Holidays Calendar for November 11, 2020
Veterans Day
Veterans Day is a United States federal holiday that has been observed annually on November 11 since 1919, although initially it was referred to as Armistice Day. This holiday honors military veterans, i.e., people who have served in the United States Armed Forces.
National Independence Day is a public holiday in Poland celebrated on November 11. It commemorates the establishment of the Second Polish Republic in 1918. Restoration of Poland's sovereignty coincided with the end of the First World War.
Remembrance Day / Armistice Day
November 11 is Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day) in the Commonwealth of Nations and some other countries. This day commemorates the end of the World War I.
Independence Day in Angola is celebrated on November 11. This national holiday commemorates Angola's independence from Portugal in 1975.
Republic Day in the Maldives is celebrated on November 11. This public holiday commemorates the abolition of monarchy and establishment of the Republic of Maldives in 1968.
Cartagena Independence Day is a Colombian public holiday celebrated on November 11. Cartagena is the capital of the Bolívar Department, the proclamation of its independence from Spain in 1811 was an important step towards the independence of Colombia.
The birthday of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck is a public holiday celebrated in Bhutan on November 11. It was instituted when Jigme Singye Wangchuck ascended the throne as the 4th Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) in 1972. The holiday is also known as Constitution Day.
Saint Martin's Day, also known as the Feast of Saint Martin, is the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours. It falls on November 11. It used to be a very popular harvest festival in Europe, celebrated with fairs and feasting.
International Energy Saving Day is celebrated in some countries on November 11 every year. It was initiated by the School Project for Application of Resources and Energy (SPARE), an educational program focused on energy efficiency and the environment for schoolchildren aged 7 to 18.
Economist Day is a relatively new addition to Russia’s calendar of professional holidays. The observance was initiated by the Free Economic Society of Russia (VEO) and officially established by the Ministry of the Economic Development of the Russian Federation in 2015.
Energy Conservation Day in Kazakhstan is celebrated annually on November 11. It was officially established by the government of Kazakhstan in 2019 to coincide with International Energy Saving Day celebrated in some countries.
Puerto Princesa Underground River Day is observed in the Philippines on November 11 every year. It was established to celebrate one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations that was voted one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature in 2011.
National Education Day in India is celebrated on November 11. It marks the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, who served as the first Minister of Education of India from 1947 to 1958.
Origami Day is celebrated in many countries across the world on November 11. It is dedicated to the ancient art of paper folding, which is often associated with Japanese culture.
Lāčplēsis Day (Lāčplēša Diena) is a Latvian remembrance day observed on November 11. It commemorates the victory of the Latvian Army over the West Russian Volunteer Army led by Pavel Bermondt-Avalov in 1919.
The National Sundae Day is celebrated on November 11 which is quite ironic as the sundae is an ice cream dessert. Perhaps, this food-related holiday is intended to remind us of summer.
Singles' Day, also known as Bachelors' Day, is an informal holiday in China celebrated on November 11. This date was chosen for the connection between single people and the number 1, which is repeated four times in the date 11/11.
Pocky Day and Pepero Day are similar unofficial observances held on November 11 in Japan and South Korea, respectively. They are dedicated to chocolate-coated biscuit sticks known as Pocky in Japan and Pepero and South Korea.
Unofficial World Shopping Day is observed on November 11. As a matter of fact, it is not an international holiday, but rather a Chinese counterpart of Black Friday and Cyber Monday in America. On this day, Chinese online shops offer significant discounts and sales.
Chocolate is a beloved treat around the world, so it is not surprising that many countries have unofficial holidays that celebrate chocolate and chocolate-based products. For example, Chocolate Day in Sweden (Chokladens dag) is celebrated annually on November 11.
On November 11 at 11:11 AM, the carnival season is declared open in Germany. It is sometimes referred to as “the fifth season”. The biggest celebration occurs in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia.
National Women’s Day (Nationale Vrouwendag) is observed in Belgium on November 11 every year. The annual campaign is organized by Furia, a Flemish feminist action group that strives for an inclusive and supporting society without poverty, inequality, and discrimination.
Festivals on November 11, 2020
- Fantafestival in Rome, Italy
- Vladivostok International Jazz Festival in Vladivostok, Russia
- Stockholm International Film Festival in Stockholm, Sweden
- Roma Jazz Festival in Rome, Italy
- Saint Kitts and Nevis National Carnival (Sugar Mas) in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Olive and Olive Oil Festival in Baena in Baena, Spain
- Downtown Design in Dubai, UAE
- Tartu International Literary Festival Prima Vista in Tartu, Estonia
- Zagreb Film Festival in Zagreb, Croatia
- GLOW Eindhoven in Eindhoven, Netherlands
- Carthage Film Festival in Tunis, Tunisia
- Louisiana Renaissance Festival in Hammond, USA
- National Horse Fair in Portugal in Golegã, Portugal
- Cambridge Film Festival in Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Cork International Film Festival in Cork, Ireland
This Day in History
- 2024 Died: Frank Auerbach, German-British painter. He is considered one of the leading names in the School of London, with fellow artists Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud.
- 2022 The Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the city of Kherson and other occupied territories on the right bank of the Dnipro river during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- 2016 Died: Robert Vaughn, American actor, political activist, and author. He is know for his roles in The Young Philadelphians and The Magnificent Seven, as well as for portraying Napoleon Solo in the series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
- 2011 Bethesda Softworks released The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to universal acclaim. The game became one of the fastest selling video games of all time.
- 2010 Died: Marie Osborne Yeats, American actress. She was the first major child star of American silent films, beginning her career at the age of 3. She was usually billed simply as Baby Marie.
- 2005 Died: Peter Drucker, Austrian American management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of modern management theory.
- 2004 Died: Yasser Arafat, Palestinian engineer and politician, the 1st President of the Palestinian National Authority. In 1994 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in Oslo accords.
- 2000 155 skiers and snowboarders died when a cable car caught on fire in an alpine tunnel in Kaprun, Austria. Most of the victims were the Austrians.
- 1996 Born: Tye Sheridan, American actor known for portraying the young Scott Summers / Cyclops in the X-Men films and for his starring role in the science fiction film Ready Player One.
- 1993 Died: Erskine Hawkins, American trumpet player. He is most remembered for composing the jazz standard "Tuxedo Junction", which became a popular hit during World War II.
- 1992 The General Synod of the Church of England voted to allow women to become priests.
- 1989 Born: Adam Rippon, American retired figure skater and figure skating coach. He won a bronze medal as part of the figure skating team event at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
- 1984 Died: Martin Luther King, Sr., African-American Baptist pastor, missionary, and an early figure in the civil rights movement. He was the father and namesake of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
- 1974 Born: Leonardo DiCaprio, American actor and producer, known for roles in the films Titanic, Romeo + Juliet, The Man in the Iron Mask, Gangs of New York, The Great Gatsby, The Wolf of Wall Street, and more.
- 1973 Died: Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish chemist. In 1945 he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research and inventions in agricultural and nutrition chemistry.
- 1973 Born: Jason White, American musician, best known for being the touring guitarist of the rock band Green Day, with whom he has performed since 1999.
- 1964 Born: Calista Flockhart, American actress. She is best known for portraying the title character on the Fox television series Ally McBeal, for which she received a Golden Globe Award.
- 1962 Born: Demi Moore, American actress and model. She starred in a number of successful films, including Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Striptease, Ghost, Indecent Proposal etc.
- 1961 A mob massacred 13 Italian Air Force servicemen deployed to the Congo as a part of the UN peacekeeping force.
- 1960 Born: Stanley Tucci, American author and filmmaker. His film credits include The Devil Wears Prada, Julie & Julia, The Lovely Bones, Burlesque, The Hunger Games films, and more.
- 1951 Born: Kim Peek, American savant, known for his exceptional memory. He was the inspiration for the character Raymond Babbitt in the 1988 movie Rain Man.
- 1945 Died: Jerome Kern, American composer, one of the most important American theater composers of the early 20th century. He is known a number of successful songs, including "Ol' Man River", "A Fine Romance", "All the Things You Are" etc.
- 1940 The first aircraft carrier strike in history was launched by the Royal Navy on the Italian fleet at Taranto.
- 1938 Died: Mary Mallon, known as Typhoid Mary. She was the first person in the US identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the pathogen associated with typhoid fever. She spent nearly 30 yeas in isolation.
- 1930 Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd obtained a patent for their invention, known as the Einstein–Szilard or Einstein refrigerator. The three working fluids in the design were water, ammonia, and butane.
- 1918 Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in the forest of Compiègne, France, ending the fighting in World War I. This day is celebrated by many nations as Armistice Day.
- 1918 Emperor Charles I of Austria relinquished power and moved to Castle Eckartsau, east of Vienna. The next day the independent Republic of German-Austria was proclaimed.
- 1917 Died: Liliuokalani, Queen of the Kingdom of Hawaii. She was the last monarch of the kingdom, ruling it from January 29, 1891 to January 17, 1893.
- 1904 Born: J. H. C. Whitehead, British mathematician, one of the founders of homotopy theory.
- 1882 Born: Gustaf VI Adolf, King of Sweden from 1950 until his death in 1973. He is known for approving a new constitution that stripped the monarchy of its remaining political powers.
- 1879 Born: Frans Snyders, Flemish painter of animals and still lifes. He is known as one of the earliest specialist animaliers (artists specializing in the realistic portrayal of animals).
- 1869 The Victorian Aboriginal Protection Act was enacted in Australia. It gave the government control of indigenous people's wages, their terms of employment, where they could live and of their children, effectively leading to the Stolen Generation.
- 1864 Born: Alfred Hermann Fried, Austrian journalist and activist. In 1911 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize that he shared with Tobias Asser for their role in the formation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
- 1864 Union General William Tecumseh Sherman began burning Atlanta, Georgia to the ground in preparation for his march south.
- 1748 Born: Charles IV, King of Spain from December 14, 1788 until his abdication on March 19, 1808.
- 1638 Died: Cornelis van Haarlem, Dutch painter of the Dutch Golden Age period. He was one of the leading Northern mannerist artists in the Netherlands.