what happened on november 11th , 1975? involving 39 deaths.

Are you certain of the exact date and the number of deaths? The
sinking of the "Edmund Fitzgerald" occurred on November 10, 1975, with
29 deaths.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald

yes .. i am the proff. gave us hints
it was the first of november when he assigned it 
 and he said 
 what happened 
10 days frm today 
 31 yrs ago 
 and 39 people died

There is this, but I don't if there were 39 deaths associated with the event.

"Divided Angola gets independence"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/11/newsid_2539000/2539679.stm

"The southern African state of Angola has gained its independence from former
colonial power Portugal."

it was a huge day in Australia of course as the national government of
the day was acked for the first amnd last time by the Governor-General
representing the Queen.

Maybe the professor killed a bunch of people that day and this is
his/her way of confessing.

Surely '10 days from today' is 10 days from when the Prof assigned the question.

Are you sure that he set it on November 1, 2006, as implied in your question?

There was extensive street fighting in Beirut.

A coup and countercoup occurred in Bangladesh with a number of deaths.

100,000 Moroccans marched into the colony of Spanish Sahara. Some of
'em had to die-- it's a desert.

What does the professor teach?