This day in history

[November 06, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Saturday, Nov. 6, the 310th day of 2010. There are 55 days left in the year. A reminder: Daylight-Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. local time Sunday. Clocks go back one hour.

Today's highlight in history:

On Nov. 6, 1860, former Illinois congressman Abraham Lincoln defeated three other candidates for the presidency: John Breckinridge, John Bell and Stephen Douglas.

On this date:

In 1861, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was elected to a six-year term of office.

In 1888, Benjamin Harrison won the presidential election, defeating incumbent Grover Cleveland with enough electoral votes, even though Cleveland led in the popular vote.

In 1893, composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky died in St. Petersburg, Russia, at age 53.

In 1900, President William McKinley was re-elected, beating Democrat William Jennings Bryan.

In 1928, in a first, the results of Republican Herbert Hoover's election victory over Democrat Alfred E. Smith were flashed onto an electric wraparound sign on the New York Times building.

In 1934, Nebraska voters approved dissolving their two-chamber legislature in favor of a nonpartisan, single legislative body (or "unicameral"), which was implemented in 1937.

In 1944, British official Lord Moyne was assassinated in Cairo, Egypt, by members of the Zionist Stern gang.

In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower won re-election, defeating Democrat Adlai E. Stevenson.

In 1977, 39 people were killed when the Kelly Barnes Dam burst, sending a wall of water through Toccoa Falls College in Georgia.

In 1990, about one-fifth of the Universal Studios backlot in southern California was destroyed in an arson fire.

Ten years ago: On Election Eve, George W. Bush and Al Gore campaigned through the final hours of their run for the White House, seeking last-minute momentum in a costly and exhausting race to become the nation's 43rd president. Surgeons in Manchester, England, separated conjoined twin girls, a procedure that involved allowing one of the girls to die, while giving the survivor a chance at life.

Five years ago: An overnight tornado killed 25 people in southwestern Indiana. In a clear jab at Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (OO'-goh CHAH'-vez), President George W. Bush, in Brazil, called on Latin Americans to boldly defend strong democratic institutions. French President Jacques Chirac (zhahk shih-RAHK') promised arrests, trials and punishment in the wake of urban unrest that had spread to central Paris.

One year ago: President Barack Obama signed a $24 billion economic stimulus bill, hours after the government reported that the unemployment rate had hit 10.2 percent in Oct. 2009 for the second time since World War II.

Today's birthdays: Director Mike Nichols is 79. Country singer Stonewall Jackson is 78. Singer Eugene Pitt (The Jive Five) is 73. Singer P.J. Proby is 72. Country singer Guy Clark is 69. Actress Sally Field is 64. Pop singer-musician Glenn Frey (The Eagles) is 62. Singer Rory Block is 61. Jazz musician Arturo Sandoval is 61. TV host Catherine Crier is 56. California's first lady, Maria Shriver, is 55. Actress Lori Singer is 53. Actor Lance Kerwin is 50. Rock musician Paul Brindley (The Sundays) is 47. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is 46. Rock singer Corey Glover is 46. Actor Brad Grunberg is 46. Actor Peter DeLuise is 44. Actress Kelly Rutherford is 42. Actor Ethan Hawke is 40. Actress Thandie Newton is 38. Model-actress Rebecca Romijn (roh-MAYN') is 38. Actress Zoe McLellan is 36. Actress Nicole Dubuc is 32. Actress Taryn Manning 32. Actress Emma Stone is 22. Actress Mercedes Kastner is 21.

Thought for today: "Don't try for wit. Settle for humor. You'll last longer." -- Elsa Maxwell, American socialite (1883-1963)

[Associated Press]

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