UPI Almanac for Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018

Today is Saturday, Nov. 3, the 307th day of 2018 with 58 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Mars, Neptune, Uranus and Venus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include early Texas leader Stephen Austin, for whom the state capital is named, in 1793; Chicago Bears legend Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski in 1908; baseball Hall of Fame member Bob Feller in 1918; actor Charles Bronson in 1921; conductor/composer John Barry in 1933: entertainer Ken Berry in 1933 (age 85); 1988 Democratic presidential nominee/former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis in 1933 (age 85); British pop singer Lulu, born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie, in 1948 (age 70); fashion magazine editor Anna Wintour in 1949 (age 69); comedian Roseanne Barr in 1952 (age 66); comedian Dennis Miller in 1953 (age 65); actor Kate Capshaw in 1953 (age 65); actor Kathy Kinney in 1954 (age 64); actor Dolph Lundgren in 1957 (age 61); model/actor Gemma Ward in 1987 (age 31); football player Colin Kaepernick in 1987 (age 31); activist Elizabeth Smart in 1987 (age 31); television personality Kendall Jenner in 1995 (age 23).

On this date in history:

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

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 1964, residents of the District of Columbia got to vote for the first time in a presidential election thanks to the passage of the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution.

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, U.S. voters elected Democrat Bill Clinton, the governor of Arkansas, to be president over incumbent 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, 13 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."