This Day in History – November 8, 2011

1602 The Bodleian Library at Oxford University is opened to the public. 1605 Robert Catesby, ringleader of the Gunpowder Plotters, is killed. 1789 Bourbon Whiskey, 1st distilled from corn (by Elijah Craig, Bourbon KY) 1793 Louvre in Paris, opens 1837 Mary Lyon founds Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, which later becomes Mount Holyoke College. 1861 American Civil War: The “Trent Affair” The USS San Jacinto stops the United Kingdom mail ship Trent and arrests two Confederate envoys, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the UK and US. 1864 Abraham Lincoln elected to his 2nd term as President 1870 Democratic governor elected in Tennessee 1889 Montana is admitted as the 41st U.S. state. 1892 Grover Cleveland (D) elected President 1892 The New Orleans general strike begins, uniting black and white American trade unionists in a successful four-day general strike action for the first time. 1895 While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray. 1901 Bloody clashes take place in Athens following the translation of the Gospels into demotic Greek. 1904 President Theodore Roosevelt (R) defeats Alton B Parker (D) 1910 1st Washington State election in which women could vote 1917 The People’s Commissars give authority to Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin. 1923 Beer Hall Putsch: In Munich, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government. 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt (D) elected President for 1st time 1933 Great Depression: New Deal US President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveils the Civil Works Administration, an organization designed to create jobs for more than 4 million of the unemployed. 1939 In Munich, Adolf Hitler narrowly escapes the assassination attempt of Georg Elser while celebrating the 16th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch. 1942 World War II: Operation Torch United States and United Kingdom forces land in French North Africa. 1942 World War II: French resistance coup in Algiers, in which 400 civilian French patriots neutralize Vichyist XIXth Army Corps after 15 hours of fighting, and arrest several Vichyst generals, allowing the immediate success of Operation Torch in Algiers. 1950 Korean War: United States Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown, while piloting an F-80 Shooting Star, shoots down two North Korean MiG-15s in the first jet aircraft-to-jet aircraft dogfight in history. 1957 Operation Grapple X, Round C1: Britain conducts its first successful hydrogen bomb test over Kiritimati in the Pacific. 1960 John F. Kennedy defeats Richard Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections of the twentieth century to become the 35th president of the United States. 1960 JFK (MA-D-Sen) beats VP Richard Nixon (R) for President 1965 “Days of Our Lives” premiers on TV 1966 Movie actor Ronald Reagan elected governor of California 1966 Former Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Brooke becomes the first African American elected to the United States Senate since Reconstruction. 1966 U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs into law an antitrust exemption allowing the National Football League to merge with the upstart American Football League. 1967 Silver hits record $1.951 an ounce in London 1971 Led Zeppelin releases “Led Zeppelin IV,” which becomes the third-best-selling album ever in the US, and includes the widely-considered best rock song ever recorded “Stairway to Heaven.” 1973 The right ear of John Paul Getty III is delivered to a newspaper together with a ransom note, convincing his father to pay 2.9 million USD. 1980 Voyager 1 space probe discovers 15th moon of Saturn 1984 Anna Fisher becomes the 1st “mom” to go into orbit 1988 George Bush (R) beats Mike Dukakis (D) for Presidency 2002 Iraq disarmament crisis: UN Security Council Resolution 1441 The United Nations Security Council unanimously approves a resolution on Iraq, forcing Saddam Hussein to disarm or face “serious consequences”. 2004 War in Iraq: More than 10,000 U.S. troops and a small number of Iraqi army units participate in a siege on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.]]]]> ]]>