Today in History
Today is Monday, Nov. 5, the 309th day of 2018. There are 56 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Nov. 5, 1968, Republican Richard M. Nixon won the presidency, defeating Democratic 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 1911, aviator Calbraith P. Rodgers arrived in Pasadena, Calif., completing the first transcontinental airplane trip in 49 days.
In 1935, Parker Brothers began marketing the board game “Monopoly.” Hey, doesn’t that mean Parker Brothers has a monopoly on “Monopoly”?
In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term in office as he defeated Republican challenger Wendell L. Willkie.
In 1956, Britain and France started landing forces in Egypt during fighting between Egyptian and Israeli forces around the Suez Canal. (A cease-fire was declared two days later.)
In 1974, Democrat Ella T. Grasso was elected governor of Connecticut, becoming 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.)
In 1992, Malice Green, a black motorist, died after he was struck in the head 14 times with a flashlight by a Detroit police officer, Larry Nevers, outside a suspected crack house. (Nevers and his partner, Walter Budzyn, were found guilty of second-degree murder, but the convictions were overturned; they were later convicted of involuntary manslaughter.)
In 1994, former President Ronald Reagan disclosed he had Alzheimer’s disease.
In 2009, a shooting rampage at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas left 13 people dead; Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, was later convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
Ten years ago: One day after being elected president, Barack Obama began filling out his new administration, selecting Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel to be White House chief of staff. A case of postelection nerves on Wall Street sent the Dow industrials plunging nearly 500 points.
Five years ago: Republican Gov. Chris Christie won a resounding re-election victory in Democratic-leaning New Jersey, while Democrat Terry McAuliffe prevailed in Virginia’s gubernatorial contest. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford acknowledged for the first time that he had smoked crack “probably a year ago” when he was in a “drunken stupor,” but he refused to resign despite immense pressure to step aside as leader of Canada’s largest city. India launched its first spacecraft bound for Mars; the Martian Orbiter Mission, or MOM, reached the red planet in Sept. 2014.
One year ago: A gunman armed with an assault rifle opened fire in a small South Texas church, killing more than two dozen people; the shooter, Devin Patrick Kelley, was later found dead in a vehicle after he was shot and chased by two men who heard the gunfire. (An autopsy revealed that he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.) President Donald Trump arrived in Japan for the start of a 12-day, five-country Asian trip. Shalane Flanagan became the first American woman to win the New York City Marathon since 1977; Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya was the men’s winner.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Chris Robinson is 80. Actress Elke Sommer is 78. Singer Art Garfunkel is 77. Singer Peter Noone is 71. TV personality Kris Jenner is 63. Actor Nestor Serrano is 63. Actress-comedian Mo Gaffney is 60. Actor Robert Patrick is 60. Singer Bryan Adams is 59. Actress Tilda Swinton is 58. Actor Michael Gaston is 56. Actress Tatum O’Neal is 55. Actress Andrea McArdle is 55. Rock singer Angelo Moore (Fishbone) is 53. Actress Judy Reyes is 51. Actor Seth Gilliam is 50. Rock musician Mark Hunter (James) is 50. Actor Sam Rockwell is 50. Country singers Heather and Jennifer Kinley (The Kinleys) are 48. Actor Corin Nemec is 47. Rock musician Jonny (cq) Greenwood (Radiohead) is 47. Country singer-musician Ryan Adams is 44. Actor Sebastian Arcelus is 42. Actor Sam Page is 42. Actor Luke Hemsworth is 38. Actor Jeremy Lelliott is 36. Actress Annet Mahendru is 33. Rock musician Kevin Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) is 31. Actor Landon Gimenez is 15.
Thought for Today: “Examine what is said, not him who speaks.” — Arab proverb.