Important Events

164 BC During Maccabbean revolt Judas Maccabaeus recaptures Jersusalem and rededicates the Second Temple, commemorated since as Jewish festival Hanukkah

1620 Mayflower Compact signed by Pilgrims at Cape Cod [O.S. Nov 11]

1818 Russia’s Tsar Alexander I petitions for a Jewish state in Palestine

1906 China prohibits the opium trade

1970 General Hafez al-Assad becomes Prime Minister of Syria following military coup

1971 Battle of Garibpur: Indian troops aided by the Mukti Bahini, Bengali guerrillas, defeat the army of Pakistan

2017 Robert Mugabe’s resignation after 37 years in power is read out in Zimbabwe’s parliaments during impeachment proceedings

Today In Film & TV

1976 “Rocky” directed by John G. Avildsen and starring Sylvester Stallone premieres in New York (Best Picture 1977)

Today In Music

1937 Dmitri Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony premieres in Lenningrad, with the ovation lasting over an hour

Today In Sports

1905 1st match ever played in the Australian National Tennis Championships