Today in History

Today is Monday, Nov. 7, the 311th day of 2011. There are 54 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 7, 1911, Marie Sklodowska Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, eight years after winning the Nobel Prize in Physics with her late husband, Pierre.

On this date:

In 1811, U.S. forces led by Indiana Territory Gov. William Henry Harrison defeated warriors from Tecumseh's Confederacy in the Battle of Tippecanoe.

In 1861, former U.S. President John Tyler was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives (however, Tyler died before he could take his seat).

In 1916, Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to Congress.

In 1917, Russia's Bolshevik Revolution took place as forces led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin overthrew the provisional government of Alexander Kerensky.

In 1940, Washington state's original Tacoma Narrows Bridge, nicknamed "Galloping Gertie," collapsed into Puget Sound during a windstorm.

In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt won an unprecedented fourth term in office, defeating Thomas E. Dewey.

In 1962, Richard Nixon, having lost California's gubernatorial race, held what he called his "last press conference," telling reporters, "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore."

In 1973, Congress overrode President Richard Nixon's veto of the War Powers Act, which limits a chief executive's power to wage war without congressional approval.

In 1980, actor Steve McQueen died in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, at age 50.

In 1991, basketball star Magic Johnson announced that he had tested positive for the AIDS virus, and was retiring. (Despite his HIV status, Johnson has been able to sustain himself with medication.)

Ten years ago: The Bush administration targeted Osama bin Laden's multi million-dollar financial networks, closing businesses in four states, detaining U.S. suspects and urging allies to help choke off money supplies in 40 nations. At the White House, President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair confidently offered back-to-back pledges of victory, no matter how long it took. More than 15 months after a Concorde crashed outside Paris, two of the world's only supersonic jetliners returned to the skies.

Five years ago: Democrats won control of the House and Senate, riding a wave of anger over the Iraq war and congressional scandals. Keith Ellison, a Democratic state lawmaker from Minnesota, became the first Muslim elected to Congress. Panama won a seat on the U.N. Security Council after Guatemala and Venezuela dropped out to end a deadlock. Dhiren Barot, an al-Qaida operative who'd planned to blow up the New York Stock Exchange, the World Bank and landmark London hotels, was sentenced in Britain to life in prison. Pop star Britney Spears filed for divorce from Kevin Federline.

One year ago: Scientists at the world's largest atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, recreated the state of matter shortly after the Big Bang using collisions of lead ions. Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia won the men's title at the New York City Marathon in 2:08:14 in his debut at the distance. Kenya's Edna Kiplagat won the women's race in 2:28:20 for her first major marathon championship.

Today's Birthdays: Evangelist Billy Graham is 93. Actor Barry Newman is 73. Singer Johnny Rivers is 69. Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is 68. CIA Director David Petraeus is 59. Actor Christopher Knight ("The Brady Bunch") is 54. Rock musician Tommy Thayer (KISS) is 51. Actress Julie Pinson is 44. Rock musician Greg Tribbett (Mudvayne) is 43. Actor Christopher Daniel Barnes is 39. Actors Jason and Jeremy London are 39. Actress Yunjin Kim is 38. Rock musician Zach Myers (Shinedown) is 28. Rapper Tinie Tempah is 23.

Thought for Today: "All forms of totalitarianism try to avoid the strange, the problematic, the critical, the rational. To do so, they must deny the metropolitan spirit, equalize everything in city and country, and retain a center which is not the center of anything because everything else is swallowed up by it." -- Paul Tillich, American theologian (1886-1965).

Copyright 2011, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.