The Month In History

• At 11am on 11 November 1918, the guns fell silent on the Western Front, marking the end of the First World War. Two years later, the Cenotaph in Whitehall was unveiled on Armistice Day, becoming the focus of national remembrance for those who lost their lives in war ever since.

• Elizabeth I became queen of England on 17 November 1558. Elizabeth was the only English queen never to marry, despite having a string of noble suitors. One was the Earl of Leicester, Robert Dudley, who transformed Kenilworth Castle into a magnificent pleasure palace to impress her. The queen stayed at Kenilworth for 19 days of festivities in 1575.

• On 18 November 1852, an extravagant procession and state funeral was held for the Duke of Wellington. The Duke's body was carried on a 10-tonne carriage made of bronze from cannons used at the Battle of Waterloo. It passed his home, Apsley House, and Wellington Arch before continuing to St Paul's Cathedral.

• Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was published on 24 November 1859. The work set out Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, the foundation of evolutionary biology. Much of Darwin's research was carried out at his family home, Down House.

• Rock legend and Queen frontman Freddie Mercury died from bronchial pneumonia on 24 November 1991. His family home in Feltham is commemorated with a blue plaque.