(Following Advance for Use Wednesday, November 5)


Today in History

Today is Wednesday, November 5, the 310th day of 2008. There are 56 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History: On November 5, 1968, Richard M. Nixon won the presidency, defeating Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and American Independent candidate George C. Wallace.

On this date: In 1605, the "Gunpowder Plot" failed as Guy Fawkes was seized before he could blow up the English Parliament.

In 1872, suffragist Susan B. Anthony defied the law by attempting to vote for President Grant. (She was convicted by a judge and fined 100 dollars, but never paid the fine.) In 1895, George B. Selden of Rochester, New York, received the first U.S. patent for an "improved Road Engine." In 1912, Woodrow Wilson was elected president, defeating Progressive Party candidate Theodore Roosevelt and incumbent Republican William Howard Taft.

In 1940, President Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term in office as he defeated Republican challenger Wendell L. Willkie.

In 1946, Republicans captured control of both the Senate and the House in midterm elections.

In 1974, Ella T. Grasso was elected governor of Connecticut, the first woman to win a gubernatorial office without succeeding her husband.

In 1985, Spencer W. Kimball, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, died at age 90; he was succeeded by Ezra Taft Benson.

In 1987, Supreme Court nominee Douglas H. Ginsburg admitted using marijuana several times in the 1960s and 70s, calling it a mistake. (Ginsburg ended up withdrawing his nomination.) In 1990, Rabbi Meir Kahane (meh-EER' kah-HAH'-nuh), the Brooklyn-born Israeli extremist, was shot to death at a New York hotel. (Egyptian native El Sayyed Nosair (el sah-EED' no-sah-EER') was convicted of the slaying in federal court.)


Ten years ago: The U.N. Security Council unanimously demanded that Iraq resume cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors immediately.

Five years ago: President Bush signed a bill outlawing the procedure known by its critics as "partial-birth abortion"; less than an hour later, a federal judge in Nebraska issued a temporary restraining order against the ban. (In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act.) Green River serial killer Gary Leon Ridgway pleaded guilty to strangling four dozen women over two decades, most of them near Seattle. Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean apologized for urging Democrats to court Southern whites who displayed Confederate flags on their pickup trucks. Bobby Hatfield of the musical duo the Righteous Brothers died in Kalamazoo, Mich., at age 63.

One year ago: Hollywood writers went on strike, forcing late-night talk shows to immediately start airing reruns. Police in major Pakistani cities fired tear gas and clubbed lawyers protesting President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's emergency rule. Talk show host Oprah Winfrey promised to "clean house" after a dorm matron was accused of abusing students at Winfrey's school for disadvantaged South African girls. Joe Torre was introduced as the new manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, less than three weeks after walking away from the New York Yankees.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Chris Robinson is 70. Actress Elke Sommer is 68. Singer Art Garfunkel is 67. Actor-playwright Sam Shepard is 65. Singer Peter Noone is 61. Actor Nestor Serrano ("24") is 53. Actress-comedian Mo Gaffney is 50. Actor Robert Patrick is 50. Singer Bryan Adams is 49. Actress Tilda Swinton is 48. Actress Tatum O'Neal is 45. Actress Andrea McArdle is 45. Rock singer Angelo Moore (Fishbone) is 43. Actress Judy Reyes is 41.

Rock musician Mark Hunter (James) is 40. Actor Sam Rockwell is 40.

Country singers Heather and Jennifer Kinley (The Kinleys) are 38.

Actor Corin Nemec is 37. Rock musician Jonny (cq) Greenwood (Radiohead) is 37. Country singer-musician Ryan Adams is 34. Actor Sam Page is 32. Actor Jeremy Lelliott is 26. Rock musician Kevin Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) is 21.

Thought for Today: "Examine what is said, not him who speaks." Arab proverb.

(Above Advance for Use Wednesday, November 5)


Copyright 2008, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 10-26-08 0848CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list