This day in history

[November 08, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Monday, Nov. 8, the 312th day of 2010. There are 53 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Nov. 8, 1960, Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy defeated Vice President Richard M. Nixon for the presidency.

On this date:

In 1860, the Stephen Foster song "Old Black Joe" was copyrighted.

In 1889, Montana became the 41st state.

In 1909, the original Boston Opera House first opened with a performance of "La Gioconda" by Amilcare Ponchielli.

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 1932, New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated incumbent Herbert Hoover for the presidency.

In 1935, the movies "Mutiny on the Bounty," starring Clark Gable and Charles Laughton, and "A Night at the Opera," starring the Marx Brothers, premiered in New York.

In 1942, Operation Torch, resulting in an Allied victory, began during World War II as U.S. and British forces landed in French North Africa.

In 1980, scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. announced that the U.S. space probe Voyager 1 had discovered a 15th moon orbiting the planet Saturn.

In 1988, Vice President George H.W. Bush won the presidential election, defeating Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.

In 1994, midterm elections resulted in Republicans winning a majority in the Senate while at the same time gaining control of the House for the first time in 40 years.

Ten years ago: 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: French President Jacques Chirac (zhahk shih-RAHK') declared a 12-day state of emergency to halt France's worst civil unrest in nearly four decades. Gunmen assassinated a second lawyer in the Saddam Hussein trial in Baghdad. At Campbell County Comprehensive High School in Tennessee, Assistant Principal Kent Bruce was shot and killed and two other administrators seriously wounded. (Student Kenneth Bartley later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and attempted murder and was sentenced to 45 years in prison, with a chance for parole in 25.) Bartolo Colon won the American League Cy Young Award.

One year ago: The embattled president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, pledged there would be no place for corrupt officials in his new administration, as demanded by the U.S and its international partners.

Today's birthdays: Actor Norman Lloyd is 96. Singer Patti Page is 83. CBS newsman Morley Safer is 79. Singer-actress Bonnie Bramlett is 66. Singer Bonnie Raitt is 61. TV personality Mary Hart is 60. Former Playboy Enterprises chairman and chief executive Christie Hefner is 58. Actress Alfre Woodard is 58. Singer-songwriter Rickie Lee Jones is 56. Author Kazuo Ishiguro is 56. Rock musician Porl Thompson (The Cure) is 53. Singer-actor Leif Garrett is 49. Chef and TV personality Gordon Ramsay is 44. Actress Courtney Thorne-Smith is 43. Actress Parker Posey is 42. Rock musician Jimmy Chaney is 41. Actress Roxana Zal is 41. Singer Diana King is 40. Actor Gonzalo Menendez is 39. Actress Gretchen Mol is 37. Actor Matthew Rhys is 36. Actress Tara Reid is 35. Country singer Bucky Covington is 33. Actress Dania Ramirez is 31. Actress Azura Skye is 29. Actor Chris Rankin is 27. TV personality Jack Osbourne is 25. Actress Jessica Lowndes (TV: "90210") is 22.

Thought for today: "There's nothing that makes you so aware of the improvisation of human existence as a song unfinished. Or an old address book." -- Carson McCullers, American author (1917-1967)

[Associated Press]

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