Today in History
Today is Saturday, Nov. 5, the 309th day of 2022. There are 56 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Nov. 5, 2009, a shooting rampage at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas left 13 people dead; Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, was later convicted of murder and sentenced to death. (No execution date has been set.)
On this date:
In 1605, the “Gunpowder Plot” failed as Guy Fawkes was seized before he could blow up the English Parliament.
In 1872, suffragist Susan B. Anthony defied the law by attempting to cast a vote for President Ulysses S. Grant. (Anthony was convicted by a judge and fined $100, but she never paid the penalty.)
In 1912, Democrat Woodrow Wilson was elected president, defeating Progressive Party candidate Theodore Roosevelt, incumbent Republican William Howard Taft and Socialist Eugene V. Debs.
In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term in office as he defeated Republican challenger Wendell L. Willkie.
In 1964, NASA launched Mariner 3, which was supposed to fly by Mars, but the spacecraft failed to reach its destination.
In 1968, Republican Richard M. Nixon won the presidency, defeating Democratic Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and American Independent candidate George C. Wallace.
In 1974, Democrat Ella T. Grasso was elected governor of Connecticut, becoming the first woman to win a gubernatorial office without succeeding her husband.
In 1992, Malice Green, a Black motorist, died after he was struck in the head 14 times with a flashlight by a Detroit police officer, Larry Nevers, outside a suspected crack house. (Nevers and his partner, Walter Budzyn, were found guilty of second-degree murder, but the convictions were overturned; they were later convicted of involuntary manslaughter.)
In 1994, former President Ronald Reagan disclosed he had Alzheimer’s disease.
In 2006, Saddam Hussein was convicted and sentenced by the Iraqi High Tribunal to hang for crimes against humanity.
In 2007, Hollywood writers began a three-month strike, forcing late-night talk shows to immediately start airing reruns.
In 2011, former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, accused of molesting eight boys, was arrested and released on $100,000 bail after being arraigned on 40 criminal counts. (Sandusky was later convicted and sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison for the sexual abuse of 10 boys over a 15-year period.)
Ten years ago: On the eve of the presidential election, President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney held rallies seven miles apart in Columbus, Ohio. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled a South Carolina sheriff’s office could be held liable for attorneys’ fees for stopping abortion protesters who wanted to hold up signs showing aborted fetuses.
Five years ago: A gunman armed with an assault rifle opened fire in a small South Texas church, killing more than two dozen people; the shooter, Devin Patrick Kelley, was later found dead in a vehicle after he was shot and chased by two men who heard the gunfire. (An autopsy revealed that he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.) President Donald Trump arrived in Japan for the start of a 12-day, five-country Asian trip. Shalane Flanagan became the first American woman to win the New York City Marathon since 1977; Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya was the men’s winner.
One year ago: A crush of fans during a performance by rapper Travis Scott at a Houston music festival left ten people dead, as people were squeezed so tightly they couldn’t breathe. The House gave final congressional approval to a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure plan with money for roads, bridges, ports, the power grid, broadband internet and more. Pfizer Inc. said its experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 cut rates of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% in high-risk adults.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Harris Yulin is 85. Actor Chris Robinson is 84. Actor Elke Sommer is 82. Singer Art Garfunkel is 81. Singer Peter Noone is 75. TV personality Kris Jenner is 67. Actor Nestor Serrano is 67. Actor-comedian Mo Gaffney is 64. Actor Robert Patrick is 64. Singer Bryan Adams is 63. Actor Tilda Swinton is 62. Actor Michael Gaston is 60. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid is 59. Actor Tatum O’Neal is 59. Actor Andrea McArdle is 59. Rock singer Angelo Moore (Fishbone) is 57. Actor Judy Reyes is 55. Actor Seth Gilliam is 54. Rock musician Mark Hunter (James) is 54. Actor Sam Rockwell is 54. Actor Corin Nemec is 51. Rock musician Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead) is 51. Country singer-musician Ryan Adams is 48. Actor Sam Page is 47. Actor Sebastian Arcelus is 46. Actor Luke Hemsworth is 42. Actor Annet Mahendru (MAH’-hehn-droo) is 37. Rock musician Kevin Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) is 35. Actor Landon Gimenez is 19.
