On This Day In
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chroniclebot.bsky.social
On This Day In
@chroniclebot.bsky.social
I'm just a bot obsessively reposting events that happened on this day in history.

Project by @delesslin.bsky.social
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1967

Iberia Flight 062 crashes in Blackdown, West Sussex, killing all 37 people on board including British actress June Thorburn.
Iberia Flight 062
Iberia Flight 062 was a twin-engined Sud Aviation Caravelle registered EC-BDD operating a scheduled flight from Málaga Airport, Spain, to London Heathrow Airport. While on approach to Heathrow on 4 November 1967, the Caravelle descended far below the flight level assigned to it and flew into the southern slope of Blackdown Hill in West Sussex, killing all 37 on board.
en.wikipedia.org
November 4, 2025 at 5:02 PM
1966

The Arno River floods Florence, Italy, to a maximum depth of 6.7 m (22 ft), leaving thousands homeless and destroying millions of masterpieces of art and rare books. Venice is also submerged on the same day at its record all-time acqua alta of 194 cm (76 in).
Arno
The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.
en.wikipedia.org
November 4, 2025 at 4:34 PM
1962

The United States concludes Operation Fishbowl, its final above-ground nuclear weapons testing series, in anticipation of the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
Operation Fishbowl
Operation Fishbowl was a series of high-altitude nuclear tests in 1962 that were carried out by the United States as a part of the larger Operation Dominic nuclear test program.
en.wikipedia.org
November 4, 2025 at 4:34 PM
1952

The United States government establishes the National Security Agency, or NSA.
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the United States.
en.wikipedia.org
November 4, 2025 at 2:34 PM
1946

UNESCO constitution comes into force: UNESCO’s constitution entered into force, creating a UN agency devoted to education, science and culture and promoting international collaboration.
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It has 194 member states and 12 associate members, as well as partners in the non-governmental, intergovernmental and private sector. Headquartered in Paris, France, UNESCO has 53 regional field offices and 199 national commissions.
en.wikipedia.org
November 4, 2025 at 2:34 PM
1942

World War II: Disobeying a direct order by Adolf Hitler, General Field Marshal Erwin Rommel begins a retreat of his forces after a costly defeat during the Second Battle of El Alamein. The retreat would ultimately last five months.
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany during the Nazi period from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor of Germany in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 marked the outbreak of the Second World War. Throughout his leadership in the ensuing conflict, he was closely involved in the direction of German military operations and the perpetration of the Holocaust, the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims.
en.wikipedia.org
November 4, 2025 at 12:34 PM
1922

In Egypt, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men find the entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
Howard Carter
Howard Carter was a British archaeologist and Egyptologist who discovered the intact tomb of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922, the best-preserved pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the Kings.
en.wikipedia.org
November 4, 2025 at 10:34 AM
1921

The Saalschutz Abteilung (hall defense detachment) of the Nazi Party is renamed the Sturmabteilung (storm detachment) after a large riot in Munich.
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party, was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers' Party, existed from 1919 to 1920. The Nazi Party emerged from the extremist German nationalist, racist, and populist Freikorps paramilitary culture, which fought against communist uprisings in post–World War I Germany. The party was created to draw workers away from communism and into völkisch nationalism. Initially, Nazi political strategy focused on anti-big business, anti-bourgeoisie, and anti-capitalism, disingenuously using socialist rhetoric to gain the support of the lower middle class; that was later downplayed to gain the support of business leaders. By the 1930s, the party's main focus shifted to antisemitic and anti-Marxist themes. The party had little popular support until the Great Depression, when worsening living standards and widespread unemployment drove Germans into political extremism.
en.wikipedia.org
November 4, 2025 at 9:34 AM
1890

City and South London Railway: London's first deep-level tube railway opens between King William Street and Stockwell.
City and South London Railway
The City and South London Railway (C&SLR) was the first successful deep-level underground "tube" railway in the world, and the first major railway to use electric traction. The railway was originally intended for cable-hauled trains, but owing to the bankruptcy of the cable contractor during construction, a system of electric traction using electric locomotives – an experimental technology at the time – was chosen instead.
en.wikipedia.org
November 4, 2025 at 8:34 AM
1868

Camagüey, Cuba, revolts against Spain during the Ten Years' War.
Camagüey
Camagüey is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third-largest city with more than 333,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province.
en.wikipedia.org
November 4, 2025 at 8:34 AM
1864

American Civil War: Confederate troops bombard a Union supply base and destroy millions of dollars in materiel at the Battle of Johnsonville.
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve African American slavery, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North.
en.wikipedia.org
November 4, 2025 at 7:34 AM
1847

Sir James Young Simpson, a Scottish physician, discovers the anaesthetic properties of chloroform.
James Young Simpson
Sir James Young Simpson, 1st Baronet was a Scottish obstetrician and a significant figure in the history of medicine. He was the first physician to demonstrate the anaesthetic properties of chloroform in humans and helped to popularize its use in medicine.
en.wikipedia.org
November 4, 2025 at 6:34 AM
1839

Newport Rising: The last large-scale armed rebellion against authority in mainland Britain.
Newport Rising
The Newport Rising was the last large-scale armed rising in Wales, by Chartists whose demands included democracy and the right to vote with a secret ballot.
en.wikipedia.org
November 4, 2025 at 6:34 AM