On This Day: November 2nd

Bulgaria defeats the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Lule Burgas, the bloodiest battle of the First Balkan War, which opens her way to Constantinople.

The Boers begin their 118-day siege of British-held Ladysmith during the Second Boer War.

North Dakota and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states.

The great fire destroys a large part of Oulu's city center in Oulu Province, Finland.

Time zone: New Zealand officially adopts a standard time to be observed nationally.

The French Directory, a five-man revolutionary government, is created.

Four British naval vessels run aground on the Isles of Scilly because of faulty navigation. In response, the first Longitude Act is enacted in 1714.

Plymouth Colony governor Josiah Winslow leads a colonial militia against the Narragansett during King Philip's War.

The Peace of Bicêtre suspends hostilities in the Armagnac-Burgundian Civil War.

A qaghan of the Western Turkic Khaganate is assassinated in a Chinese palace by Eastern Turkic rivals after the approval of Tang emperor Gaozu.