Reuters historical calendar - November 21

London, Nov 20 (Reuters) Following are some of the major events to have occurred on November 21 since 1900: 1916 - Emperor Franz Josef, ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire since 1848, died. His attack on Serbia helped to precipitate World War One. He was succeeded by his grand-nephew Karl I, the last ruler of the empire.

1918 - The German High Seas Fleet surrendered at the Firth of Forth in Scotland, one of the key conditions of the World War One armistice signed on November 11.

1933 - The first US ambassador to the Soviet Union, William Christian Bullitt, took up his post after the country was recognised by President Franklin Roosevelt.

1939 - In retaliation for mine attacks, Britain announced that any German exports carried by merchant shipping would be seized.

1942 - James Hertzog, South African statesman and Boer general, died; he was prime minister 1924-1939 and lost office over the issue of neutrality in World War Two.

1974 - Irish Republican Army bombs killed 21 people in two pubs in Birmingham, England.

1990 - Lebanon's strongest Christian militia agreed to surrender its Beirut stronghold, rescuing a bid by the Syrian-backed government to end 15 years of civil war.

1994 - NATO launched an air strike against a rebel Serb-held airfield in Croatia.

1995 - Parties at peace talks in Dayton, Ohio, reached an accord to end the Bosnian war.

1995 - Acting Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres formed a new government after the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.

1995 - China formally arrested Wei Jingsheng, its most prominent dissident and father of its democracy movement.

1995 - King Norodom Sihanouk's half brother, Prince Norodom Sirivudh, was charged with plotting to kill Cambodian co-premier Hun Sen.

2002 - Seven Eastern European countries were formally invited to join NATO, extending its security guarantee from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

2004 - Preliminary results in Ukrainian presidential elections gave victory to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich. The result was denounced by the opposition as fraudulent and later overturned after what became known as the Orange Revolution.

**2005 - The United States formally closed its military base in Uzbekistan, two months ahead of a deadline set by the Central Asian state.

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