What Happened in November 1856

Historical Events

  • Nov 3 A British fleet bombards Canton

James Buchanan Elected

Nov 4 James Buchanan elected 15th US president

Big Ben Chimes

Nov 13 The Great Bell of Big Ben first chimes at the foot of the still unfinished clock tower outside the Palace of Westminster [1]

Condensed Milk

Nov 14 American Gail Borden is issued a patent for technology related to his invention of condensed milk

  • Nov 16 Amsterdam post office at Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal opens
  • Nov 17 On the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona, the United States Army establishes Fort Buchanan in order to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase.

Famous Birthdays

  • Nov 3 Jim McCormick, Scottish-born American baseball pitcher and manager (first Scot in MLB; NL wins leader 1880, 82; NL ERA leader 1883), born in Thornliebank, Renfrewshire (d. 1918)
  • Nov 6 Nikolaĭ Nikolaevich, Grand Duke of Russia, born in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire (d. 1929)
  • Nov 7 Semyon Alapin, Russian chess master, born in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire (d. 1923)
  • Nov 13 Louis Brandeis, American lawyer and associate justice on the Supreme Court of the United States (1916-39), born in Louisville, Kentucky (d. 1941)
  • Nov 13 Sigwart Aspestrand, Norwegian composer, born in Fredrikshald, Norway (d. 1941)
  • Nov 18 Nicholas Nikolaevich Romanov, Grand Duke of Russia and general in World War I (1914-18), born in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire (d. 1929)
  • Nov 22 Heber J. Grant, 7th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, born in Salt Lake City, Utah (d. 1945)
  • Nov 25 Sergei Taneyev, Russian pianist and composer (Oresteia), born in Vladimir, Russia (d. 1915)
  • Nov 28 Alexander Kastalsky, Russian composer, born in Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1926)
  • Nov 29 Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, Chancellor of the German Empire (1909-17), born in Hohenfinow, Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1921)

Famous Deaths

  • Nov 4 Hippolyte Delaroche, French painter, dies at 62
  • Nov 17 William Knyvett, British singer and composer, dies at 77
  • Nov 20 Farkas Bolyai, Hungarian mathematician known for his work on the foundations of geometry and the parallel axiom (Wallace–Bolyai–Gerwien theorem), dies at 81