Today In History...

In 1793 The Louvre Museum in Paris opens to the public.

In 1837 Mount Holyoke Seminary becomes the first U.S. college for women.

In 1864 Abraham Lincoln is elected to his second term as president.

In 1889 Montana becomes the 41st U.S. state.

In 1892 Former President Cleveland defeats incumbent Benjamin Harrison for

the presidency, becoming the first (and, to date, only) chief

executive to win non-consecutive terms to the White House.

In 1895 Wilhelm Rontgen discovers the X-ray.

In 1904 President Theodore Roosevelt (who had succeeded the assassinated

William McKinley) is elected to a term in his own right as he

defeated Democrat Alton B. Parker.

In 1923 Adolf Hitler tries to take over Germany in a coup attempt that comes

to be known as the "Beer-Hall Putsch."

In 1932 New York governor Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats incumbent Herbert

Hoover for the presidency of the United States.

In 1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt creates, by executive order, the

Civil Works Administration, designed to create jobs for more than 4

million unemployed.

In 1939 "Life with Father," the longest running Broadway drama, opens.

In 1942 "Operation Torch" begins as Allied forces invade French North Africa

during World War II.

In 1950 The first jet-to-jet dog fight takes place over Korea between a

Soviet-built MIG-15 and an American Lockheed F-80. USAF Lt. Russell

Brown destroys the MIG.

In 1960 Massachusetts Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy defeats Vice

President Richard M. Nixon for the U.S. presidency.

In 1966 Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts becomes the first black to be

elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote.

In 1966 Ronald Reagan is elected governor of California.

In 1970 Tom Dempsey of New Orleans kicks a NFL-record 63-yard field goal.

In 1973 Walt Disney's animated feature "Robin Hood" is released.

In 1978 The century's most famous illustrator, Norman Rockwell, dies at age

84.

In 1982 A smokey fire, set by a prisoner in a Biloxi prison kills 28.

In 1983 Democrat W. Wilson Goode is elected the first black mayor of

Philadelphia and Democrat Martha Layne Collins the first female

governor of Kentucky.

In 1984 The space shuttle Discovery blasts off into orbit in pursuit of two

wayward satellites that the astronauts would retrieve in a daring

salvage mission.

In 1985 A letter signed by four American hostages in Lebanon is delivered in

Beirut. In the letter, Terry Anderson, the Rev. Lawrence Jenco,

David Jacobsen and Thomas Sutherland pleaded with President Reagan

to negotiate their release. All four men were eventually freed.

In 1987 11 people are killed when a bomb planted by the Irish Republican

Army explodes in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.

In 1988 Vice President George Bush is elected the 41st U.S. President,

defeating Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis.

In 1989 In an attempt to strengthen his 3-week-old leadership, East German

Communist Party chief Egon Krenz ousts the old guard of the ruling

Politburo, replacing them with reformers.

In 1990 President Bush orders a new round of troop deployments in the

Persian Gulf, adding up to 150,000 soldiers to the multinational

force facing off against Iraq.

In 1991 The European Community and Canada impose economic sanctions on

Yugoslavia in an attempt to stop the Balkan civil war.

In 1992 Volunteers begin reading aloud the 58,183 names on the Vietnam

Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, as part of the tribute marking

the 10th anniversary of the monument.

In 1992 Some 350,000 people rally in Berlin against racist violence.

In 1993 Russian President Boris Yeltsin approves a draft constitution that

would strengthen executive power; it was ratified in a referendum

the following month.

In 1994 Midterm elections result in the GOP winning a majority in the Senate

and gaining control of the House for the first time in 40 years.

In 1994 Marion Barry, who served a six-month federal prison term in 1990 on

a misdemeanor cocaine charge, is re-elected mayor of Washington, DC.

In 1995 Retired General Colin Powell announces he will not run for president

or any other political office.

In 1997 Chinese engineers divert the Yangtze River to make way for the Three

Gorges Dam, the most ambitious construction project in modern

China's history.

In 1997 Evander Holyfield wins the IBF heavyweight title in a fight against

Michael Moorer in Las Vegas.

In 1998 Rep. Bob Livingston (R-LA), predicts he would succeed Newt Gingrich

as House Speaker. He was elected to the post but resigned before

taking office after admitting to marital infidelities.

In 2000 A statewide recount begins in Florida, which emerged as critical in

deciding the winner of the 2000 presidential election.

In 2000 Waco special counsel John C. Danforth releases his final report

absolving the government of wrongdoing in the 1993 siege at the

Branch Davidian compound in Texas.

In 2002 The UN Security Council unanimously approves a resolution giving

weapons inspectors the muscle they needed to hunt for illicit

weapons in Iraq.

In 2004 The U.S. dollar is eliminated from circulation in Cuba.