Today in History

Today is Saturday, Nov. 5, the 309th day of 2011. There are 56 days left in the year. A reminder: Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday local time. Clocks move back one hour.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 5, 1911, aviator Calbraith P. Rodgers arrived in Pasadena, Calif., completing the first transcontinental airplane trip in 49 days.

On this date:

In 1605, the "Gunpowder Plot" failed as Guy Fawkes was seized before he could blow up the English Parliament.

In 1811, El Salvador gave its "First Shout of Independence" against Spanish rule.

In 1911, singing cowboy star Roy Rogers was born Leonard Slye in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term in office as he defeated Republican challenger Wendell L. Willkie.

In 1968, Richard M. Nixon won the presidency, defeating Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and American Independent candidate George C. Wallace.

In 1974, Ella T. Grasso was elected governor of Connecticut, becoming the first woman to win a gubernatorial office without succeeding her husband.

In 1985, Spencer W. Kimball, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, died at age 90; he was succeeded by Ezra Taft Benson.

In 1990, Rabbi Meir Kahane, the Brooklyn-born Israeli extremist, was shot to death at a New York hotel. (Egyptian native El Sayyed Nosair was convicted of the slaying in federal court.)

In 1991, death claimed publishing magnate Robert Maxwell at age 68 and actor Fred MacMurray at age 83.

In 2009, a shooting rampage at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas left 13 people dead; Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, was charged with premeditated murder and attempted murder.

Ten years ago: Hurricane Michelle swept past the Bahamas with 85 mile-an-hour winds, flooding houses and cutting power. Roy Boulting, who with his late twin brother, John, produced some of postwar Britain's most enduring films, died in Eynsham, England, at age 87.

Five years ago: Saddam Hussein was convicted and sentenced by the Iraqi High Tribunal to hang for crimes against humanity. Saying that he was a "deceiver and liar" who had given in to his dark side, the Rev. Ted Haggard confessed to sexual immorality in a letter read from the pulpit of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo. Rockwall County, Texas, prosecutor Louis "Bill" Conradt Jr. killed himself as police tried to serve him with an arrest warrant alleging he'd solicited sex with a minor online. Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil became the first South American to win the New York City Marathon, finishing in 2:09:58; defending champion Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia won the women's race in 2:25:05. Former Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit died in Ankara at age 81.

One year ago: President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, boarded Air Force One to fly to Mumbai, India, the first stop of a 10-day tour through India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan. A judge in Los Angeles sentenced Johannes Mehserle, a white former transit officer, to two years in prison in the shooting death of Oscar Grant, an unarmed black man, on an Oakland train platform; the minimum sentence provoked angry protests. Cable channel MSNBC suspended host Keith Olbermann for two shows for making unapproved political donations. Actress Jill Clayburgh died in Lakeville, Conn., at age 66.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Chris Robinson is 73. Actress Elke Sommer is 71. Singer Art Garfunkel is 70. Actor-playwright Sam Shepard is 68. Singer Peter Noone is 64. Actor Nestor Serrano ("24") is 56. Actress-comedian Mo Gaffney is 53. Actor Robert Patrick is 53. Singer Bryan Adams is 52. Actress Tilda Swinton is 51. Actress Tatum O'Neal is 48. Actress Andrea McArdle is 48. Rock singer Angelo Moore (Fishbone) is 46. Actress Judy Reyes is 44. Rock musician Mark Hunter (James) is 43. Actor Sam Rockwell is 43. Country singers Jennifer and Heather Kinley (The Kinleys) are 41. Actor Corin Nemec is 40. Rock musician Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead) is 40. Country singer-musician Ryan Adams is 37. Actor Sam Page is 35. Actor Jeremy Lelliott is 29. Rock musician Kevin Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) is 24.

Thought for Today: "Imagination is the only key to the future. Without it none exists -- with it all things are possible." -- Ida M. Tarbell, American journalist (1857-1944).

Copyright 2011, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.