Clergyman John Harvard is believed to have been born on November 26, 1607, in Southward, Surrey, England. Though not a founder, Harvard donated half his fortune and his entire library to the school that was then named in his honor.
On November 25, 1783, the British Army left New York City following the American Revolutionary War. The date was celebrated for over a century as Evacuation Day, with celebrations rivaling those held on the Fourth of July.
US sailor Dorie Miller died on November 24, 1943, during the Battle of Makin. He had previously survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, for which he’d earned a Navy Cross.
America’s 14th president, Franklin Pierce, was born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, on November 23, 1804. Despite his early popularity, Pierce only served one term due to his poor handling of the growing slavery issue.
On November 21, 1964, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge first opened to traffic. It was the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time, and remains the longest bridge in America today.
On November 20, 1789, New Jersey became the first state in the US to ratify the Bill of Rights. It would be two more years before enough states ratified these amendments to make them part of the US Constitution.
On November 19, 1752, George Rogers Clark was born in Albemarle County, Virginia. A hero of the American Revolution, he’s most famous for his captures of Kaskaskia, Vincennes, and Fort Sackville.
On November 17, 1800, Congress convened in the still-under-construction Capitol building in Washington, DC for the first time. The Capitol building would undergo several expansions over the years, eventually growing to 16.5 acres.
On November 16, 1902, a cartoon appeared in a newspaper that inspired the creation of the first teddy bears, named after President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt.