more events on November 3
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1997
U.S. imposes economic sanctions against Sudan in response to human rights abuses and support of Islamic extremist groups.
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1992
Arkansas Governor Bill (William Jefferson) Clinton is elected 42nd president of the United States.
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1986
The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reports the U.S. has secretly been selling weapons to Iran in order to secure the release of seven American hostages being held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon, in what later became known as the Iran-Contra Affair.
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1979
Ku Klux Klansmen and neo-Nazis kill five and wound seven members of the Communist Workers Party during a “Death to the Klan” rally in Greensboro, NC; the incident becomes known as the Greensboro Massacre.
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1973
NASA launches Mariner 10, the first probe to reach Mercury.
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1969
U.S. President Richard Nixon, speaking on TV and radio, asks the “silent majority” of the American people to support his policies and the continuing war effort in Vietnam.
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1967
The Battle of Dak To begins in Vietnam’s Central Highlands; actually a series of engagements, the battle would continue through Nov. 22.
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1964
Robert F. Kennedy, brother of the slain president John F. Kennedy, is elected as a senator from New York.
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Lyndon B. Johnson is elected the 36th president of the United States.
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For the first time, residents of Washington, D.C., are allowed to vote in the U.S. presidential election.
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1957
The Soviet Union launches Sputnik II with the dog Laika, the first animal in space, aboard.
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1956
Gary Ross, film director, screenwriter (The Hunger Games, Seabiscuit).
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1952
Roseanne Barr, comedian, actress, producer; best known for her starring role in the TV series Roseanne, for which she won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe.
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David Ho, virologist, HIV/AIDS researcher whose significant contributions helped pave the way for better understanding and technological treatment of the infection.
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1949
Larry Holmes, professional boxer known as “The Easton Assassin”; his 20 successful defenses of his heavyweight title is second only to Joe Louis’ record of 25.
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1942
Martin Cruz Smith, novelist (Gorky Park).
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1935
Left-wing groups in France form the Socialist and Republican Union.
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1933
Michael Dukakis, politician; the longest-serving governor in the history of the state of Massachusetts (1975-79, 1983-91); unsuccessful Democratic candidate for US presidency (1988).
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Jeremy Brett, actor; best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in the Granada TV productions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories about the detective.
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Amartya Sen, Indian economist, winner of Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (1998) for his work on economic theories of famines and social justice and indexes for measuring the well-being of citizens in developing countries.
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1921
Milk drivers on strike dump thousands of gallons of milk onto New York City’s streets to protest the drink’s varying prices on the market.
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1920
Oodgeroo Noonuccal [Kath Walker], Australian Aboriginal poet.
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1918
The German fleet at Kiel mutinies. This is the first act leading to Germany’s capitulation in World War I.
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Russell Long, U.S. senator from Louisiana from 1951 to 1968 and son of Huey P. Long.
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1912
The first all-metal plane flies near Issy, France, piloted by Ponche and Prinard.
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1909
James “Scotty” Reston, New York Times reporter, editor and columnist.
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1903
Walker Evans, photographer best known for his Great Depression photos for the Farmers Security Administration (FSA).
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1901
Andre Malraux, French novelist and author of La Condition Humaine (Man’s Fate).
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1896
William McKinley is elected 25th president of the United States.
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1892
First automatic telephone exchange goes into operation in La Porte, Indiana.
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1883
The U.S. Supreme Court declares American Indians to be “dependent aliens.”
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A poorly trained Egyptian army, led by British General William Hicks, marches toward El Obeid in the Sudan—straight into a Mahdist ambush and massacre.
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1868
Ulysses S. Grant elected the 18th president of the United States.
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1831
Ignatius Donnelly, American social reformer best known for his book Atlantis: The Antediluvian World.
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1813
American troops destroy the Indian village of Tallushatchee in the Mississippi Valley.
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1801
Karl Baedeker, German publisher, well known for travel guides.
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1794
William Cullen Bryant, American poet and journalist.
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Thomas Paine is released from a Parisian jail with help from the American ambassador James Monroe. He was arrested for having offended the Robespierre faction.
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1718
John Montague, fourth Earl of Sandwich and inventor of the sandwich.
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1529
The first Parliament for five years opens in England and the Commons put forward bills against abuses amongst the clergy and in the church courts.
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1507
Leonardo da Vinci is commissioned to paint Lisa Gherardini (“Mona Lisa”).
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1493
Christopher Columbus arrives at the Caribbee Isles (Dominica) during his second expedition.