◒liveloreAccount
← All LiveLore stories
22 NOVEMBER FACTS · EVERY ONE SOURCED · SHORT ENOUGH TO READ ALOUD

Fun Facts About November

By LiveLore · Non-fiction, every fact linked to a source · Published · Updated

November is the month of falling leaves, first frosts and long evenings, and it carries more history than its quiet reputation suggests. Its name means “nine”, wars ended and walls fell in it, and one of its meteor showers once lit the sky with thousands of shooting stars an hour. Below are twenty-two fun facts about November, grouped into the calendar, history, the sky and the month’s traditions. Each November fact is short enough to read aloud, and each links to the Wikipedia article we checked it against. For the big holiday at the end of the month, see our fun facts about Thanksgiving.

November Facts About the Calendar

November’s name is older than its place in the year.

  1. Its name means “nine” November comes from the Latin novem, “nine”. It was the ninth month of the early Roman calendar of Romulus and kept its name when January and February were added, pushing it to eleventh place. ↳ November
  2. It has 30 days November is the 11th and second-to-last month of the Gregorian calendar, and it has 30 days. ↳ November
  3. The Anglo-Saxons called it “blood month” The Anglo-Saxon name for November was Blōtmōnaþ. In the French Republican calendar, November fell across the months of Brumaire and Frimaire. ↳ November
  4. November up north is May down south November is late autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and late spring in the Southern Hemisphere, so seasonally it matches May on the other side of the equator. ↳ November
  5. Two zodiac signs share it Scorpio runs from October 23 to November 21 and Sagittarius from November 22 to December 21. ↳ November
  6. Its birthstones are topaz and citrine November’s birthstone is topaz, especially yellow or orange topaz, which symbolises friendship, along with citrine. ↳ Topaz
  7. Its flower is the chrysanthemum The chrysanthemum is November’s birth flower. As a late-season bloom, it is linked with November across the Northern Hemisphere. ↳ Chrysanthemum

November Facts From History

A surprising number of turning points happened in November.

  1. World War I stopped at the eleventh hour The Armistice was agreed at 5 a.m. on 11 November 1918 and came into force at 11 a.m. Paris time: “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month”. Fighting went on until then, and 2,738 men died on that last day. ↳ Armistice of 11 November 1918
  2. November 11 became a day of remembrance Commonwealth countries mark Remembrance Day, also called Poppy Day, on November 11. In the United States, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954. ↳ Veterans Day
  3. Russia’s “October” Revolution happened in November The Bolsheviks rose up in Petrograd on 7 November 1917. Russia still used the Julian calendar, where the date was 25 October, which is why it is called the October Revolution. ↳ October Revolution
  4. The Berlin Wall fell after a mistaken announcement At a live press conference on 9 November 1989, East German spokesman Günter Schabowski announced too early that East Germans could travel freely. Crowds went to the border that night. ↳ Fall of the Berlin Wall
  5. Tutankhamun’s tomb was found in November On 4 November 1922, a worker on Howard Carter’s team uncovered a step cut into the rock. It led to Tutankhamun’s tomb, which held more than five thousand objects. ↳ Discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun
  6. The Gettysburg Address took under two minutes Abraham Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg on 19 November 1863. The speech has only about 271 words and was read in less than two minutes. ↳ Gettysburg Address
  7. Darwin’s book sold out to booksellers before release On the Origin of Species was published on 24 November 1859. All available copies of the 1,250 first printing were taken up at the publisher’s sale two days earlier. ↳ On the Origin of Species
  8. Mickey Mouse premiered in November Steamboat Willie, the cartoon that made Mickey Mouse famous, premiered at the Colony Theater in New York on 18 November 1928. ↳ Steamboat Willie

November Facts About the Night Sky

  1. The Leonids peak in mid-November The Leonid meteor shower runs from about November 15 to 20 and tends to peak around November 18, though the exact peak changes every year. ↳ Leonids
  2. In 1833 the sky “fell” During the Leonid meteor storm of 12–13 November 1833, one estimate put the peak at over one hundred thousand meteors an hour across North America. ↳ Leonids
  3. November has several meteor showers Besides the Leonids, November skies include the Andromedids, the Alpha Monocerotids and the Northern and Southern Taurids. ↳ November

Fun Facts About November Traditions

From bonfires to moustaches, November has its own customs.

  1. Bonfire Night started in 1605 Britain lights bonfires and fireworks on 5 November because Guy Fawkes was arrested that night in 1605 guarding explosives under the House of Lords. Londoners lit bonfires to celebrate the king’s survival. ↳ Guy Fawkes Night
  2. The Day of the Dead opens the month Mexico’s Día de los Muertos is traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, when families remember relatives who have died. ↳ Day of the Dead
  3. US elections are always in early November Federal law sets US Election Day as “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November”, so it always falls between November 2 and 8. ↳ Election Day (United States)
  4. Movember is a moustache charity Movember mixes “mo”, Australian slang for moustache, with November. Participants grow moustaches all month to raise awareness of men’s health, including prostate and testicular cancer and suicide prevention. ↳ Movember
  5. November was novel-writing month For years, NaNoWriMo challenged writers to draft a 50,000-word novel in November, about 1,667 words a day. The nonprofit behind it closed in 2025, but community challenges continue. ↳ National Novel Writing Month

November Facts vs. Thanksgiving and Christmas Facts

This page covers the whole month. For the fourth Thursday alone, read our Thanksgiving facts; for what comes next, our Christmas facts. The first two days of the month have their own page too: Day of the Dead facts. To look further ahead, see our New Years traditions from around the world.

How to Use These November Facts

Use one November fact a day as a classroom warm-up, turn the list into a quiz, or read a few aloud on a long autumn evening. Each takes 15 to 30 seconds. Like true stories with a darker edge? Try our weird history facts or creepy space facts, and our weird facts Shorts scripts turn facts like these into short videos.

How We Checked These November Facts

Every fact links to the Wikipedia article we checked it against on October 23, 2026. Where a date differs between calendars, such as the October Revolution, we say so. If you spot an error, tell us through the contact page.

Fun Facts About November — FAQ

Why is November called November?

From the Latin novem, “nine”. It was the ninth month of the early Roman calendar and kept the name after January and February were added.

How many days are in November?

November has 30 days.

What is November’s birthstone and flower?

Topaz (especially yellow or orange) and citrine are the birthstones; the chrysanthemum is the birth flower.

What happens on November 11?

It marks the 1918 Armistice that ended the fighting of World War I. It is Remembrance Day in Commonwealth countries and Veterans Day in the United States.