Our front page for November 7 — written and set by The Yesterday Times from the events below. Not an archival document.
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On November 7 in 1917, 109 years ago, Bolsheviks Storm Winter Palace, Seize Power in Russia. This page reports 13 stories from the date, 25 people born on this day.
The stories in full
Petrograd Wire
1917 — Bolsheviks Storm Winter Palace, Seize Power in Russia
Revolutionary forces occupy seat of Provisional Government — Lenin's faction moves to consolidate control — upheaval convulses ancient empire
PETROGRAD, November 7 — Armed detachments of the Bolshevik faction stormed the Winter Palace this morning and overthrew the Provisional Government that has ruled Russia since March. The assault, which commenced before dawn, secured the seat of ministerial power within hours.
The seizure crowns weeks of maneuvering by Vladimir Lenin and his followers, who have demanded immediate peace with Germany and the transfer of land to peasant committees. The Provisional Government, headed by Alexander Kerensky, had resisted these calls while continuing the war.
Fighting was reported concentrated at the palace's Neva River approaches. The cruiser Aurora, anchored nearby, is said to have fired warning shots. Cossack guards offered scattered resistance before the building fell.
Lenin, who returned from exile only in April, now heads the Council of People's Commissars. The Bolsheviks hold majorities in the Petrograd and Moscow soviets but remain a minority in the national assembly elected last month.
The October Revolution, which gets its name from the Julian calendar date of 25 October, occurs, according to the Gregorian calendar; on this date, the Bolsheviks storm the Winter Palace.
1990 — Mary Robinson Elected Ireland's First Woman President
Labour and Workers' Party nominee, a 46-year-old Trinity College law professor, becomes first woman to hold Ireland's presidency after nine-week campaign.
Mary Robinson speaks after her election victory — Regina Kühne
DUBLIN, November 7 — Mary Robinson stood before supporters in central Dublin Wednesday night, the strain of a nine-week campaign still visible, and accepted election as the first woman to hold Ireland's presidency. The 46-year-old Trinity College law professor and former senator defeated Fianna Fáil's Brian Lenihan in Thursday's runoff, carrying working-class Dublin constituencies that had rejected her three weeks earlier. She is the first Labour Party nominee to win the office. Robinson's victory breaks sixty-two years of male occupancy of Áras an Uachtaráin.
Mary Robinson becomes the first woman to be elected President of the Republic of Ireland.
MELBOURNE, November 7 — The Australian colonies have at last secured a horse race to rival England's classics, with this day's inaugural Melbourne Cup establishing Flemington as the southern hemisphere's premier turf ground.
The two-mile handicap, conceived by the Victorian Turf Club, drew seventeen starters and a crowd estimated in the thousands. Archer, carrying 9 stone 7 pounds, defeated the field by six lengths.
The first Melbourne Cup horse race is held in Melbourne, Australia.
1913 — Great Lakes Storm Strikes with Hurricane Winds
Winds above seventy miles per hour struck Lake Superior by noon as vessels sought harbor and barometric pressure plunged.
CLEVELAND, November 7 — The inland seas that have made and unmade the fortunes of midwestern commerce now threaten their gravest toll in a generation, as a November storm of exceptional violence commenced its assault upon the Great Lakes this morning.
Winds reached hurricane force across Lake Superior by noon, with gusts measured above seventy miles per hour at Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie. Steamer captains radioed desperate requests for harbor clearance; several vessels, caught between ports, have ceased reporting position.
The storm's barometric pressure fell with terrifying speed, presaging a blizzard of uncommon severity.
The first day of the Great Lakes Storm of 1913, a massive blizzard that ultimately killed 250 and caused over $5 million (about $159,243,000 in 2024 dollars) damage. Winds reach hurricane force on this date.
1994 — UNC Student Station WXYC Beats World to Internet Radio
University of North Carolina outlet pipes FM signal onto global computer network in broadcast first.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C., November 7 — WXYC staffers punched the switch this morning on something no station had tried before: a live FM signal riding the Internet's backbone to computers worldwide.
The 1,300-watt student outlet at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill began streaming its regular broadcast onto the MBone, the multicast portion of the Internet, making WXYC 89.3 the first radio station to transmit real-time audio across the global computer network. Staff had spent months rigging the necessary encoding equipment to digitize their analog signal.
WXYC, the student radio station of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, launches the world's first internet radio broadcast.
1885 — Last Spike Driven at Craigellachie, Binding Canada by Rail
At 9:22 on November 7, Donald Smith sealed the Canadian Pacific Railway's completion with a final hammer blow of iron at this British Columbia mountain siding.
Officials and workers gather as the last spike is driven at Craigellachie — Ross et al.
CRAIGELLACHIE, British Columbia, November 7 — The most ambitious engineering feat in Dominion history reached its terminus at 9:22 this morning, when Donald Smith, director of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, swung the final hammer blow upon a spike of iron at this mountain siding. Smith’s swing required two blows, the first missing the spike entirely. Photographers from the Winnipeg firm of Steele & Co. recorded the scene. The gathered company officials then adjourned for a luncheon of cold ham and champagne.
The completion of Canada's first transcontinental railway is symbolized by the Last Spike ceremony at Craigellachie, British Columbia.
1944 — Roosevelt Wins Unprecedented Fourth Term as President
New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey concedes; Democratic incumbent carries 36 states with margin of 3.5 million votes.
WASHINGTON, November 7 — Franklin D. Roosevelt has been elected to a fourth term as President of the United States, the first man in American history to win so many.
The Democratic incumbent from New York defeated Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey, the 42-year-old governor of New York, by an electoral vote of 432 to 99. Roosevelt carried 36 states, including the entire South, most of the industrial Northeast, and key border states, while Dewey won in the Plains and Mountain West.
The popular vote margin approached 3.5 million ballots out of some 48 million cast.
Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected for a record fourth term as President of the United States.
1991 — Magic Johnson Retires From Lakers, NBA After Announcing HIV-Positive Test
The 32-year-old guard made his announcement November 7 at the start of the 1991–92 season.
INGLEWOOD, Calif., November 7 — The Forum stood silent this morning as Magic Johnson, the Los Angeles Lakers guard who animated basketball's greatest rivalry, told reporters he is leaving the game after testing positive for HIV.
Johnson, 32, announced his retirement at the start of the 1991–92 NBA season, cutting short a career that had earned him three Most Valuable Player awards and five championships. The diagnosis came during a routine physical for the season ahead.
Magic Johnson announced his retirement early in the 1991–92 NBA season after testing positive for HIV.
Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers honored Johnson by switching from his usual number 34 to 32 for the entire season.
Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had contracted HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award.
Johnson's retirement brought the Magic vs. Bird era to a close, as Larry Bird retired at the end of the season due to back problems.
1775 — Dunmore Promises Freedom to Slaves Who Take Arms for Crown Against Rebellious Colonists
The Earl of Dunmore's November 7 proclamation marks North America's first mass emancipation, promising freedom to slaves who join His Majesty's forces against the Virginia colonists.
WILLIAMSBURG, November 7 — The rebellion of the Virginia colonists against Crown authority has been answered with a weapon calculated to strike at the very root of their prosperity: their slaves. John Murray, Earl of Dunmore and Royal Governor of this Colony, hath this day issued a proclamation offering freedom to all slaves who shall quit their masters' service and take up arms for His Majesty's forces.
This Offer of Emancipation, the first mass emancipation proclamation in the history of North America, doth transform the character of the present troubles.
John Murray (also known as Lord Dunmore), the Royal Governor of the Colony of Virginia, starts the first mass emancipation of slaves in North America by issuing Lord Dunmore's Offer of Emancipation, which offers freedom to slaves who abandoned their colonial masters to fight with Murray and the British.
2020 — Biden Defeats Trump, Wins Presidency After Four Tumultuous Years
The former vice president, who first sought the office across three decades, unseated the incumbent today in a campaign shaped by disease, division and disruption.
WILMINGTON, Del., November 7 — In an era defined by disruption, division, and disease, the American electorate has chosen restoration over revolution. Joseph R. Biden Jr., the former vice president who sought the office across three decades, is confirmed elected today as the 46th president of the United States, defeating incumbent Donald J. Trump.
Joe Biden is confirmed elected as the 46th president of the United States, defeating incumbent Donald Trump.
1972 — Nixon Crushes McGovern in Record Landslide; President Wins 49 States
Nixon's triumph on November 7 gave him a re-election of unprecedented dimensions.
WASHINGTON, November 7 — Richard M. Nixon stood triumphant early today as the returns confirmed what the polls had predicted: a re-election of unprecedented dimensions. The President carried 520 electoral votes to Senator George McGovern's 17. McGovern won only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. In the popular vote, Nixon led by nearly 18 million ballots.
United States presidential election: U.S. President Richard Nixon is re-elected in the largest landslide victory at the time.
2000 — High Court Ends Florida Recount, Bush Wins Presidency
The Supreme Court's Bush v. Gore decision halts the contested Florida recount and resolves the disputed 2000 election in favor of George W. Bush, making him the 43rd President.
WASHINGTON, November 7 — The Supreme Court tonight ended the thirty-six-day legal battle over the presidential election, ruling in Bush v. Gore to halt the Florida recount and effectively delivering the White House to George W. Bush.
The controversial US presidential election is later resolved in the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court case, electing George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States.
Virginia Democrat claims narrow victory over Republican Marshall Coleman.
Lieutenant Governor L. Douglas Wilder won election as governor of Virginia Tuesday. He became the first African American elected to lead a U.S. state. The victory preserves Democratic control of the statehouse.
Douglas Wilder wins the governor's seat in Virginia, becoming the first elected African American governor in the United States.
1943Joni Mitchell(83 this year)Roberta Joan Mitchell is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter.
1888C. V. RamanChandrasekhara Venkata Raman was an Indian physicist known for his work in the field of light scattering.
1927Hiroshi YamauchiHiroshi Yamauchi was a Japanese businessman and the third president of Nintendo, serving in the role from 25 April 1949 to 24 May 2002, and principal owner of the Seattle Mariners from 1992 until his death.
1952David Petraeus(74 this year)David Howell Petraeus is a retired United States Army general who served as the fourth director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from September 2011 until his resignation in November 2012.
1954Kamal Haasan(72 this year)Kamal Haasan is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician, currently serving as a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha for Tamil Nadu.
1942Johnny Rivers(84 this year)Johnny Rivers is an American retired musician.
1922Al HirtAlois Maxwell "Al" Hirt was an American trumpeter and bandleader.
630Constans IIConstans II, also called "the Bearded", was the Byzantine emperor from 641 to 668.
1805Thomas BrasseyThomas Brassey was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century.
1876Charlie TownsendCharles Lucas Townsend was a Gloucestershire cricketer.
1879Leon TrotskyLev Davidovich Trotsky, better known as Leon Trotsky, was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist.
1888Nestor MakhnoNestor Ivanovych Makhno, also known as Bat'ko Makhno, was a Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary and the commander of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine during the Ukrainian War of Independence.
1891Genrikh YagodaGenrikh Grigoryevich Yagoda was a Soviet secret police official who served as director of the NKVD, the Soviet Union's security and intelligence agency, from 1934 to 1936.
1918Maria Teresa de NoronhaD. Maria Teresa do Carmo de Noronha, was a Portuguese aristocrat and a fado singer.
1920Elaine MorganElaine Morgan OBE, FRSL, was a Welsh writer for television and the author of several books on evolutionary anthropology.
1921Lisa BenEdythe D. Eyde better known by her pen name Lisa Ben, was an American editor, author, active fantasy-fiction fan and fanzine contributor, and songwriter.
1931G. Edward Griffin(95 this year)George Edward Griffin is an American author, filmmaker, lecturer, and a conspiracy theorist.
1936Gwyneth Jones(90 this year)Dame Gwyneth Jones is a Welsh dramatic soprano, widely regarded as one of the greatest Wagnerian sopranos of the second half of the 20th century.
1944Pekka VennamoPekka Veikko Vennamo was a Finnish politician and corporate executive.
1948Buck Martinez(78 this year)John Albert "Buck" Martinez is an American former professional baseball catcher and manager, and was the television color commentator for the Toronto Blue Jays until his retirement in 2026.
1953Lucinda Green(73 this year)Lucinda Jane Green is a British equestrian and journalist who competed in eventing.
1954Guy Gavriel Kay(72 this year)Guy Gavriel Kay is a Canadian writer of fantasy fiction.
1962Dirk ShaferDirk Alan Shafer was an American model, actor, screenwriter and director.
1963Sam Graves(63 this year)Samuel Bruce Graves Jr. is an American politician who is currently serving in the U.S. House of Representatives for Missouri's 6th congressional district, with him being the dean of Missouri's congressional delegation upon the retirement of Senator Roy Blunt in 2023, and having held office since 2001.
1966Calvin Borel(60 this year)Calvin H. Borel is an American jockey in thoroughbred horse racing and rode the victorious mount in the 2007 Kentucky Derby, the 2009 Kentucky Derby and the 2010 Kentucky Derby.
Quote of the Day
“You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” — Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
November 7 History Quiz
In which year was Franklin D. Roosevelt elected to his record fourth term as U.S. President?
1944
Who was elected the first female President of Ireland on November 7, 1990?
Mary Robinson
Which NBA star announced his retirement on November 7, 1991, after testing positive for HIV?
Every event on this page was picked by hand from the historical record, written up as a news report, and checked against its source. Photographs are matched to the event they illustrate and verified before they are used. Sources are linked on each story.
“Save The Last Dance For Me”, 
Love Story, Erich Segal
The Hotel New Hampshire, John Irving
“End Of The Road (From "Boomerang")”, 
The Tale of the Body Thief, Anne Rice
“Fireflies”, 
The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown
See Me, Nicholas Sparks
A Time for Mercy, John Grisham
