November 11 Birthday
On November 11, 1918, at 5 AM, German representatives signed the armistice in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiègne. The fighting was to stop at 11 AM. In the six hours between signing and silence, 2,738 men died. American commander John Pershing had ordered attacks until the last minute. The last American killed was Henry Gunther, shot at 10:59 AM while charging a German machine gun. The Germans tried to wave him off. November 11 became Armistice Day, renamed Veterans Day in 1954. In Britain and Commonwealth nations, it is Remembrance Day, observed with two minutes of silence at 11 AM. Dostoevsky, born this day in 1821, was arrested for reading banned political texts and sentenced to death. He stood before a firing squad, heard the rifles cock, and then received a reprieve — it was a mock execution designed to break him. He was sent to Siberia for four years. He wrote Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, and Notes from Underground. People born on November 11 fall under the zodiac sign of Scorpio. The birthstone is Topaz and the birth flower is Chrysanthemum. Historical events on November 11 include 1918: World War I ends — armistice signed at 11 AM on 11th day of 11th month, 1620: Mayflower Compact signed aboard ship off Cape Cod, 1972: US Army turns over Long Binh base to South Vietnam. Famous people born on November 11 include Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821), Kurt Vonnegut (1922), Demi Moore (1962).