On this day: November 9

U.S. Navy Blows Up Beached Whale; Carcass Bursts Over Oregon Highway

In November 1970, Oregon authorities and the U.S. Navy attempted to dispose of a 45-foot dead whale by detonating explosives on its carcass; the blast scattered blubber and tissue across a nearby highway, causing damage but no fatalities.

Unexpected Opening of the Berlin Wall, 9 November 1989

On 9 November 1989 East German authorities announced relaxed travel rules and a mistaken briefing led border guards to allow crossing immediately, triggering spontaneous celebrations as thousands flowed between East and West Berlin and began dismantling the Wall.

Kristallnacht: Widespread pogroms shatter Jewish lives across Nazi Germany

On the night of November 9–10, 1938, state-sanctioned violence against Jewish people and property swept across Germany and annexed territories, leaving synagogues burned, businesses shattered, and thousands arrested — a decisive escalation in Nazi persecution.