Today is Sunday, Nov. 3, the 307th day of 2019. There are 58 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Nov. 3, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson soundly defeated Republican Barry Goldwater to win a White House term in his own right.
On this date:
In 1839, the first Opium War between China and Britain broke out.
In 1911, the Chevrolet Motor Car Co. was founded in Detroit by Louis Chevrolet and William C. Durant. (The company was acquired by General Motors in 1918.)
In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt won a landslide election victory over Republican challenger Alfred “Alf” Landon.
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2, the second manmade satellite, into orbit; on board was a dog named Laika (LY’-kah), who was sacrificed in the experiment.
In 1970, Salvador Allende (ah-YEN’-day) was inaugurated as president of Chile.
In 1979, five Communist Workers Party members were killed in a clash with heavily armed Ku Klux Klansmen and neo-Nazis during an anti-Klan protest in Greensboro, North Carolina.
In 1986, the Iran-Contra affair came to light as Ash-Shiraa, a pro-Syrian Lebanese magazine, first broke the story of U.S. arms sales to Iran.
In 1992, Democrat Bill Clinton was elected the 42nd president of the United States, defeating President George H.W. Bush. In Illinois, Democrat Carol Moseley-Braun became the first black woman elected to the U.S. Senate.
In 1994, Susan Smith of Union, South Carolina, was arrested for drowning her two young sons, Michael and Alex, nine days after claiming the children had been abducted by a black carjacker.
In 1995, President Bill Clinton dedicated a memorial at Arlington National Cemetery to the 270 victims of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
In 1997, the Supreme Court let stand California’s groundbreaking Proposition 209, which banned race and gender preference in hiring and school admissions.
In 2017, Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who walked away from his post in Afghanistan and triggered a search that left some of his comrades severely wounded, was spared a prison sentence by a military judge in North Carolina; President Donald Trump blasted the decision as a “complete and total disgrace.”
Ten years ago: In the 2009 elections, Chris Christie, a Republican former U.S. attorney, unseated New Jersey Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine while in Virginia, Republican Bob McDonnell beat Democrat R. Creigh Deeds. German Chancellor Angela Merkel (AHN’-geh-lah MEHR’-kuhl) marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with a speech to the U.S. Congress by exhorting the world to “tear down the walls of today” and reach a deal to combat global warming. Actor-comedian Carl Ballantine (“McHale’s Navy”) died in Los Angeles at age 92.
Five years ago: Thirteen years after the 9/11 terrorist attack, the resurrected World Trade Center opened for business, marking an emotional milestone for both New Yorkers and the nation. Tom Magliozzi, 77, one half of the brother duo who had hosted National Public Radio’s “Car Talk,” died near Boston.
One year ago: Top-ranked Alabama remained unbeaten with a 29-0 victory over No. 4 LSU. Accelerate took the lead at the top of the stretch and held off Gunnevera to win the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in Kentucky.
Today’s Birthdays: Actress Lois Smith is 89. Actress Monica Vitti is 88. Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis is 86. Actor Shadoe Stevens is 73. Singer Lulu is 71. “Vogue” editor-in-chief Anna Wintour is 70. Comedian-actress Roseanne Barr is 67. Actress Kate Capshaw is 66. Comedian Dennis Miller is 66. Actress Kathy Kinney is 66. Singer Adam Ant is 65. Sports commentator and former quarterback Phil Simms is 64. Director-screenwriter Gary Ross is 63. Actor Dolph Lundgren is 62. Rock musician C.J. Pierce (Drowning Pool) is 47. Actor Francois Battiste (TV: “Ten Days in the Valley”) is 43. Olympic gold medal figure skater Evgeni Plushenko is 37. Actress Julie Berman is 36. Actress Antonia Thomas (TV: “The Good Doctor”) is 33. Alternative rock singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett is 32. TV personality Kendall Jenner (TV: “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”) is 24.
Thought for Today: “Love is never merely an amiable tolerance of whatever form human frailty and folly may take.” — Josiah Royce, American philosopher (1855-1916).
