What happened on 17 November?

8 events from the Ever-When timeline, ranked by how much they mattered.

1. 1558 Reign of Elizabeth I Reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) as monarch of England (later Britain/UK).
2. 1989 Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia Bloodless transition from communist rule; Havel becomes president.
3. 1869 Suez Canal opens Ferdinand de Lesseps's canal links Mediterranean and Red Sea; transforms global shipping and British strategic position.
4. 1857 Relief of Lucknow British forces relieve the besieged Residency at Lucknow after months under fire.
5. 1874 Stanley crosses Africa Henry Morton Stanley leads an expedition 7,000 miles from Zanzibar down the length of the Congo River to the Atlantic — 999 days, most of his party dead — and solves the last great
6. 1942 Tunisia campaign Final Axis defeat in Africa; ~270,000 Italian and German soldiers surrender; Axis presence in North Africa ends.
7. 2018 Yellow vests movement Protests against fuel-tax rises and inequality across France.
8. 1834 The Duke of Wellington's second premiership A three-week caretaker ministry in which Wellington holds nearly every senior office himself until Peel gets back from Italy.