| 24 November 1221 | Khwarizm, Mongol Empire, India, Delhi Sultanate [Mongol conquests (1206–1405)] | The shah of the central Asian province of Khwarizm, Jalal-ad-Din, defeats the Mongols under Kutikonian at Parvan (near modern Kabul, Afghanistan). The Mongol leader Genghis Khan quickly avenges the defeat, destroying Jalal-ad-Din's army at Bamian (in present-day Afghanistan); Jalal-ad-Din flees to India with the Mongols in pursuit. After defeating Jalal-ad-Din again on the River Indus, Genghis Khan withdraws his forces to avoid war with the Sultanate of Delhi. |
| 24 November 1564 | Papal States [religious freedom] | The Index librorum prohibitorum/Index of Prohibited Books of the Roman Catholic Church is published after receiving papal approval. It was first issued in 1559. |
| 24 November 1572 | Scotland [births and deaths] | John Knox, Scottish religious reformer, leader of the Scottish Reformation, dies in Edinburgh, Scotland (c. 58). |
| 24 November 1632 | United Netherlands [births and deaths] | Benedict de Spinoza, Dutch philosopher, leading exponent of rationalism, born in Amsterdam, United Netherlands (–1677). |
| 24 November 1713 | England, Ireland [births and deaths] | Laurence Sterne, Irish-born English novelist, born in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland (–1768). |
| 24 November 1837 | Canada, UK [political events] | The rebels in Lower Canada attempting to break away from British rule are decisively defeated at St Charles, Lower Canada. |
| 24 November 1859 | England [biology] | Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection, which expounds his theory of evolution by natural selection, and by implication denies the truth of biblical creation and God's hand in Nature. It sells out immediately and revolutionizes biology. |
| 24 November 1864 | France [births and deaths] | Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, French artist who depicts the personalities of Parisian night life, born in Albi, France (–1901). |
| 24 November 1963 | USA [crime and punishment] | US nightclub owner Jack Ruby murders Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of US president John F Kennedy two days previously, as police move Oswald from the city jail in Dallas, Texas. This adds fuel to speculations that Oswald acted as part of a much larger conspiracy. Millions of Americans watch the murder live on national television. |
| 24 November 1971 | USA [space exploration] | The US space probe Mariner 9 (launched in May) becomes the first artificial object to orbit another planet (Mars); it transmits 7,329 photographs of the planet and its two moons, Deimos and Phobos. |
| 24 November 1971 | UK, Rhodesia [political events] | An agreement is reached between the British foreign secretary Alec Douglas-Home and the Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith on a new Rhodesian constitution. |
| 24 November 1972 | Finland, East Germany [diplomacy] | Finland formally recognizes East Germany as a separate country, the first Western nation to do so. |
| 24 November 1998 | USA [television] | US chat show host Oprah Winfrey and two partners launch the first cable television station targeted exclusively at a female audience. |
| 24 November 2002 | Scotland [public health] | David McRae, a wildlife conservationist, dies of the disease rabies in hospital in Dundee, Scotland, after being bitten by a bat. It is the first such case in Britain for 100 years. |
