On This Day in History - November 3rd - Almanac

Today is Thursday, Nov. 3, the 308th day of 2016 with 58 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning star is Jupiter. The evening stars are Mercury, Saturn, Venus, Mars, Neptune and Uranus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include Italian artist Benvenuto Cellini in 1500; early Texas leader Stephen Austin, for whom the state capital is named, in 1793; poet William Cullen Bryant in 1794; Chicago Bears legend Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski in 1908; baseball Hall of Fame member Bob Feller in 1918; actors Charles Bronson in 1921 and Jeremy Brett in 1933; conductor/composer John Barry in 1933: entertainer Ken Berry and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, also in 1933 (age 83); British pop singer Lulu, born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie, in 1948 (age 68); comedian Roseanne Barr in 1952 (age 64); comedian Dennis Miller and actor Kate Capshaw, both in 1953 (age 63); actors Kathy Kinney in 1954 (age 62) and Dolph Lundgren in 1957 (age 59); and model and actor Gemma Ward in 1987 (age 29).

On this date in history:

In 1903, Panama, with the support of the U.S. government, issued a declaration of independence from Colombia.

In 1868, John Willis Menard of Louisiana became the first African American elected to the United States House of Representatives. Opposition to his election prevented him from ever being seated.

In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was re-elected. It was a landslide victory over his Republican challenger, Kansas Gov Alfred M. "Alf" Landon.

In 1948, U.S. President Harry S. Truman defeated Republican challenger Thomas Dewey. In what was perhaps the greatest upset in American political history, Truman, who had been given no chance in pre-election polls and forecasts, seized the lead with the first returns last night and never lost it.

In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first animal into space -- a dog named Laika -- aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecraft.

In 1964, Lyndon Johnson was elected U.S. president with a margin larger than in any previous election, defeating Republican Barry Goldwater.

In 1979, five members of the Communist Workers Party, participating in a "Death to the Klan" rally in Greensboro, N.C., were shot to death by a group of Klansmen and neo-Nazis. Seven others were wounded.

In 1986, a Lebanese magazine exposed the secret weapons-for-hostages deal taking place between the United States and Iran. The scandal, which would escalate into the Iran-Contra affair, resulted in the indictments of numerous officials including Oliver North as well as then-Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger.

In 1992, Democrat Bill Clinton, the governor of Arkansas, was elected U.S. president, defeating President George H.W. Bush.

In 2004, Hamid Karzai was officially declared the winner in Afghanistan's first presidential election.

In 2012, hundreds of people, many dressed as Big Bird, marched in Washington to show support for the U.S. Public Broadcasting System.

In 2014, thirteen years after the World Trade Center was destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks, One World Trade Center opened it doors with employees at Conde Nast some of the first to move in.

A thought for the day: U.S. President Bill Clinton said in his first inaugural address: "Together with our friends and allies, we will work to shape change, lest it engulf us. When our vital interests are challenged or the will and conscience of the international community is defied, we will act, with peaceful diplomacy whenever possible, with force when necessary."