What Happened in November 1918

Historical Events

Goddard's Rocket

Nov 7 Robert Goddard demonstrates tube-launched solid propellant rockets

Mystery-Bouffe

Nov 7 Soviet dramatic play "Mystery-Bouffe" by Vladimir Mayakovsky premieres in Petrograd

The 1918 Flu Pandemic

Nov 7 The 1918 influenza epidemic spreads to Western Samoa, killing 7,542 (about 20% of the population) by the end of the year

1918: A group of Americans in California with a message for their fellow countrymen

End of World War I

Nov 7 United Press erroneously reports WWI armistice had been signed

Famous painting of the signing of the armistice in Compiegne, France

Nov 8 Pro-German supreme commander general Cutters lay-offs

Wilhelm II Abdicates

Nov 9 Emperor Wilhelm II abdicates after German defeat in World War I

German Emperor and King of Prussia Wilhelm II

Nov 9 Following the collapse of Germany in World War I, the Weimar Republic of Germany is proclaimed
Nov 10 German Emperor Wilhelm II flees to Netherlands
Nov 10 Western Union Cable Office in North Sydney, Nova Scotia receives a top-secret coded message from Europe stating on November 11, 1918 all fighting would cease on land, sea and in the air
Nov 11 Dutch SDAP leader Troelstra announces revolution
Nov 11 Emperor Charles I of Austria-Hungary abdicates

Polish Independence Proclaimed

Nov 11 Independence of Poland proclaimed by Józef Piłsudski

Statesman and First Marshall Józef Piłsudski

The War's Over, But Don't Get Too Excited

Nov 11 WWI Armistice signed by the Allies and Germany comes into effect and World War I hostilities end at 11am, "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month"

Nov 12 Emperor Karl of Austria-Hungary abdicates, Austria becomes a republic
Nov 13 Prince Friedrich, last reigning Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, abdicates
Nov 13 Russia cancels Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Nov 13 Stahlhelm forms (anti communist/Polish/French) in Magdenburg
Nov 16 Hungarian People's Republic declared
Nov 17 German troops evacuate Brussels
Nov 17 Social Democratic Party becomes Communistc Party Holland: CPH
Nov 18 Belgian troops re-enter Brussels, lost to the German invaders on 20 August 1914
Nov 18 Latvia declares independence from Russia
Nov 21 2 German ammunition trains explode in Hamont Belgium, 1,750 die
Nov 21 Polish soldiers organize a pogrom against Jews of Galicia, Poland
Nov 21 The German High Seas Fleet of 5 battlecruisers, 9 battleships, 7 cruisers and 49 destroyers surrendered to the British Grand Fleet and were shepherded into the Firth of Forth
Nov 22 Grand Duke Frederik II, the last Grand Duke of Baden, resigns
Nov 22 Józef Piłsudski appointed Provisional Chief of State of newly independent Poland by the government
Nov 22 King Albert I's triumphant procession through Brussels
Nov 22 Polish forces attack Jewish community of Lemberg (Lvov)
Nov 24 Béla Can forms Hungarian Communist Party
Nov 26 The Podgorica Assembly votes for "union of the people", declaring assimilation into the Kingdom of Serbia
Nov 28 Bucovina voted for the union with the Kingdom of Romania
Nov 28 Kaiser Wilhelm II of Prussia & Germany abdicates
Nov 29 Serbia annexes Montenegro

Events in 1918

Famous Birthdays

Nov 1 Ken Miles, British-American auto racer and engineer (USAC Road Racing C'ship 1961; 24 Hours of Daytona 1966), born in Birmingham, England (d. 1966)

Bob Feller (1918-2010)

Nov 3 American Baseball HOF pitcher (8 x MLB All-Star; AL Triple Crown of pitching (wins/strike-outs/ERA), 1940; 3 x no-hit games; Cleveland Indians), born in Van Meter, Iowa

Nov 3 Dean Riesner, American film and television screenwriter (Bill and Coo), born in New Rochelle, New York (d. 2002)
Nov 3 Elizabeth P. Hoisington, American Brigadier General (one of the first two women to attain the rank of brigadier general), born in Newton, Kansas (d. 2007)
Nov 3 Russell B. Long, American politician (Sen-D-LA, 1948-86), born in Shreveport, Louisiana (d. 2003)

Art Carney (1918-2003)

Nov 4 American Emmy and Oscar winner actor (The Honeymooners - "Ed Norton"; Harry and Tonto -"Harry"), born in Mount Vernon, New York

Nov 4 Cameron Mitchell, American actor (The High Chaparral), born in Dallastown, Pennsylvania (d. 1994)
Nov 5 George Sheehan, American doctor, athlete and author ("Running & Being: The Total Experience," NY Times best seller), born in Brooklyn, NY (d. 1993)
Nov 6 Ronnie Brody, British actor (Superman 3, What's Up Nurse, Ritz), born in Bristol, England (d. 1991)

Billy Graham (1918-2018)

Nov 7 American Baptist evangelist (Crusades) described as 1 of the 20th century's most influential Christian leaders, born in Charlotte, North Carolina

Nov 7 Maria Teresa de Noronha, Portuguese Fado singer, born in Lisbon, Portugal (d. 1993)
Nov 7 Paul Aussaresses, French Army general, born in Saint-Paul-Cap-de-Joux, France (d. 2013)
Nov 8 Hermann Zapf, German typeface designer (Palatino and Optima), born in Nuremberg (d. 2015)
Nov 9 Choi Hong Hi, South Korean army general and Founder of Taekwon-Do, born in Hwadae, Myongchon County, North Hamgyong Province, Japanese Korea (d. 2002)
Nov 9 Howard Shanet, American conductor (Night of the Tropics), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2006)

Spiro Agnew (1918-1996)

Nov 9 American politician (Vice President, 1969 until resignation over corruption allegations in 1973), born in Baltimore, Maryland

Nov 9 Su Beng [Lim Tiau-hui], 'Father of Taiwanese Independence' (Taiwan’s 400-Year History), born in Taipei, Taiwan (d. 2019)
Nov 9 Thomas Ferebee, Enola Gay bombardier over Hiroshima, born in Mocksville, North Carolina (d. 2000)
Nov 10 Ernst Fischer, German chemist (Nobel 1973), born in Munich, Germany (d. 2007)
Nov 10 Jack McCoy, American TV and radio host (Live Like a Millionaire), born in Akron, Ohio (d. 1991)
Nov 10 Oda Blinder [Yolanda Corsen], Curaçao-Dutch poet (Doorstep), born in Willemstad, Curaçao (d. 1969)
Nov 11 Jürg Baur, German composer, born in Düsseldorf (d. 2010)
Nov 11 Louise Tobin, American big band singer (Benny Goodman; Ziggy Elman), born in Aubrey, Texas (d. 2022) [1]
Nov 11 Stubby Kaye [Bernard Solomon Kotzin], American actor (Guys & Dolls, Lil' Abner, Cat Ballou), born in New York City (d. 1997)
Nov 13 Janine Andrade, French classical violinist, born in Besançon, France (d. 1997)

John Bromwich (1918-1999)

Nov 14 Australian tennis player (Australian C'ship 1939, 46 / 13 Grand Slam doubles titles), born in Sydney, NSW

Nov 18 Tasker Watkins, Welsh World War II hero, born in Nelson, Wales (d. 2007)
Nov 19 Hendrik Christoffel Van de Hulst, Dutch astronomer (correctly predicted the existence of the 21 cm hyper-fine line of neutral atomic hydrogen in interstellar space), born in Utrecht, Netherlands (d. 2000)
Nov 20 Dora Ratjen, German man who posed as a female high jumper (Olympic 4th 1936), born in Erichshof, Bremen, Germany (d. 2008)
Nov 20 Tibor Frešo, Slovak composer (Fanfares of Peace; A Beetle was Born), and conductor (Slovak National Theatre Opera), born in Spišský Štiavnik, Slovakia (d. 1987)
Nov 22 Claiborne Pell, American writer, politician (US Senator (D) from Rhode Island, 1961-97), and sponsor of education grant legislation, born in New York City (d. 2009)
Nov 24 "Wild" Bill Davis, American jazz pianist, arranger, and electronic organ pioneer (Louis Jordan's Tympani Five), born in Glasgow, Missouri (d. 1995)
Nov 24 Captain Stubby [Tom Fouts], American author and comedian (Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers), born in Carroll County, Indiana (d. 2004)
Nov 24 Roley Jenkins, English cricket spin bowler (9 Tests, 32 wickets), born in Worcester, England (d. 1995)
Nov 26 Patricio Aylwin, Chilean lawyer, politician and President of Chile (1990-94), born in Viña del Mar, Chile (d. 2016)
Nov 27 Ze'ev Wolfgang Steinberg, Israeli violist and composer, born in Düsseldorf, Germany (d. 2011)
Nov 29 Madeleine L'Engle, American writer of young adult fiction, novelist, and poet (Wrinkle in Time and sequels; Ilsa; Lines Scribbled on an Envelope), born in New York City (d. 2007)
Nov 30 Efren Zimbalist Jr, American actor (77 Sunset Strip; Scruples; The F.B.I.), born in New York City (d. 2014)
Nov 30 Johnnie Jones, American attorney, civil rights activist (1953 Baton Rouge Bus Boycott), and US Army veteran (Normandy Invasion - Purple Heart; Battle of the Bulge), born in Laurel Hill, Louisiana (d. 2022) [1]

Born in 1918

Famous Deaths

Nov 3 Aleksandr Lyapunov, Russian mathematician (Lyapunov exponent), dies at 61
Nov 4 Andrew Dickson White, American historian and educator, 1st President of Cornell University, dies at 85

Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)

Nov 4 English soldier and anti-war poet (Anthem for Doomed Youth, Futility), killed in action at 25 during the crossing of the Sambre–Oise Canal, exactly one week before the signing of the Armistice

Nov 9 Guillaume Apollinaire [Kostrowitsky], French poet (Alcools) and art critic (coined the term 'Cubism'), dies during the Spanish Flu pandemic at 38
Nov 11 George Lawrence Price, Canadian soldier, last person to be killed in WW I (b. 1892)
Nov 11 Victor Adler, Austrian politician (Minister of Foreign Affairs), dies at 66
Nov 15 Georges Antoine, Belgian pianist and composer, dies at 26 [1]
Nov 18 Reggie Schwartz, English cricket spin bowler (20 Tests South Africa, 55 wickets, BB 6/47) and rugby union fly half (3 Tests England), dies from Spanish flu at 43
Nov 26 Charlie McLeod, cricketer (all-rounder for Australia 1894-1905), dies
Nov 28 Alexis Contant, Canadian pianist, organist and composer, dies at 60
Nov 29 Harald Kidde, Danish writer (Helten), dies at 40

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