MAPS OF HISTORY · ON THIS DAY · November 11

THE DAY IN HISTORY · NOVEMBER 11

November 11 in history

1918

At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the guns of the First World War fall silent.

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1940 — Raid on Taranto

11 Nov 1940 — 21 British biplanes cripple Italy’s battle fleet in harbor. Japan’s navy takes notes.

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1975 — Luanda — Angola, and instant war

11 Nov 1975 — As the Portuguese flag comes down, three liberation movements fight for the capital. Cuban troops and South African columns are already inside the country. Freedom and civil war arrive the same day.

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1983 — Able Archer 83

2–11 Nov 1983 — A NATO nuclear command exercise is so realistic that Soviet intelligence, primed to expect a first strike, puts forces on alert. Neither side grasps how close this was until the archives open.

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