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Events

Special days marked on this website, for November 1, 2025

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November 1 ns

October 19 os

We mark certain days of the year with ‘On This Day’ posts, recalling events associated with them.

Our events are grouped under two calendars. The Gregorian ‘New Style’ (NS) is the worldwide calendar first issued at Rome in 1582. On that calendar, today is November 1. The Julian ‘Old Style’ (OS), also issued at Rome but in 46 BC, was used in Roman Britain and then in England from Anglo-Saxon times until 1752. It is still used today by roughly 100 million Orthodox Christians worldwide. On that calendar, today is October 19.

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Today

Raffles and the Reprieve of Malacca

The busy trading hub of Malacca was to be consigned to history, until Stamford Raffles saw that history was one of its assets.

Stamford Raffles (1781-1826) is known today as the founder of Singapore, but his first foray into statecraft came when he was still in his late twenties. In 1808, as assistant secretary to the Governor of Penang he penned an impassioned report which saved Malacca, modern-day Melaka in Malaysia, from oblivion.

On This DayDecember 22 ns1 post

The East India Company decides not to abandon Malacca (1809)

Today

Russia’s First Railway

Sixteen-year-old John Wesley Hackworth brought a locomotive over to St Petersburg, and Russia’s railway revolution was ready for the off.

British engineers and a sixteen-year-old boy played a key part in helping Imperial Russia begin her own railway revolution. In one respect, however, Russia failed to learn from the example the United Kingdom set for her: private enterprise.

On This DayDecember 22 ns1 post

Opening of the St Petersburg to Moscow Railway (1851)

The Calendar below shows the year on the Roman (Gregorian or ‘New Style’) Calendar for 2025. Click on any date to see the events we have marked for it.

Roman Easter 2025: Sunday April 20

Old English Easter 2025: Sunday April 20

Christmas 2025: Thursday December 25

Old English Christmas 2025: Wednesday January 7, 2026