1152 Nicholas Breakspear elected Pope as Adrian IV (1152-1159), the only English pope

1697 Consecration of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, which would defy Hitler's Blitz

1775 The First American Flag: The "Grand Union Flag" is hoisted for the first time, at Philadelphia aboard John Paul Jones' ship 'Alfred' [or the 3rd]

1777 British Gen William Howe plots attack on Washington's army for Dec 4

1794 "Silas Tomkyn Comberbache" (Samuel Taylor Coleridge) enlists in the 15th Dragoons

1804 In Notre Dame Cathedral, Napoleon crowns himself Emperor of the French (1804-1814, 1815)

1805 Battle of Austerlitz: Napoleon defeats the Russians & Austrians

1823 President Monroe announces his Doctrine.

1848 Accession of Franz Josef as Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, etc., etc. (1848-1916)

1852 President Louis Napoleon Bonaparte overthrows the Second French Republic, establishes himself as head of a provisional government (1851-1852)

1852 President of the Second French Republic Louis Napoleon Bonaparte proclaims himself Emperor of the Second French Empire as Napoleon III (1852-1870)

1856 Battle of uDondakusuka: Cetswayo defeats his brother Mbuyazi to secure the Zulu throne

1899 Battle of Tirad Pass: Peyton March defeats a Filipino rearguard

1908 Accession of Puyi (aged 2) as Emperor of China (1908-1912, deposed, restored briefly 1917)

1914 Adolf Hitler is awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class -- "The happiest day of my life."

1914 Austrians capture Belgrade, Serbia, after several tries

1915 Fourth Battle of the Isonzo ends (began Nov 10)

1941 Hawaii: Recon aircraft are ordered to search to 400 miles, in an arc from the northwest to south

1941 HMS 'Prince of Wales' & 'Repulse' ("Force Z") arrive at Singapore

1941 Japanese First Air Fleet at 43 N, 158 30' E, c. 2,500 miles from Pearl Harbor

1941 Roosevelt asks Japan to clarify its intentions regarding French Indochina

1942 "The Italian navigator has arrived in the New World" - Enrico Fermi initiates the first "Atomic Pile", in Chicago

1942 Italian blockade runner 'Orseolo' arrives at Kobe from Bordeaux

1942 Papua: Eichelberger relieves cdrs of 32nd Div and several subordinate units

1942 Papua: Japanese at Buna beat off another American attack, as reinforcements arrive

1944 Chiang Kai-shek rejects proposals to arm the Communists against Japan

1954 The Senate votes overwhelmingly to censure Sen Joseph McCarthy

1980 Mass murder of Roman Catholic missionaries by a Salvadorian government death squad

2015 Islamist terror attack at a health facility in San Bernardino, Ca., 14 killed, 17 wounded