November 26 in History

George Washington issued a proclamation on November 26, 1789, designating a national day of thanksgiving, the first under the new Constitution. Congress had requested it, and Washington chose Thursday, November 26. The proclamation asked Americans to acknowledge 'the many signal favors of Almighty God' and to pray for the new government's success. Not everyone approved: some Southern congressmen objected that thanksgiving was a New England custom being imposed on the nation, and anti-Federalists complained it was too monarchical. The holiday was not observed consistently after Washington's presidency; Jefferson refused to issue thanksgiving proclamations, calling them a form of government involvement in religion. Abraham Lincoln revived the tradition in 1863, fixing the holiday on the last Thursday in November. It has been observed annually since.

The National Hockey League was founded on November 26, 1917, at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal, replacing the National Hockey Association after a dispute between franchise owners. The original teams were the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, and Toronto Arenas. The Quebec Bulldogs held a franchise but didn't ice a team until 1919. The Wanderers' arena burned down after just six games, and the team folded. The NHL played its first season with three teams. The league expanded slowly: the Boston Bruins became the first American team in 1924, followed by the New York Americans and Pittsburgh Pirates. The Stanley Cup, which had existed since 1893 as a challenge trophy, became the NHL's exclusive championship in 1926. The league settled into its 'Original Six' era from 1942 to 1967 before the first major expansion doubled the number of teams.

Howard Carter chiseled a small hole through the sealed doorway of Tutankhamun's antechamber on November 26, 1922, and peered inside by candlelight. Lord Carnarvon, standing behind him, asked 'Can you see anything?' Carter replied 'Yes, wonderful things.' The chamber was crammed with golden furniture, dismantled chariots, alabaster vessels, and two life-sized statues guarding a sealed doorway that led to the burial chamber beyond. Carter spent three months cataloging the antechamber before opening the burial chamber on February 16, 1923. Inside was the golden shrine containing three nested coffins, the innermost made of 243 pounds of solid gold, and the iconic death mask. The excavation took eight years. Carter cataloged 5,398 objects. Carnarvon died from an infected mosquito bite five months after the opening, inspiring decades of 'curse of the pharaohs' stories.

Soviet forces shelled the village of Mainila on their own side of the Finnish border on November 26, 1939, then blamed Finland for the attack. Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov demanded Finland withdraw its troops 25 kilometers from the border. Finland denied responsibility and proposed a mutual withdrawal, offering to allow an independent investigation. The Soviet Union refused, broke off diplomatic relations, and invaded Finland on November 30, beginning the Winter War. The Mainila incident was a classic false flag operation: the Soviet government needed a pretext for invasion because the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact's secret protocol had assigned Finland to the Soviet sphere of influence. Soviet records declassified after the Cold War confirmed the shelling was self-inflicted. Finland fought the much larger Soviet army to a near-standstill before ceding territory in the March 1940 peace.

China launched a massive counterattack on November 26, 1950, sending roughly 120,000 Chinese People's Volunteer Army troops against 30,000 UN forces at the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. Temperatures dropped to minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit. Chinese soldiers attacked in waves at night, using bugles and whistles to coordinate. The outnumbered Marines and Army troops fought their way out over 17 days, covering 78 miles to the port of Hungnam while under constant attack. The 'Frozen Chosin' retreat cost 6,000 American casualties from combat and 12,000 from frostbite. Chinese losses were far worse: an estimated 40,000 killed, many from the cold. The battle shattered MacArthur's plan to reach the Yalu River and end the war by Christmas. Instead, the war ground on for two and a half more years.

Isabella I left behind a unified Spain forged through her marriage to Ferdinand II, the conquest of Granada, and the fateful decision to finance Columbus's voyage across the Atlantic. Her death triggered a succession crisis but could not undo the imperial foundations she built, as Spanish dominion over the Americas would endure for three centuries.