Plymouth Colony settlers sign the Mayflower Compact

The Mayflower Compact, signed on November 11, 1620, was a foundational document for self-governance in what would later become the United States. Crafted by the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower before they disembarked at Plymouth Rock, the Compact was a social contract aimed at ensuring order and cooperation among the settlers. It established the principle that the colony would be governed by the consent of the governed, with laws created for the general good of the settlement. Signed by 41 male passengers, the Compact is significant because it laid the groundwork for democratic governance and the rule of law in the New World, reflecting early notions of majority rule and civil agreement. Despite its brevity, the Mayflower Compact is often celebrated as a precursor to the broader democratic ideals that shaped the U.S. Constitution over a century later.

Robert Mugabe formally resigns as President of Zimbabwe, after thirty-seven years in office.

Robert Mugabe (1924-2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who played a significant role in the country’s struggle for independence from British colonial rule. He was born on February 21, 1924, in what was then Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Mugabe’s early political activism began in the 1960s when he joined the National Democratic Party and later the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU).

The liberation war against white-minority rule in Rhodesia, led by various nationalist groups, including ZANU, resulted in the establishment of an independent Zimbabwe in 1980. Mugabe became the country’s first prime minister after the elections that year, and he later assumed the role of president in 1987 when the position was created.

During his early years as leader, Mugabe was praised for his efforts to reconcile the divided nation and for his policies aimed at education and healthcare. However, over time, his leadership became increasingly controversial. His government faced allegations of human rights abuses, electoral fraud, and economic mismanagement.

One of the most contentious aspects of Mugabe’s rule was the controversial land reform program that began in the early 2000s. The government initiated a program of land seizures, redistributing white-owned commercial farms to landless black Zimbabweans. While the move was intended to address historical injustices and socioeconomic imbalances, it resulted in a sharp decline in agricultural production and economic instability.

Mugabe’s leadership was marked by authoritarian tendencies, and his government faced criticism for suppressing political opposition and restricting press freedom. The economy deteriorated significantly, and Zimbabwe experienced hyperinflation, unemployment, and poverty.

In 2017, facing increasing pressure, including the threat of impeachment, Mugabe resigned from the presidency after nearly four decades in power. His departure marked the end of an era in Zimbabwean politics. Mugabe passed away on September 6, 2019, in Singapore, at the age of 95. His legacy remains complex, with opinions on his rule divided between those who see him as a liberation hero and others who criticize his later years in power.

The Natural History Museum, London announces that the “Piltdown Man” skull, initially believed to be one of the most important fossilized hominid skulls ever found, is a hoax.

The Natural History Museum, London announces that the “Piltdown Man” skull, initially believed to be one of the most important fossilized hominid skulls ever found, is a hoax.

At least 28 are wounded after a bomb is thrown onto a bus in Tel Aviv.

A mine explosion in Heilongjiang, China kills 108.

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The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, is attacked by a mob and set on fire.

On 21 November 1979, Pakistani people, enraged by a radio report claiming that the United States had bombed the Masjid al-Haram, Islam’s holy site at Mecca, stormed the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, and burned it to the ground. The Grand Mosque had suffered a terrorist attack, but the U.S. was not involved. The U.S. diplomats survived by hiding in a reinforced area, although Marine Security Guard Corporal Steven Crowley, 20, Army Warrant Officer Bryan Ellis, 30, and two Pakistan staff members were killed in the attack.

On 20 November 1979, a Saudi Arabian Islamic zealot group had led a takeover of the Mosque in Mecca. The group’s demands included calling for the cutoff of oil exports to the United States and the expulsion of all foreign civilian and military experts from the Arabian Peninsula. However, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini allegedly claimed that Americans were behind the attack on Islam’s holiest place. This claim was repeated in media reports the morning of 21 November.

The event started as a small, peaceful protest against U.S. policies in Cambodia, as well as suspected U.S. involvement surrounding the military coup d’état of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1977. The protesters shouted anti-American slogans. At first glance the event seemed to be a small protest outside the embassy’s walls. Later, buses filled with Jamaat-i-Islami supporters began arriving in front of the main gate. Hundreds of people began climbing over the walls and trying to pull the walls down using ropes. According to an American investigation, the protesters opened fire after a bullet fired at the gate’s lock by one rioter ricocheted and struck other protesters. Who actually fired first has not been determined. Twenty-year-old Marine Steve Crowley was struck by a bullet and transported to the embassy’s secure communication vault along with the rest of personnel serving in the embassy. Locked behind steel-reinforced doors the Americans waited for help to come and rescue them from the smoke-filled building.

After nightfall a Marine unit was able to sneak out a back exit from the vault as the front door was too damaged to open. Finding the embassy empty they led the rest of the 140 people from the vault out into the courtyard.

Albert Einstein publishes a paper, “Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?” that later leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc².