TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 4, the 309th day of 2020. There are 57 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight in history

On Nov. 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected the first Black president of the United States, defeating John McCain.

On this date

In 1842, Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd in Springfield, Ill.

In 1916, Walter Cronkite was born in Saint Joseph, Mo.

In 1922, the entrance to King Tutankhamen’s tomb was discovered in Egypt.

In 1956, Soviet troops moved in to crush the Hungarian Revolution.

In 1979, the Iran hostage crisis began as militants stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran, seizing its occupants; for some of them, it was the start of 444 days of captivity.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan won the White House as he defeated President Jimmy Carter by a strong margin.

In 1991, Ronald Reagan opened his presidential library in Simi Valley; attending were President George H.W. Bush and former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald R. Ford and Richard Nixon — the first-ever gathering of five past and present U.S. chief executives.

In 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing Israeli minutes after attending a festive peace rally.

In 2008, California voters approved Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage, overturning a state Supreme Court decision that gave gay couples the right to wed just months earlier.

Today’s birthdays

Actor Loretta Swit is 83. Singer Delbert McClinton is 80. Former first lady Laura Bush is

74. Actor Ivonne Coll is 73. Actor Markie Post is 70. Actorcomedian Kathy Griffin is 60. Actor Ralph Macchio is 59. “Survivor” host Jeff Probst is

59. Actor Matthew McConaughey is 51. Rapperproducer Sean “Puffy” Combs is 51. Talk show host Bethenny Frankel is 50.