Today is Saturday, November 2nd, the 307th day of 2024. There are 59 days left within the 12 months.
Today in history:
On November 2, 1948, the Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman won the presidential election against the heavily favored Republican Governor of New York, Thomas E. Dewey, in one of the vital unexpected ends in US electoral history.
Also on this date:
In 1783, General George Washington gave his farewell address to the military.
In 1947, Howard Hughes piloted his Hughes H-4 Hercules, nicknamed “Spruce Goose,” on its only flight; It was an enormous picket seaplane with a wingspan larger than a football field that stayed aloft for 26 seconds.
In 1959, Charles Van Doren testified before a congressional committee that he had conspired with television producers to cheat on the tv quiz show “Twenty-One.”
In 1976, former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter became the primary candidate from the Deep South to be elected president because the Civil War when he defeated incumbent Gerald R. Ford.
In 2000, American astronaut Bill Shepherd and two Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev were the primary crew members to board the International Space Station; They spent a complete of 136 days within the International Space Station before returning to Earth on the Space Shuttle Discovery.
In 2003, insurgents in Iraq shot down a Chinook helicopter with dozens of U.S. soldiers on board, killing 16 people.
In 2004, President George W. Bush was elected to a second term, defeating Senator John Kerry, and Republicans strengthened their control of Congress.
In 2007, British student Meredith Kercher, 21, was found bludgeoned to death in her bedroom in Perugia, Italy; Her roommate, American Amanda Knox, and Knox's Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted of Kercher's murder, but each were later exonerated.
In 2016, the Chicago Cubs ended a championship drought dating back to 1908 and won the World Series, defeating the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in extra innings.
In 2021, the Atlanta Braves won their first World Series championship since 1995, defeating the Houston Astros in Game 6.
Today's birthdays:
- Tennis Hall of Famer Ken Rosewall turns 90.
- Political commentator Pat Buchanan is 86.
- Olympic gold medal wrestler Bruce Baumgartner is 65 years old.
- Singer-songwriter KD Lang is 63.
- Playwright Lynn Nottage is 60.
- Actor David Schwimmer is 58.
- Jazz singer Kurt Elling is 57.
- Rapper Nelly is 50.
- Film director Jon Chu is 45.
- TV personality Karamo Brown (“Queer Eye”) is 44.
- NFL quarterback Jordan Love is 26.
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