National American Indian Heritage Month

The term "American Indian" incorporates hundreds of different tribes and approximately 250 languages. Starting in 1976 as Native American Awareness Week, the period was expanded by Congress and approved by President Bush in August 1990 by designating the month of November as National American Indian Heritage Month. In his proclamation for 1996, President Clinton noted, "Throughout our history, American Indian and Alaska Native peoples have been an integral part of the American character. Against all odds, America's first peoples have endured, and they remain a vital cultural, political, social, and moral presence." For more information, contact the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 202-219-4150. (Also see discussion under "Notes on Calendar Entries".)

November 1

• Children's Day: Panama

November 2

• General Election Day: US

November 3

• Culture Day (Bunka No Hi): Japan - This day was established in 1948 to promote the appreciation of peace and culture. The emperor awards Cultural Orders of Merit to those who have made major contributions to Japanese culture.
• Independence from Colombia: Panama - After the Spanish conquest of Colombia in the fourteenth century, Spain established colonies in Panama, which became part of Colombia. In 1903, Panamanians, supported by the United States which wanted to build a canal across the country, revolted and declared Panama independent of Colombia.
• Independence of Cuenca: Ecuador

November 4

• William (Will) Rogers Jr. (1879–1935): American Indian (Cherokee) - Humorist. Rogers' homespun humor won him national fame and great popularity as a stage and film actor, radio personality, and writer of a syndicated newspaper column. The targets of his barbs ranged across the entire political spectrum.
• Flag Day: Panama

November 6

• John Philip Sousa (1854–1932): Portuguese American - Composer and band conductor. Sousa wrote a number of marches that by virtue of their military vigor, tunefulness, and instrumentation brought him the title, "The March King." Perhaps the most famous of the marches he composed was, "Stars and Stripes Forever". He also invented the sousaphone, a tuba-like instrument named for him.
• Constitution Day: Dominican Republic
• WWI Victory Day: Italy - This marks the end of the war in Italy in 1918.

November 7

• Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988): Japanese American - Sculptor and designer. Noguchi was a distinguished sculptor and respected designer whose creations ranged from stage costumes and sets for the modern dance works of Martha Graham to interiors, gardens, lamps, and furniture.
• Marie Sklodowska-Curie (1867–1934): Polish French - Scientist. A Polish-born researcher who became the first woman professor at the Sorbonne, Marie Sklodowska-Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics (shared with her husband, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel) in 1904 for her studies of radioactivity. In 1911 she won the Nobel Prize for chemistry for her discovery of the elements radium and polonium, the latter named for her native country.
• Day of Accord and Reconciliation: Russia, Ukraine - This commemorates the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia that began in October 1917.

November 9

• Benjamin Banneker (1731–1806): African American - Astronomer and mathematician. Largely self-taught, Banneker mastered mathematics, mechanical principles, and the use of astronomical and surveying instruments. As a young man he designed and carved an accurate wooden clock; in 1791 he assisted the surveyor of the site where the new national capital city was to be built. After teaching himself to predict eclipses, Banneker published a widely read almanac.

November 11

• Independence Day: Poland - The kingdom of Poland had been partitioned among Austria, Prussia, and Russia since 1772. After World War I ended in 1918, Poland was declared independent, with Josef Pilsudski as its first head of state.
• Remembrance Day: Canada - This day is set aside to honor the more than 1,500,000 Canadians who served and 100,000 who died in World Wars I and II and in the Korean War. Canadians commemorate it by wearing poppies, the flower of remembrance, and by pausing for two minutes of silence. November 11 is the day in 1918 that fighting stopped on the western front in Europe.
• Veterans Day: United States, Belgium, France - This day of observance, originally called Armistice Day, was instituted to commemorate the signing of the armistice that ended World War I in 1918. It was meant to honor the millions who had died in the war and to serve as a day of reflection and rededication to world peace. In the United States its name has been changed, and it now honors all who have served in all the nation's wars. Veteran's Day is also celebrated on this day in Belgium and France.

November 12

• Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651–1695): Mexican - Poet. Recognized as the greatest poet of the Spanish colonies in America, Inés de la Cruz was an intellectual prodigy who learned to read at the age of three and became famous as a young woman for her beauty and brilliance. After her retirement to a convent, she studied theology, literature, history, science, and music, and corresponded with leading poets and scholars in both America and Europe. Her poetry won acclaim on both continents. When her superiors questioned the appropriateness of her pursuits, she wrote a passionate defense of women's right to learning.
• Sun Yat-sen's Birthday (1866–1925): Republic of China (Taiwan) - Revolutionary leader. Sun Yat-sen is honored on his birthday in Taiwan and on March 12, the anniversary of his death, in the People's Republic of China. Sun Yat-sen was the leader of the revolution of 1911, which brought an end to the Ch'ing Dynasty, and founded the Republic of China.

November 13

• Father´s Day: Finland
• Louis D. Brandeis (1856–1941): Jewish American - Lawyer and jurist. Throughout his distinguished career and particularly during his service on the Supreme Court from 1916 to 1939, Brandeis became known for his vigorous defense of civil liberties and of the interests of those threatened by the activities of large corporations, as well as for his insistence that legal issues be viewed in their economic and social context.

November 14

• Aaron Copland (1900–1990): Jewish American - Composer. One of America's most distinguished composers of orchestral music and a beloved teacher and mentor to younger composers, Copland wrote a number of works that achieved the status of classics in his lifetime. The best known of these are his scores for the ballets, "Rodeo," "Billy the Kid," and "Appalachian Spring".
• Dutch American Heritage Day: United States - On November 14, 1991, President Bush signed a proclamation later adopted by Congress establishing this day to recognize the contributions made by people of Dutch ancestry to the United States. The Dutch settled in North America in the 1600s, creating in 1625 the colony of New Amsterdam in what is now Manhattan. Approximately 8 million people of Dutch ancestry live in the United States, including many who played an important role in American history, such as both Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, both descendants of Claes Martenszen van Rosenvelt, a farmer who settled in New Amsterdam in the 1640s.

November 15

• Proclamation of the Republic: Brazil - This commemorates the day in 1889 that Brazil's second Emperor, Dom Pedro II, was deposed and the United States of Brazil was declared.
• Seven, Five, Three Festival (Shichi-go-san): Japan - This day is celebrated by children who are seven, five, and three years old. They are dressed in their best clothes. Little girls sometimes have their faces powdered white and their hair dressed in adult styles. The children are given bags of "thousand-year" candy to ensure a long, happy, and healthy life and are taken to shrines by parents to express thanks for good health and to pray for future blessings.

November 16

• W[illiam] C[hristopher] Handy (1873–1958): African American - Composer, band leader, and publisher. Handy is known as the "Father of the Blues" for both his work in collecting and popularizing blues and other African American folk music, and his own compositions based on the blues tradition. His best known work is, "St. Louis Blues", published in 1916.

November 17

• Independence of Cartagena: Colombia

November 18

• Jan Ignacy Paderewski (1860–1941): Polish - Composer, pianist, and statesman. Paderewski, an internationally known virtuoso, interrupted his concert career to work for Poland's independence from Russia. He headed the Polish government briefly in 1919 and was elected president of the Polish Republic in exile in 1939, after the invasion of his country by the Germans and the fall of independent Poland.
• Independence of Morocco: Morocco

November 19

• Discovery of Puerto Rico Day: Puerto Rico - This day commemorates the discovery of Puerto Rico by Christopher Columbus in 1493.

November 20

• Anniversary of the Revolution: Mexico - This day marks the anniversary of the social revolution launched by Francisco Madero against the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz that eventually led to the creation of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the creation of a constitutional democracy.
• Capture of Alcatraz Island (1969): American Indian - On this date a group of American Indians led by Richard Oakes took over Alcatraz Island, site of a former federal prison, demanding that it be made available to Indians as a cultural center and declaring that all federal surplus property must by law revert to American Indians. The occupation of Alcatraz, which lasted until June 11, 1971, dramatized the long-standing grievances of American Indians against the federal government and signaled the rise of a new activism among Indians.

November 22

• Independence Day: Lebanon - This day is Lebanon's celebration of its gaining independence from France in 1946.

November 23

• Carlos Bulosan (1913–1956): Filipino American - Writer and labor organizer. Arriving in the United States at the age of 17, Bulosan worked as a migrant agricultural laborer and eventually became involved in efforts to organize packing-house and cannery workers. After he began to write for a union paper, he discovered writing as his vocation. With the coming of World War II and the involvement of the United States in combat in the Philippines, Bulosan rose to literary prominence, publishing poetry and essays in magazines and volumes of poetry and autobiographies. His most famous work, his memoir, America Is in the Heart, speaks eloquently of the economic exploitation and ethnic discrimination suffered by poor Filipinos in his adopted country.
• José Clemente Orozco (1883–1949): Mexican - Painter. Along with Diego Rivera and David Siqueiros, Orozco was a leader of the Mexican muralist movement, one of the major creators of large-scale paintings on patriotic themes in the public buildings of the nation. His powerful works embody his own strong belief in the ideals of revolutionary Mexico and his faith in the courage and resilience of the common people. He also worked in the United States, where he painted an important series of frescoes at Dartmouth College.

November 24

• Labor Thanksgiving Day (Keiro Kansha No Hi): Japan - This observance began as a harvest festival when Japan was primarily an agricultural society and now is a day celebrating all those who work.
• Thanksgiving Day: United States - This legal holiday in all territories of the United States is a time for giving thanks for the harvest and for the blessings the year has brought. Although the celebration at Plymouth in 1621 is considered the first American thanksgiving observance, the idea was not a new one; harvest festivals and days of thanksgiving had long been observed in many cultures. The first nationwide observance occurred in 1863, when Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation designating the fourth Thursday of November as a day of national thanksgiving. In 1941 Congress made Thanksgiving Day a federal holiday.

November 25

• Joe DiMaggio (1914–1999): Italian American - Baseball player. Joe DiMaggio was one of the greatest baseball players of the century. During his career from 1936 to 1951 playing for the New York Yankees, DiMaggio won three Most Valuable Player awards and led the team to eight World Series championships. In the 1941 season, he had a 56-game hitting streak, a record many believe will never be broken. He retired at 37 with a lifetime batting average of .325. DiMaggio will be remembered by many baseball fans for his complete command of center field, which he covered in graceful, gliding strides that earned him the nickname, "the Yankee Clipper." In 1955, DiMaggio was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

November 26

• Sojourner Truth (1797?–1883): African American - Evangelist and social reformer. Born a slave, Isabella Baumfree fled her slave master in 1826 and became free in 1828 under the New York State Anti-Slavery Act. In 1843 Isabella experienced what she regarded as a command from God to preach. She changed her name to Sojourner Truth and became a traveling speaker and an eloquent advocate of the abolition of slavery and the granting of civil rights to women. Sojourner Truth visited President Abraham Lincoln in the White House in 1864. After the Civil War, she settled in Washington, D.C., and worked to help impoverished former slaves. She died on this date.

November 27

• Chaim Weizmann (1874–1952): Jewish German - Political leader. This German chemist was a leader of the Zionist movement to establish a Jewish state and served as the first president of the State of Israel from 1948 to 1952.

November 28

• (Sir) Grantley Herbert Adams (1898–1971): Barbadian - Political leader. Educated in Barbados and England, Adams practiced law before being elected to the Barbados House of Assembly in 1934. An advocate of progressive causes, he achieved an important victory with the electoral reform act of 1944, which gave women the right to vote and lowered the income requirement for voters. In 1950, Adams became the colony's prime minister, an office he held until 1962, when he returned to private law practice. For the last four years of his term he was also prime minister of the West Indian Federation, a group of British Caribbean colonies that dissolved in 1962. This is the anniversary of his death.
• Independence from Spain: Panama - This day commemorates Panama's gaining independence from Spain in 1821.

November 29

• Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1975): United States - Signed into U.S. law on this date, this act establishes the right of every child with a disability to a free and appropriate public education. It requires states to identify such children and develop individualized education programs for them, and to provide educational services in the least restrictive environment possible. The law also protects the rights of such children and their parents in educational decisions.

November 30

• Bonifacio Day: Philippines - This day commemorates the birth in 1863 of Andres Bonifacio, leader of the Philippine revolt against Spain in 1896.
• Independence Day: Barbados - This day commemorates the independence of this Caribbean island from Great Britain in 1966.