On This Day in History - November 6th - Almanac

Today is Sunday, Nov. 6, the 311th day of 2016 with 55 to follow.

Daylight saving time ends in the United States.

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 Belgian instrument-maker Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone, in 1814; Charles Henry Dow, co-founder of Dow Jones and Co. and first editor of The Wall Street Journal, in 1851; band leader and composer John Philip Sousa ("The March King") in 1854; James Naismith, inventor of the game of basketball, in 1861; baseball Hall of Fame member Walter Johnson in 1887; journalist and New Yorker magazine co-founder Harold Ross in 1892; musician Ray Conniff in 1916; director Mike Nichols in 1931; actor Sally Field in 1946 (age 70); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Glenn Frey (Eagles) in 1948; TV journalist and former California first lady Maria Shriver in 1955 (age 61); actors Lori Singer in 1957 (age 59), Lance Kerwin in 1960 (age 56), Ethan Hawke in 1970 (age 46), Rebecca Romijn in 1972 (age 44) and Emma Stone in 1988 (age 28); and Pat Tillman, pro football player turned soldier, in 1976.

On this date in history:

In 1860, Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected 16th president of the United States.

In 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected president of the Confederate States of America.

In 1869, in the first formal intercollegiate football game, Rutgers beat Princeton, 6-4.

In 1921, the cult of Rudolph Valentino was launched with the release of his silent film "The Sheik," which despite negative reviews immediately caught the attention of women across the United States.

In 1928, Republican Herbert Hoover was elected 31st president of the United States, defeating Democrat Al Smith.

In 1956, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was re-elected by a wide margin.

In 1965, a formal agreement between the United States and Cuba allows Cubans who want to leave the island nation for America to do so. More than 250,000 Cubans had taken advantage of this opportunity by 1971.

In 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan was elected to a second term, winning 49 states.

In 1985, members of the 19th of April Movement took over the Palace of Justice in Bogota, Colombia. The leftist guerrillas would kill more than 100 people (11 of whom where Supreme Court Justices) by the time the siege ended.

In 2009, the U.S. unemployment rate reached 10.2 percent in October, the highest rate in 26 years.

In 2012, U.S. President Barack Obama defeated Republican challenger Mitt Romney to win a second term. Federal finance reports showed campaign expenditures broke the $2 billion mark, making the election the most expensive in U.S. history.

In 2013, Avigdor Lieberman, who had resigned as Israel's foreign minister because of an investigation of alleged corruption, was acquitted and said: "This chapter is behind me. I am now focusing on the challenges ahead." Lieberman became foreign minister again five days later.

A thought for the day: "So, please, oh please, we beg, we pray, go throw your TV set away, and in its place you can install, a lovely bookcase on the wall." -- Roald Dahl