50 Fun Facts About November

November's name comes from the Latin word for which number?

It was the ninth month of the old Roman calendar and kept its name even after January and February were added to the front of the year. It has 30 days.

Which gemstone is November's traditional birthstone, said to symbolise friendship?

Citrine is the month's alternative stone. November's birth flower is the chrysanthemum.

What is the birth flower of November?

The month straddles two zodiac signs, Scorpio until November 21 and Sagittarius from November 22. South of the equator November is the seasonal twin of May.

A person born on November 10 falls under which Western zodiac sign?

Scorpio runs to November 21 and Sagittarius takes over on November 22, carrying on to December 21.

US Thanksgiving is celebrated on which day of November?

Franklin Roosevelt broke with the last-Thursday tradition in 1939 to lengthen the shopping season, and Congress settled on the fourth Thursday in 1941. Some years the two are the same day; some years they are not.

Which president began regularly proclaiming a national Thanksgiving, mid-Civil War?

He was prompted by years of editorials from magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale, who is also credited with writing 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'.

The Pilgrims' 1621 harvest celebration at Plymouth, often called the first Thanksgiving, lasted how long?

The Wampanoag brought food of their own to the feast. There is no record that turkey was served; venison and wildfowl are the foods actually documented.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York has been held since which year?

The first parade featured live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo; the giant balloons arrived in 1927. It was suspended from 1942 to 1944 because rubber and helium were needed for the war.

Who always arrives at the very end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?

His arrival is treated as the official start of the Christmas season. The parade calls itself the world's largest.

Canada also celebrates Thanksgiving, but in which month?

It falls on the second Monday of October, six weeks before the American holiday, reflecting Canada's earlier harvest.

Black Friday got its name from police in which US city describing the traffic chaos?

Retailers tried and failed to rebrand it 'Big Friday' in 1961. The 'in the black' profit explanation came later, in the 1980s. Cyber Monday was coined by the National Retail Federation in 2005.

Which US holiday is observed every year on November 11?

It marks the moment the First World War armistice took effect, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. Memorial Day, in May, honours those who died in service.

Before 1954, the US federal holiday on November 11 was known by what name?

Congress swapped 'Armistice' for 'Veterans' in June 1954 so the day would honour those who served in every war, not just the First World War. Britain and the Commonwealth still call it Remembrance Day.

The red poppy worn in November for Remembrance Day was inspired by which First World War poem?

Canadian doctor John McCrae wrote it on 3 May 1915, the day after watching a friend die. The first British Poppy Day was held on 11 November 1921.

Guy Fawkes was arrested guarding explosives beneath which building?

The 1605 Gunpowder Plot aimed to blow up King James I at the opening of Parliament. An Act passed in January 1606 ordered an annual day of thanksgiving, which is why the bonfires have burned ever since.

Which English town's bonfire societies stage the country's most extravagant 5 November celebrations?

Its bonfire tradition dates back to 1679. Effigies known as 'guys', originally of Fawkes himself, are burned on the fires.

Movember began in 2004 when 30 men in which country grew a 'mo' for 30 days?

The 30 founders were in Melbourne, and 'mo' is local slang for a moustache. The campaign raises money for prostate cancer, testicular cancer and men's mental health, and went international in 2007.

Mexico's Day of the Dead is traditionally celebrated on which two dates?

Families build ofrendas with the favourite foods of the departed and scatter orange marigolds thought to guide souls home. UNESCO listed the tradition as intangible heritage in 2008.

Which orange flower, cempasúchil in Mexico, is thought to draw souls of the dead to Day of the Dead altars?

Pan de muerto, a sweet roll decorated with bone-shaped pastry, is another staple of the ofrenda.

Mexico City's huge Day of the Dead parade only began in 2016, after being invented for the opening of which film?

No such parade existed when the James Bond film was shot. Interest was so great that the city staged a real one in late 2016, drawing 250,000 people.

Which Christian feast falls on November 1, with Halloween as its eve?

Halloween is a contraction of All Hallows' Eve. All Souls' Day, for the faithful departed, follows on November 2.

The Berlin Wall was opened on the night of which date in 1989?

East German spokesman Günter Schabowski, asked when new travel rules began, fumbled 'immediately, without delay', and crowds surged to the checkpoints.

US Election Day is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Between which dates can it fall?

Tuesday let farmers travel after Sunday church and be home for Wednesday market. November 1 was avoided because it was All Saints' Day and the day merchants did their books.

Which year's presidential election produced the first Republican president and triggered Southern secession?

Seven states that had voted for John Breckinridge left the Union before the winner was even inaugurated in March 1861.

The Gettysburg Address, delivered on November 19, 1863, was how long?

It took less than two minutes. The main speaker, Edward Everett, had just talked for two hours and 13,607 words, and later wrote to the president that he wished he had come as close to the day's central idea in two hours as the president had in two minutes.

On 4 November 1922 Howard Carter's team uncovered the first step leading down to whose tomb?

Carter peered into the antechamber on November 26 and famously reported seeing 'wonderful things'. The dig was bankrolled by the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, and the tomb is catalogued as KV62.

Which children's television show premiered on public television on November 10, 1969?

Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett created it, with Jim Henson's Muppets as its stars. It has aired on PBS ever since.

Mickey Mouse's official 'birthday' is November 18, marking the 1928 premiere of which cartoon?

It opened at the Colony Theater in New York and was one of the first cartoons with a fully post-produced synchronised soundtrack. Minnie debuted in it too.

Which landmark science book, published 24 November 1859, sold out its 1,250-copy first printing before release?

Charles Darwin's publisher John Murray priced it at fifteen shillings. Every copy had been claimed at Murray's autumn sale two days earlier.

Laika, the first animal to orbit Earth, was launched aboard Sputnik 2 on 3 November of which year?

She was a stray picked off the streets of Moscow. She died of overheating within hours, a fact the Soviet Union concealed for decades.

On November 14, 1889, journalist Nellie Bly set off to beat the fictional record in which novel?

She made it back in just over 72 days, arriving on January 25, 1890. Her real name was Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman.

In which year did the first free human balloon flight take place over Paris?

Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes flew about nine kilometres in 25 minutes, sponging out embers that kept scorching the fabric. Pilâtre used his coat to put out one fire.

Which Agatha Christie play, open in London since 25 November 1952, is the world's longest-running?

Christie expected it to last eight months. Audiences are asked never to reveal the killer, and it passed its 30,000th performance in March 2025.

What Billboard record did 'November Rain' hold for 30 years until Taylor Swift broke it?

The Axl Rose composition runs nearly nine minutes. In 2018 its video became the first made before YouTube existed to pass a billion views.

The Melbourne Cup, 'the race that stops the nation', is run on which day?

The 3,200-metre race at Flemington has been run every year since 1861, and race day has been a public holiday across much of Victoria since 1876.

Saint Andrew's Day, Scotland's national day, is celebrated on which date?

It became a Scottish bank holiday in 2007, though banks are not obliged to close. Andrew is also patron saint of Greece, Romania, Russia and Barbados, among others.

Thailand's Loy Krathong festival, usually in November, involves floating what onto rivers and lakes?

A krathong is traditionally cut from a slice of banana trunk. In Chiang Mai the Yi Peng festival fills the sky with lanterns at the same time.

World Diabetes Day is held on 14 November because it is the birthday of which co-discoverer of insulin?

Banting and Best's idea led to insulin's discovery in 1922. The campaign, run by the International Diabetes Federation, uses a blue circle as its symbol.

What are the small oil lamps lit for Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, called?

One tradition ties the festival to Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman returning to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile. Celebrations generally last five or six days.

Which US president was assassinated in Dallas on Friday, November 22, 1963?

He was riding through Dealey Plaza in a 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible. Lyndon Johnson took the oath aboard Air Force One at 2:38 pm that afternoon.

Who shot Lee Harvey Oswald dead in a Dallas police basement two days after Kennedy's assassination?

Ruby was a local nightclub owner. The Warren Commission later concluded that Oswald acted alone and found no evidence either man was part of a conspiracy.

What did the Anglo-Saxons call the month of November?

In the calendar of Romulus, around 750 BC, it had been the ninth month, which its name still reflects.

Which two French Republican calendar months overlapped with November?

Their names evoke fog and frost, fitting for late autumn in revolutionary France.

Which meteor shower occurs from November 15 to 20 each year?

November also hosts the Andromedids, the Alpha Monocerotids and both the Northern and Southern Taurids.

Which Western zodiac sign begins on November 22?

It runs until December 21, so the month is split between two signs.

Besides its better-known yellow gem, which other stone is listed as a November birthstone?

Both are yellow-toned stones, and the month's birth flower is the chrysanthemum.

In Catholic tradition, November is the month of prayer for whom?

Some parishes keep a 'November Dead List' of names to be remembered in prayer throughout the month.

On which date are World Toilet Day and International Men's Day both observed?

The same date is Brazil's Flag Day, Monaco's national day and Women's Entrepreneurship Day.

Which country marks Revolution Day on November 20?

Algeria's Anniversary of the Revolution falls on November 1 and Russia's Unity Day on November 4.

What name is given to the online-shopping day that follows the US Thanksgiving weekend?

It completes a run that also takes in Blackout Wednesday, Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.