November 14

Alexander the Great is crowned pharaoh of Egypt after taking control of the country from Persian rule.

Alexander the Great entered Egypt largely unopposed after the Persian satrap surrendered without resistance, and Egyptian priests crowned him pharaoh, a title he embraced to legitimize his rule over the ancient civilization. During his time there, he also founded the city of Alexandria, which would become one of the ancient world's great centers of learning and culture.

Explorer James Bruce reaches what he believes to be the source of the Blue Nile in Ethiopia.

Scottish explorer James Bruce, after years of arduous travel through Ethiopia, reached what he believed was the source of the Nile at Lake Tana, though he had actually found the source of the Blue Nile rather than the longer White Nile branch. His extensive published accounts of the journey, while sometimes doubted by contemporaries, later proved largely accurate and valuable to geographers.

Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick is published in the United States.

Moby-Dick, Herman Melville's sprawling novel about Captain Ahab's obsessive pursuit of a white whale, received a largely lukewarm critical and commercial reception upon its initial publication in the United States. The novel's reputation grew enormously in the twentieth century, and it is now widely regarded as one of the greatest works in American literature.

Journalist Nellie Bly begins her successful attempt to circumnavigate the globe in under 80 days, completing it in 72.

Pioneering journalist Nellie Bly set out from New York to circle the globe, seeking to beat the fictional 80-day journey depicted in Jules Verne's popular novel. Her successful 72-day trip, chronicled through newspaper dispatches, made her an international celebrity and demonstrated the growing capabilities of global transportation networks in the late nineteenth century.

The British Broadcasting Company begins regular radio service in the United Kingdom.

The British Broadcasting Company's inaugural radio broadcasts marked the beginning of organized national radio service in the United Kingdom, initially funded through a combination of license fees and receiver manufacturer contributions. The service would later be reorganized as the publicly funded BBC, becoming one of the world's most influential broadcasting institutions.

Ruby Bridges becomes the first Black child to attend a formerly all-white elementary school in Louisiana.

Six-year-old Ruby Bridges, escorted by federal marshals through jeering crowds of protesters, became the first Black child to integrate an elementary school in the American South, a moment later immortalized in Norman Rockwell's famous painting "The Problem We All Live With." Her courage amid intense hostility became an enduring symbol of the civil rights movement.

NASA launches Apollo 12, the second crewed mission to land astronauts on the Moon.

Apollo 12 launched just months after the historic Apollo 11 mission, sending astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean to conduct a more precise lunar landing near a previously unmanned probe, demonstrating NASA's growing navigational accuracy. The mission also survived being struck by lightning twice shortly after liftoff without significant damage.

Princess Anne marries Captain Mark Phillips at Westminster Abbey in London.

Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, married army officer Mark Phillips in a lavish royal wedding at Westminster Abbey, drawing massive public and international media attention. The couple's marriage, one of the first modern royal weddings extensively televised worldwide, would later end in divorce nearly two decades afterward.

Northern Alliance forces capture the Afghan capital of Kabul during the war in Afghanistan.

Northern Alliance forces, supported by American airstrikes and special operations troops, captured Kabul from Taliban control just weeks after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan began following the September 11 attacks. The rapid collapse of Taliban rule in the capital marked an early apparent success in the initial phase of the war.

The first G-20 leaders' summit convenes in Washington, D.C. amid the global financial crisis.

Leaders from the world's largest economies convened in Washington for the first-ever G-20 summit, called in response to the escalating global financial crisis triggered by the collapse of major financial institutions. The gathering established the G-20 as a primary forum for coordinating international economic policy in the years that followed.