Today in History: November 20, the Mexican Revolution begins

Today is Friday, Nov. 20, the 324th day of 2026. There are 41 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Nov. 20, 1910, Francisco Madero called for an uprising against Mexican President Porfirio Díaz, marking the beginning of the decade-long Mexican Revolution.

Also on this date:

In 1945, 22 former Nazi officials went on trial before a war-crimes tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany. The International Military Tribunal convicted 19 defendants and acquitted three; 12 were sentenced to death and seven received prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life.)

In 1947, Britain’s future queen, Princess Elizabeth, married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey.

In 1968, an explosion at a coal mine outside Farmington, West Virginia, killed 78 miners. (The incident spurred U.S. safety laws intended to protect miners.)

In 1969, Native American activists began an occupation of Alcatraz Island that lasted 19 months until the last occupiers were forcibly removed by federal authorities.

In 1982, the University of California, Berkeley, football team beat Stanford on the game's last play by scoring a touchdown on a lateral-filled kickoff return. The play unfolded even as the Stanford marching band had entered the field, believing its team had won. The bizarre finish became known simply as “The Play.”

In 1992, fire broke out at Windsor Castle, an official weekend residence of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, damaging numerous rooms.

In 2003, music producer Phil Spector was charged with murder in the shooting death of actor Lana Clarkson at his California home. (After a first trial ended with a hung jury in 2007, Spector was convicted of second-degree murder in 2009 and sentenced to 19 years to life; he died in prison at age 81 on Jan. 16, 2021.)

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Estelle Parsons is 99. Author Don DeLillo is 90. Comedian Dick Smothers is 88. Former President Joe Biden is 84. Broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff is 80. Musician Joe Walsh is 79. Actor Bo Derek is 70. Actor Ming-Na Wen is 63. Rapper Michael “Mike D” Diamond (Beastie Boys) is 61. Actor-comedian Joel McHale is 55. Country singer Dierks Bentley is 51. Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Dominique Dawes is 50. Rapper Future is 43. Musician Michael Clifford is 31. Pro tennis player Caty McNally is 25. Actor Madisyn Shipman is 24.