After 30 years in power, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was succeeded by Mohamed Nasheed as president of the Maldives.
Source11 November 2016
A Friday in history
Weekday
Friday
Season
Autumn (N. Hemisphere)
Century
21st century
Records
415
2008
1999The House of Lords Act was given royal assent, removing most hereditary peers from the British House of Lords.
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1975During a constitutional crisis, Governor-General Sir John Kerr (pictured) dismissed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam's government and dissolved the Parliament of Australia for a double-dissolution election.
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1965Rhodesia, led by Prime Minister Ian Smith (pictured), unilaterally declared independence from the United Kingdom.
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1960A coup attempt by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam against President Ngô Đình Diệm was crushed after he falsely promised reform, allowing loyalists to rescue him.
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1940Second World War: The Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history against the Italians in the Battle of Taranto.
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1934The Shrine of Remembrance (pictured), a memorial to all Australians who have served in war, opened in Melbourne.
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1926The plan for the United States Numbered Highway System was approved by the American Association of State Highway Officials.
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1920In London, the Cenotaph was unveiled and the Unknown Warrior was buried in Westminster Abbey in remembrance of the First World War.
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1918The armistice between the German Empire and the Allies was signed in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiègne of France (signatories pictured).
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1918Józef Piłsudski, appointed the commander-in-chief of Polish forces by the Regency Council, was entrusted with the creation of a national government for the newly independent Poland.
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1880Australian bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly was hanged in Melbourne, in spite of sympathizers holding rallies for his reprieve.
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1813War of 1812: British–Canadian forces repelled an American attack at the Battle of Crysler's Farm, forcing the United States to give up their attempt to capture Montreal.
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1805War of the Third Coalition: French, Austrian and Russian units suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Dürenstein.
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1778American Revolutionary War: British forces and their Iroquois allies attacked a fort and the village of Cherry Valley, New York, killing 14 soldiers and 30 civilians.
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Photo archive
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What was life like?
Prices, jobs, food, music and everyday routine — the world as it felt to live in.
Sources & fact check
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