TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Wednesday, Nov. 3
Today’s highlight:
On Nov. 3, 1997, the Supreme Court let stand California’s groundbreaking Proposition 209, which banned race and gender preference in hiring and school admissions.
On this date:
In 1868, Republican Ulysses S. Grant won the presidential election over Democrat Horatio Seymour.
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 1954, the Japanese monster movie “Godzilla” was released by Toho Co.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the U.S. Agency for International Development.
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 2004, President George W. Bush claimed a re-election mandate a day after more than 62 million Americans chose him over Democrat John Kerry; Kerry conceded defeat in make-or-break Ohio rather than launch a legal fight reminiscent of the contentious Florida recount of four years earlier.
In 2014, 13 years after the 9/11 terrorist attack, a new 1,776-foot skyscraper at the World Trade Center site opened for business, marking an emotional milestone for both New Yorkers and the nation.
Ten years ago: Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou abandoned his plan to put a European rescue deal to a popular vote.
Five years ago: Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine delivered a speech entirely in Spanish as he addressed a small crowd in a largely Hispanic area of Phoenix as part of Hillary Clinton’s push into traditionally Republican Arizona. China’s plans for a permanent space station remained firmly on track with the successful launch of its new heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket.
One year ago: Democrat Joe Biden won the presidency in an election that saw more than 103 million Americans vote early, many by mail, amid a coronavirus pandemic that upended a campaign marked by fear and rancor, waged against a backdrop of protests over racial injustice. As vote counting continued in battleground states, Biden’s victory would not be known for more than three days; Republican President Donald Trump would refuse to concede, falsely claiming that he was a victim of widespread voter fraud. Kamala Harris made history as the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to become vice president. Democrats clinched two more years of controlling the House but saw their majority shrink. Republicans emerged with a two-seat Senate majority that would be erased by Democratic wins in two runoffs in Georgia in January.