James “Jimmy” Doolittle was born on December 14, 1896, in Alameda, California. A pioneering aviator with many “firsts” to his name, he’s best remembered as the leader and namesake of the “Doolittle” Raid on Japan during World War II.
On December 7, 1941, Japanese bombers attacked American troops at Pearl Harbor, launching the US into World War II.
On November 25, 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant broke the Confederate siege of Chattanooga.
On November 24, 1954, First Lady Mamie Eisenhower christened the first plane to be designated Air Force One.
After burning Atlanta, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman embarked on his month-long March to the Sea on November 15, 1864.
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month (November 11, 1918), the world’s warring nations agreed to cease fighting, bringing about the end of the Great War.
The forerunner of the United States Marines was established on November 10, 1775, in the midst of the American Revolutionary War. The Marines have fought in every major US-involved war since, making over 300 landings on foreign shores.
On November 8, 1861, the Trent Affair began an international incident that nearly sparked a war between the US and Great Britain during the Civil War.
On November 7, 1848, the War Department established a post on the Rio Grande that would later come to be known as Fort Bliss. Still in use today, it’s the second-largest US Army installation in the world.