TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Thursday, Nov. 8, the 312th day of 2018. There are 53 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Nov. 8, 2016, Republican Donald Trump was elected America’s 45th president, defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton in an astonishing victory for a celebrity businessman and political novice. Republicans kept their majorities in the Senate and House.

On this date:

■ In 1923, Adolf Hitler launched his first attempt at seizing power in Germany with a failed coup in Munich that came to be known as the “Beer-Hall Putsch.”

■ In 1966, Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass.) became the first black candidate to be elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote.

■ In 1972, the premium cable TV network HBO (Home Box Office) made its debut with a showing of the movie “Sometimes a Great Notion.”

■ In 2000, a statewide recount began in Florida, which emerged as critical in deciding the winner of the 2000 presidential election. Earlier that day, Vice President Al Gore had telephoned Texas Gov. George W. Bush to concede, but called back about an hour later to retract his concession. Waco special counsel John C. Danforth released his final report absolving the government of wrongdoing in the 1993 siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Texas.

Five years ago: Typhoon Haiyan (HY’-ahn), one of the strongest storms on record, slammed into the central Philippines, it left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened villages and displaced more than 5 million.

Thought for Today: “Man is born to live, not to prepare for life.”—Boris Pasternak, Russian author (1890-1960).