21. November 1970)

Indian troops, partly aided by Mukti Bahini (Bengali guerrillas), defeat the Pakistan army in the Battle of Garibpur. (21. November 1971)

Voters in South Korea overwhelmingly approve a new constitution, giving legitimacy to Park Chung-hee and the Fourth Republic. (21. November 1972)

The Birmingham Pub Bombings kill 21 people. The Birmingham Six are sentenced to life in prison for the crime but subsequently acquitted. (21. November 1974)

Minister of Internal Affairs Allan Highet announces that the national anthems of New Zealand shall be the traditional anthem "God Save the Queen" and "God Defend New Zealand", by Thomas Bracken (lyrics) and John Joseph Woods (music), both being of equal status as appropriate to the occasion. (21. November 1977)

The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, is attacked by a mob and set on fire, killing four. (21. November 1979)

A deadly fire breaks out at the MGM Grand Hotel in Paradise, Nevada (now Bally's Las Vegas). 87 people are killed and more than 650 are injured in the worst disaster in Nevada history. (21. November 1980)

United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard is arrested for spying after being caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations. He is subsequently sentenced to life in prison. (21. November 1985)

Iran-Contra Affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents allegedly implicating them in the sale of weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. (21. November 1986)

A major tornado strikes the Houston, Texas area during the afternoon. Over the next two days the largest tornado outbreak ever to occur in the US during November spawns over 100 tornadoes before ending on the 23rd. (21. November 1992)

The Dayton Peace Agreement is initialed at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, ending three and a half years of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The agreement is formally ratified in Paris, on December 14 that same year. (21. November 1995)