21 November History
- 1620 - Leaders of the Mayflower expedition frame the "Mayflower Compact," designed to bolster unity among the settlers.
- 1783 - Jean de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes make the first free-flight ascent in a balloon to over 500 feet in Paris.
- 1789 - North Carolina ratifies the Constitution, becoming the 12th state to do it.
- 1855 - Franklin Colman, a pro-slavery Missourian, guns down Charles Dow, a Free Stater from Ohio, near Lawrence, Kansas.
- 1864 - From Georgia, Confederate General John B. Hood launches the Franklin-Nashville Campaign into Tennessee.
- 1904 - Motorized omnibuses replace horse-drawn cars in Paris.
- 1906 - In San Juan, President Theodore Roosevelt pledges citizenship for Puerto Rican people.
- 1907 - Cunard liner Mauritania sets a new speed record for steamship travel, 624 nautical miles in a one day run.
- 1911 - Suffragettes storm Parliament in London. All are arrested and all choose prison terms.
- 1917 - German ace Rudolf von Eschwege is killed over Macedonia when he attacks a booby-trapped observation balloon packed with explosives.
- 1918 - The last German troops leave Alsace-Lorraine, France.
- 1927 - Police turn machine guns on striking Colorado mine workers, killing five and wounding 20.
- 1934 - A New York court rules Gloria Vanderbilt unfit for custody of her daughter.
- 1934 - Cole Porter's musical Anything Goes premieres at New York's Alvin Theatre.
- 1949 - The United Nations grants Libya its independence by 1952.
- 1967 - President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the air quality act, allotting $428 million for the fight against pollution.
- 1970 - U.S. planes conduct widespread bombing raids in North Vietnam.
- 1986 - The Justice Department begins an inquiry into the National Security Council into what will become known as the Iran-Contra scandal.
21 November Birthdays
- 1694 - Voltaire (Francois-Marie Arouet), French philosopher, historian, poet, dramatist and novelist.
- 1898 - Rene Magritte, surrealist painter (Golconda).
- 1904 - Coleman Hawkins, jazz saxophonist.
- 1908 - Elizabeth G. Speare, writer of historical novels for children.
- 1920 - Stan "The Man" Musial, Hall of Fame baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals.
- 1929 - Marilyn French, novelist and critic (The Women's Room).