THIS DATE IN history

Nov. 8

In 1943, Charlottetown-born Capt. Fred Peters won the Victoria Cross during the Second World War naval battle at Oran Harbour, North Africa. Five days later, Peters was killed in a plane crash while heading to England to receive his medal.

In 1960, 43-year-old John F. Kennedy narrowly defeated Richard Nixon for the presidency of the United States. In 1965, Pierre Trudeau first won a seat in the House of Commons, as Liberal member for Mount Royal, in a general election. The future prime minister held the seat until 1984.

In 2016, brash billionaire Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States, an astonishing victory for a celebrity businessman and political novice.