COUNTDOWN TO NOVEMBER 22ND

November 22nd

A day of remembrance — the anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination, Lebanon's Independence Day and the feast of Saint Cecilia, patron of music.

--Days
--Hours
--Minutes
--Seconds

Next: Sunday, November 22, 2026.

What Makes This Day Special

November 22nd
Significance

🕊️

Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was shot at about 12:30 p.m. while riding in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. He was pronounced dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital at 1:00 p.m. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson took the oath of office aboard Air Force One at Love Field at 2:38 p.m., with Jacqueline Kennedy standing beside him. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested that afternoon and was himself shot dead by Jack Ruby two days later. On November 29, 1963, Johnson created the Warren Commission to investigate the killing.

🇱🇧

Lebanon's Independence Day

Lebanon celebrates its Independence Day on November 22. On that date in 1943, the French authorities released President Bechara El Khoury, Prime Minister Riad Al Solh and other leaders whom they had arrested after Lebanon's parliament amended the constitution to end the French Mandate. The date has been marked as the country's national day ever since.

🎻

Feast of Saint Cecilia

November 22 is the feast day of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians and sacred music. Her feast has long been an occasion for concerts, and it inspired works such as Henry Purcell's odes to St. Cecilia, John Dryden's poems and George Frideric Handel's Ode for St. Cecilia's Day. Benjamin Britten, who was born on November 22, 1913, also wrote a Hymn to St Cecilia.

Historical Events

This Day
in History

1718

Blackbeard Killed at Ocracoke

The pirate Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, was killed off Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, when Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard attacked and boarded his sloop. Accounts of the fight report that Blackbeard was shot five times and cut about twenty times before he fell. His death removed one of the most feared figures of the so-called Golden Age of Piracy.

1943

Cairo Conference Opens

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo, Egypt, to plan the war against Japan. The resulting Cairo Declaration stated that territories Japan had taken from China would be returned. Roosevelt and Churchill then travelled on to meet Joseph Stalin in Tehran.

1990

Margaret Thatcher Withdraws

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher announced that she would not contest the second ballot of the Conservative Party leadership election, bringing her 11-year premiership to an end. John Major won the leadership and succeeded her as prime minister on November 28, 1990.

2005

Angela Merkel Becomes Chancellor

Angela Merkel was elected Chancellor of Germany by the Bundestag, becoming the first woman to hold the office. She went on to serve for 16 years, until December 8, 2021.