November 7: Magic Johnson pronounces he has HIV

Today is Thursday, November seventh, the 312th day of 2024. There are 54 days left within the 12 months.

Today in history:

On November 7, 1991, basketball star Magic Johnson announced that he had tested positive for HIV and was retiring.

Also on this date:

In 1916, Jeannette Rankin of Montana won election to the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the primary woman elected to either chamber of Congress.

In 1940, Washington state's original Tacoma Narrows Bridge, nicknamed “Galloping Gertie,” collapsed into Puget Sound during a storm just 4 months after it opened to traffic.

In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt won an unprecedented fourth term, defeating Republican Thomas E. Dewey.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon was re-elected in a landslide against Democrat George McGovern.

In 1989, L. Douglas Wilder won the Virginia gubernatorial race, becoming the primary elected black governor in U.S. history; David N. Dinkins was elected as the primary black mayor of New York City.

In 2011, a Los Angeles jury convicted Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, of involuntary manslaughter for administering a robust narcotic linked to the entertainer's 2009 death. (Murray was sentenced to 4 years in prison. He served two years and was released in October 2013.)

In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden clinched victory over President Donald Trump when Biden crossed the 270 Electoral College vote threshold with a victory in Pennsylvania. Trump refused to concede.

Today's birthdays:

  • Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Kaat is 86.
  • Former singer Johnny Rivers is 82.
  • Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is 81.
  • Retired Army general and former CIA director David Petraeus is 72 years old.
  • Actor Christopher Knight (TV: “The Brady Bunch”) is 67.
  • DJ producer David Guetta is 57.
  • Actor Yunjin Kim is 51.
  • Rock singer Lorde is 28.

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