Today is Thursday, Nov. 3, the 307th day of 2005. There are 58 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Nov. 3, 1900, the first automobile show in the United States opened at New York’s Madison Square Garden under the auspices of the Automobile Club of America.
On this date:
In 1868, Republican Ulysses S. Grant won the presidential election over Democrat Horatio Seymour.
In 1896, Republican William McKinley defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan for the presidency.
In 1903, Panama proclaimed its independence from Colombia.
In 1908, Republican William Howard Taft was elected president, outpolling William Jennings Bryan.
In 1936, President Roosevelt won a landslide election victory over Republican challenger Alfred M. “Alf” Landon.
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik II, the second manmade satellite, into orbit; on board was a dog named “Laika” who was sacrificed in the experiment.
In 1964, President Johnson soundly defeated Republican challenger Barry Goldwater to win a White House term in his own right.
In 1970, Salvador Allende was inaugurated as president of Chile.
In 1979, five radicals were killed when gunfire erupted during an anti-Ku Klux Klan demonstration in Greensboro, N.C., after a caravan of Klansmen and neo-Nazis had driven into the area.
In 1992, Bill Clinton was elected the 42nd president of the United States, defeating President Bush. In Illinois, Democrat Carol Moseley-Braun became the first black woman elected to the U.S. Senate.
Ten years ago: President Clinton dedicated a memorial at Arlington National Cemetery to the 270 victims of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. The Labor Department reported the nation’s unemployment rate had edged down to 5.5 percent in October, a seven-month low. Typhoon Angela ripped through the Philippines, killing more than 880 people.
Five years ago: Four days before Election Day, Texas Gov. George W. Bush found himself being peppered with questions about the revelation that he’d been arrested for driving under the influence in 1976. Bush supporters accused Democrats of “dirty tricks,” prompting a denial of involvement from Vice President Al Gore’s campaign. Tom Connolly, a Portland, Maine, lawyer, said he was the source of the disclosure.
One year ago: Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry conceded defeat to President Bush in make-or-break Ohio rather than launch a legal fight reminiscent of the contentious Florida recount of four years earlier. Hamid Karzai was officially declared the winner of Afghanistan’s first-ever presidential election after a three-week probe into vote fraud found no grounds to invalidate his triumph.
Today’s Birthdays: Baseball Hall-of-Famer Bob Feller is 87. Actress Lois Smith is 75. Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis is 72. Actor-dancer Ken Berry is 72. Movie composer John Barry is 72. Actor Shadoe Stevens is 59. Singer Lulu is 57. Television critic Tom Shales is 57. Actor Mike Evans is 56. Comedian-actress Roseanne Barr is 53. Actress Kate Capshaw is 52. Comedian Dennis Miller is 52. Actress Kathy Kinney is 52. Singer Adam Ant is 51.
Thought for Today: “Justice is too good for some people and not good enough for the rest.” — Norman Douglas, Scottish author (1868-1952).