Cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh, killing an estimated 5000 people and destroyed the world's largest mangrove forest, Sundarbans.

Boeing formally launches the stretched Boeing 747-8 variant with orders from Cargolux and Nippon Cargo Airlines.

The first day of the 2003 Istanbul Bombings, in which two car bombs, targeting two synagogues, explode, killing 25 people and wounding about 300. Additional bombings follow on November 20.

Jharkhand state comes into existence in India.

A chartered Antonov An-24 crashes after takeoff from Luanda, Angola killing more than 40 people.

Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' launches with flight STS-38.

Sachin Tendulkar makes his debut as an international cricketer.

The first Fairtrade label, Max Havelaar, is launched in the Netherlands.

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An independent State of Palestine is proclaimed by the Palestinian National Council.

In the Soviet Union, the unmanned Shuttle ''Buran'' is launched on her first and last space flight.

In Braşov, Romania, workers rebel against the communist regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu.

Continental Airlines Flight 1713, a Douglas DC-9-14 jetliner, crashes in a snowstorm at Denver, Colorado Stapleton International Airport, killing 28 occupants, while 54 survive the crash.

The Anglo-Irish Agreement is signed at Hillsborough Castle by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald.

A research assistant is injured when a package from the Unabomber addressed to a University of Michigan professor explodes.

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is founded. Recognised only by Turkey.

A package from the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski begins smoking in the cargo hold of a flight from Chicago to Washington, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.

A chartered Douglas DC-8 crashes near Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing 183.

René Lévesque and the ''Parti Québécois'' take power to become the first Quebec government of the 20th century clearly in favour of independence.

Intel releases world's first commercial single-chip microprocessor, the 4004.

Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 250,000-500,000 protesters staged a peaceful demonstration against the war, including a symbolic "March Against Death".

Cold War: The Soviet submarine K-19 collides with the American submarine USS ''Gato'' in the Barents Sea.

The US Air Force launches Operation Commando Hunt, a large-scale bombing campaign against the Ho Chi Minh trail.

The only fatality of the X-15 program occurs during the 191st flight when Air Force test pilot Michael J. Adams loses control of his aircraft which is destroyed mid-air over the Mojave Desert.

Gemini program: Gemini 12 splashes down safely in the Atlantic Ocean.

A Boeing 727 carrying Pan Am Flight 708 crashes near Berlin, Germany, killing all three people on board.

Four members of the Herbert Clutter Family are murdered at their farm outside Holcomb, Kansas.

Greek resistance leader Nikos Beloyannis, along with 11 resistance members, is sentenced to death by the court-martial.

Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte are executed for assassinating Mahatma Gandhi.

Louis Stephen St. Laurent succeeds William Lyon Mackenzie King as Prime Minister of Canada. King had the longest combined time (3 terms, 22 years in total) as Premier in Commonwealth of Nations history.

Venezuela joins the United Nations.

Holocaust: German SS leader Heinrich Himmler orders that Gypsies are to be put "on the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps". (see Porajmos)

World War II: The Battle of Guadalcanal ends in a decisive Allied victory.

World War II: First flight of the Heinkel He 219.

In Washington, D.C., US President Franklin D. Roosevelt lays the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial.

Manuel L. Quezon is inaugurated as the second president of the Philippines.

The NBC radio network opens with 24 stations.

The German Rentenmark is introduced in Germany to counter Inflation in the Weimar Republic.

First assembly of the League of Nations is held in Geneva.

Brazil is declared a republic by Marechal Deodoro da Fonseca and Emperor Pedro II is deposed in a military coup.

American Civil War: Union General William Tecumseh Sherman burns Atlanta, Georgia and starts Sherman's March to the Sea. thumb is deposed and Brazil becomes a republic.]]

The first modern revival of the Olympic Games takes place in Athens, Greece.

In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is given the necessary royal concession.

Pike expedition: Lieutenant Zebulon Pike sees a distant mountain peak while near the Colorado foothills of the Rocky Mountains (it is later named Pikes Peak).

The first U.S Catholic college, Georgetown University, opens its doors.

American Revolutionary War: After 16 months of debate the Continental Congress approves the Articles of Confederation.

Francisco Pizarro arrives in Cuzco, the capital of the Inca Empire.

Commanded by Francisco Pizarro, Spanish conquistadors under Hernando de Soto meet Inca leader Atahualpa for the first time outside Cajamarca, arranging a meeting on the city plaza the following day

Thomas Wolsey is invested as a Cardinal

Battle of Morgarten the Schweizer Eidgenossenschaft ambushes the army of Leopold I.

Battle of Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria.