Welcome to November, the month of dreary rain, gunpowder plots, beheadings, doom, and gloom! Or so it would seem, according to history.

However, I also recently discovered that one date in November—the 14th—also has an accumulation of interesting births, deaths and events connected to it and many of these are worth noting.

For instance, on November 14, 1840, French impressionist Claude Monet was born.  Two other important world figures shared this same birth date in subsequent years.  In 1889, it was Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, and in 1896, first lady Mamie Eisenhower.  Both had November 14 birthdays.

Woolworth’s heiress, Barbara Hutton, was also born on that same date in 1912, and in 1919, actress Veronica Lake joined the ranks of those November 14 babies.

On November 14, 1935, Jordan’s King Hussein was born, and in 1948 King Charles III of England was also born on that date.  As a point of interest, his sister, Princess Anne, chose November 14, 1973, to marry her first husband, commoner Captain Mark Phillips, but that marriage ended in divorce.

Three deaths of note that occurred on November 14 happened respectively in 565 AD when Roman Emperor, Justinian, died at the age of 82.  Centuries later, in 1990, Malcolm Muggeridge, noted British media personality and Second World War British spy, died at the age of 87.  

A great number of world events also occurred on November 14th.  One that caught my eye happened in 1666 when Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist, reported in his diary that the first blood transfusion had taken place between dogs!  In 1792, Captain George Vancouver became the first Englishman to enter San Francisco Bay on that date on the west coast of America.

And did you know that Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick” was published on November 14, 1851, or that on November 14 in 1881 Charles J. Guiteau went on trial for President Garfield’s assassination? And in 1896 on November 14 the Niagara Falls power plant went into operation for the first time on date?  Ten years later, in 1906, President Roosevelt became the first American president to visit a foreign country (Panama.)

An exciting event in 1922 was when the BBC began its domestic radio service for the first time from Marconi House on November 14.  But a much sadder event took place on that date in 1940 during the Second World War when German bombs destroyed most of the city of Coventry in England.

In 1969 on November 14 Apollo 12 launched its second moon landing and in 1972 on that auspicious date the Dow Jones closed above 1,000 for the first time in history.

November 14 is not considered a public holiday anywhere in the world although in the Cayman Islands it is celebrated as Remembrance Day; in West Germany (when it occurs on a Wednesday) it is known as Repentance Day; and in England (when it occurs on a Saturday) it becomes Lord Mayor’s Day.

On a personal note, November 14 is the birthday of my daughter Kate.  She’s in good company with kings, first ladies, prime ministers, artists, heiresses and actresses, who all share her birthday. Happy Birthday to all you Scorpios who have a sting in your tail.

And on this date this year, I have a new book being released. It is an historical fiction story set on Vancouver Island and tells the adventurous true story of one of the first white children born in this province in 1853 who rose from humble beginnings to become the wife of the 8th Premier of British Columbia. From Primitive Shack to Premier’s Wife is the story of Constance Skinner Davie, a woman far ahead of her time, and will be available for your Christmas shopping.

So, no doom and gloom this November