Today is November 15: Discover the significance of this date and its historical events.
November 15 marks the beginning of the Christmas fast. On this day in 1899, Winston Churchill – the future Prime Minister of the United Kingdom – was captured during the Second Boer War. In 1904, King Gillette patented the safety razor with replaceable blades. In 1919, the last meeting of the Directory of the Ukrainian People's Republic took place. In 1940, on the night of November 14-15, over 500 German aircraft bombed the British city of Coventry. In 1971, the corporation "Intel" released its first microprocessor.
Holidays and Commemorative Dates on November 15
November 15 is International Day of Writers in Prison.
Also today: International Day of Cheese and Bread, World Vasectomy Day (the third Friday of November), European Music Therapy Day, Steve Irwin Day (the late television host known as the "Crocodile Hunter").
November 15 in History
November 15, 1899 - 24-year-old Winston Churchill – future Prime Minister of the United Kingdom – was captured during the Second Boer War. His successful escape from captivity is one of the most famous episodes in Churchill's rich biography.
The English aristocrat Winston Churchill was a descendant of John Churchill – the famous commander, general, and first Duke of Marlborough. The future Prime Minister was the grandson of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, John Spencer-Churchill. Winston's father, Randolph Churchill, was a British politician who served as Minister for India and later as Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister). With such a lineage, a political career was expected for young Churchill. However, he initially joined the army. Winston received his education at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst and joined the British Army at the age of 20, participating in military actions – first in British India.
However, he did not excel as a "classic soldier," and in 1895, with the help of his mother's connections, Churchill secured an assignment to Cuba as a war correspondent for the newspaper "Daily Graphic" (while still remaining on military duty). Some of Churchill's early articles were reprinted by "The New York Times." From that point on, he began to publish regularly in newspapers and later write books (his work "The River War" about the Sudan campaign gained particular popularity). After several travels, participation in military actions, and the suppression of uprisings against British colonists, as well as writing articles for newspapers, Winston became quite well-known at home. Consequently, in 1899 he resigned from military service and attempted to enter politics. He ran for the British Parliament but lost. He then decided to return to the war – as a correspondent for the "Morning Post." This was during the Second Boer War in southern Africa, where Churchill was captured.
He arrived in the combat zone at the end of October 1899. On November 15, he embarked on a reconnaissance mission on an armored train. The Boers attacked this "fortress on wheels." The train was shelled with artillery, and the train collided with boulders placed on the tracks by the attackers – ultimately derailing. Churchill took command of clearing the track, and the men under his leadership accomplished this. However, they were unable to get the train back on the tracks and reattach the cars, so the train's commander, Captain Holdain, ordered the heavily wounded to be loaded onto the locomotive – and it departed. All others, about fifty Englishmen (including Churchill), remained to fend off the Boers, who outnumbered them significantly. Eventually, the British were forced to surrender. Churchill immediately attempted to escape but was captured by enemy cavalry and taken to a prisoner of war camp in Pretoria (now part of the Republic of South Africa).
However, the British war correspondent managed to escape.
“The fugitive had neither a map nor knowledge of the local language, and in his pocket were only ‘four bars of melting chocolate and a crumbling biscuit,’ but he had a superhuman faith that he could safely traverse the 300-mile journey through enemy territory,” comments English documentary writer Christopher Klein for History.com.
A reward was offered for Churchill's capture; he was being hunted. Yet he managed to break free. Winston reached the railway, jumped onto a freight train, and traveled to the coal basin at Witbank. There, a mining engineer named Daniel Duesnap (also English) hid the future Prime Minister for several days in a mine. He also helped Churchill get on a train to Mozambique, which was then under Portuguese control. Churchill's escape from Boer captivity made the war correspondent a true celebrity back in Britain. The British followed the Boers' futile attempts to capture him almost "live" through newspaper reports, which turned Churchill's escape into a thrilling adventure story.
“To their shock and horror, the British were losing the war,” explains History.com’s Candice Millard, author of the book “Hero of Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill.” “When Churchill managed to escape, they were losing battle after battle, and they needed a hero. Here was this young lord's son humiliating the Boers.”
When Churchill reached civilization and made contact, he received numerous offers to return to politics and run for Parliament again. However, he did not do so immediately – he stayed in South Africa and continued to cover the war, also participating in several battles. In June 1900, the British Army captured the city of Pretoria, and Churchill rode in and led the liberation of 180 soldiers from the same prison he had once escaped. That summer, he returned to Britain – a hero and a celebrity, later running for Parliament – and predictably won the elections.
November 15, 1904 - King Camp Gillette patented his invention that made his name synonymous with safety razors – the safety razor with replaceable blades. Learn more.
November 15, 1919 - The last meeting of the Directory of the Ukrainian People's Republic took place in Kamianets-Podilskyi. Learn more.
On the night of November 14-15, 1940 - German aviation conducted a 10-hour bombing raid on the city of Coventry in the UK. The tragedy of Coventry, literally “wiped off the face of the earth” by 437 German planes, became one of the tragic symbols of the Battle of Britain during World War II. Learn more.
November 15, 1945 - The Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences (UFAS) was founded. Learn more.
November 15, 1971 - The corporation "Intel" released its first microprocessor – the 4004 chip. Learn more.
November 15, 2022 - The Russian army launched another mass missile strike on Ukraine, using around a hundred missiles. Among other targets, they hit a critical infrastructure facility in Kharkiv. Learn more.
Church Holiday on November 15
November 15 marks the beginning of the Christmas fast (or Philip's Fast) in Ukraine. It lasts for 40 days – from November 15 to December 24.
Today, the memory of the martyrs and confessors Guriy, Samon, and Aviv is also honored. During the persecutions of Christians under emperors Diocletian and Maximian, two Christian friends, Guriy and Samon, were captured in Edessa. They resolutely refused to offer sacrifices to pagan gods and declared that they professed Christianity. For this, they were brutally tortured and then taken outside the city and beheaded. Aviv lived many years after Guriy and Samon, during the reign of the last pagan emperor Licinius. The deacon of the Edessian church, Aviv, whom the emperor ordered to capture, voluntarily went to the executioners, not wanting other Christians to suffer during his search. He was sentenced to be burned, and he walked into the fire himself. When the fire was extinguished, the saint's mother and relatives found his body unharmed. The martyr was buried next to the saints Guriy and Samon. The three of them are known among Christians as protectors of spouses, marriage, and happy families.
Folk Omens
If jackdaws and tits walk on the ground – expect snow to fall soon.
If all the leaves have fallen from the viburnum, then real winter will soon begin.
What Not to Do on November 15
Do not leave a fire unattended to prevent a fire.
Do not light a bonfire – either in the yard or in the forest.
Do not wish harm to others.