1699 - A treaty was signed by Denmark, Russia, Saxony and Poland for the partitioning of the Swedish Empire.

1718 - English pirate Edward Teach (a.k.a. "Blackbeard") was killed during a battle off the coast of North Carolina. British soldiers cornered him aboard his ship and killed him. He was shot and stabbed more than 25 times.

1880 - Lillian Russell made her vaudeville debut in New York City.

1899 - The Marconi Wireless Company of America was incorporated in New Jersey.

1906 - The International Radio Telegraphic Convention in Berlin adopted the SOS distress signal.

1909 - Helen Hayes appeared on stage for the first time. She was a member of the cast of "In Old Dutch."

1910 - Arthur F. Knight patented a steel shaft to replace wood shafts in golf clubs.

1917 - The National Hockey League (NHL) was officially formed in Montreal, Canada.

1928 - In Paris, "Bolero" by Maurice Ravel was first performed publicly.

1935 - The first trans-Pacific airmail flight began in Alameda, CA, when the flying boat known as the China Clipper left for Manila. The craft was carrying over 110,000 pieces of mail.

1942 - During World War II, the Battle of Stalingrad began.

1943 - U.S. President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo to discuss the measures for defeating Japan.

1950 - The lowest scoring game in the NBA was played. The Fort Wayne Pistons (later the Detroit Pistons) defeated the Minneapolis Lakers (later the Los Angeles Lakers) 19-18.

1961 - The film, "A Man for All Seasons", opened in New York City.

1963 - U.S. President Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, TX. Texas Governor John B. Connally was also seriously wounded. Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson was inaugurated as the 36th U.S. President.

1967 - The U.N. Security Council approved resolution 242. The resolution called for Israel to withdraw from territories it had captured in 1967 and called on adversaries to recognize Israel's right to exist.

1972 - U.S. President Richard M. Nixon lifted a ban on American travel to Cuba. The ban had been put in place on February 8, 1963.

1974 - The U.N. General Assembly gave the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status.

1975 - Juan Carlos I was proclaimed King of Spain upon the death of Gen. Francisco Franco.

1975 - "Dr. Zhivago" appeared on TV for the first time. NBC paid $4 million for the broadcast rights.

1977 - Regular passenger service on the Concorde began between New York and Europe.

1983 - The Bundestag approved NATO's plan to deploy new U.S. nuclear missiles in West Germany.

1984 - Fred Rogers of PBS' "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" presented a sweater to the Smithsonian Institution.

1985 - Anne Henderson-Pollard was taken into custody a day after her husband Jonathon Jay Pollard was arrested for spying for Israel.

1985 - 38,648 immigrants became citizens of the United States. It was the largest swearing-in ceremony.

1986 - An Iranian surface-to-surface missile hit a residential area in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, wounding 20 civilians.

1986 - Mike Tyson became the youngest to wear the world heavyweight-boxing crown. He was only 20 years and 4 months old.

1988 - The South African government announced it had joined Cuba and Angola in endorsing a plan to remove Cuban troops from Angola.

1989 - Rene Moawad, the president of Lebanon, was assassinated less than three weeks after taking office by a bomb that exploded next to his motorcade in West Beirut.

1990 - U.S. President Bush, his wife, Barbara, and other congressional leaders shared Thanksgiving dinner with U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia.

1990 - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher announced she would resign.

1993 - Mexico's Senate overwhelmingly approved the North American Free Trade Agreement.

1993 - American Airlines flight attendants ended their strike that only lasted four days.

1994 - Inside the District of Columbia's police headquarters a gunman opened fire. Two FBI agents, a city detective and the gunman were killed in the gun battle.

1994 - In northwest Bosnia, Serb fighters set villages on fire in response to a retaliatory air strikes by NATO.

1998 - CBS's "60 Minutes" aired a tape of Jack Kevorkian giving lethal drugs in an assisted suicide of a terminally ill patient. Kevorkian was later sentenced to 25 years in prison for second-degree murder.

2005 - Angela Merkel was elected as Germany's first female chancellor.

2005 - Microsoft's XBOX 360 went on sale.

Music

1709 - Composer Frantisek Benda was born.

1710 - Composer Wilhelm Friedemann Bach was born.

1780 - Composer Conradin Kreutzer was born.

1901 - Composer Joaquin Rodrigo was born.

1913 - Composer Lord Benjamin Britten was born.

1938 - Bunny Berigan and his orchestra recorded "Jelly Roll Blues."

1957 - The Miles Davis Quintet debuted with a jazz concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

1965 - Bob Dylan and Sara Lowndes were married.

1965 - The musical "Man of La Mancha" opened. It ran for 2,328 performances.

1967 - Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant" was released.

1968 - The Beatles released their double album called "The Beatles" (a.k.a. "The White Album").

1982 - The British rock group Japan announced it is breaking up.

1992 - Paul Simon began his first tour of South America in Brazil.

1994 - "The Black Album" was released by Prince.

1995 - Singer Sophie B. Hawkins makes her acting debut on Fox's "Party Of Five".

1997 - Epick Soundtracks was found dead in London at the age of 37.

1997 - INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence was found dead due to suicide by hanging in his hotel room in the Ritz Carlton in Double Bay, Australia. He was 37 years old.

Birthdays

George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) 1819
Charles de Gaulle (France) 1890
Hoagy Carmichael 1899
Benjamin Britten 1913
Lew Hays 1914
Rodney Dangerfield 1921
Geraldine Page 1924
Lew Burdette (MLB) 1926
Robert Vaughn 1932
Michael Callan 1935
Allen Garfield 1939
Terry Gilliam 1940
Tom Conti 1941
Guion S. Bluford 1942
Billie Jean King 1943
Wade Blasingame 1943 - Baseball player
Floyd Sneed (Three Dog Night) 1943
Aston Barrett (Bob Marley & The Wailers) 1946
Steve Van Zandt (E Street Band) 1949
Greg Luzinski 1950 - Baseball player
Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club) 1950
Craig Hundley (Cragi Hundley Trio) 1953
Jamie Lee Curtis 1958 - Actress
Jason Ringenberg (Jason & the Scorchers) 1958
Mariel Hemingway 1961
Stephen Geoffreys 1964
Nicholas Rowe 1966
Boris Becker 1967
Scarlett Johansson 1984 - Actress (The Island)

All information provided is purely speculation as I do not test. Use the provided information at you own risk.