Today in History

Today is Sunday, Nov. 6, the 310th day of 2011. There are 55 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 6, 1861, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was elected to a six-year term of office.

On this date:

In 1860, former Illinois congressman Abraham Lincoln defeated three other candidates for the presidency: John Breckinridge, John Bell and Stephen Douglas.

In 1861, James Naismith, the inventor of the sport of basketball, was born in Almonte, Ontario, Canada.

In 1888, Benjamin Harrison won the presidential election, defeating incumbent Grover Cleveland with enough electoral votes, even though Cleveland led in the popular vote.

In 1893, composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky died in St. Petersburg, Russia, at age 53.

In 1928, in a first, the results of Republican Herbert Hoover's election victory over Democrat Alfred E. Smith were flashed onto an electric wraparound sign on the New York Times building.

In 1934, Nebraska voters approved dissolving their two-chamber legislature in favor of a nonpartisan, single (or "unicameral") legislative body, which was implemented in 1937.

In 1944, British official Lord Moyne was assassinated in Cairo, Egypt, by members of the Zionist Stern gang.

In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower won re-election, defeating Democrat Adlai E. Stevenson.

In 1977, 39 people were killed when the Kelly Barnes Dam burst, sending a wall of water through Toccoa Falls College in Georgia.

In 1990, about one-fifth of the Universal Studios backlot in southern California was destroyed in an arson fire.

Ten years ago: Billionaire Republican Michael Bloomberg won New York City's mayoral race, defeating Democrat Mark Green. The Federal Reserve slashed its federal funds rate, the key benchmark for overnight loans, by a half-point to 2 percent, its lowest level in 40 years. Baseball owners voted 28-2 to eliminate two major league teams by the 2002 season (however, the contraction did not occur). Playwright Anthony Shaffer, who'd written the thriller "Sleuth," died in London at age 75.

Five years ago: On the eve of midterm elections, Democrats criticized Republicans as stewards of a stale status quo while President George W. Bush campaigned from Florida to Arkansas to Texas in a drive to preserve GOP control of Congress. Kenny Chesney won entertainer of the year and Brooks & Dunn's inspirational song "Believe" won three trophies, including single and song of the year, at the 40th Annual Country Music Association Awards.

One year ago: President Barack Obama opened his 10-day Asia trip on a somber note in Mumbai, India, where he memorialized victims of devastating terror attacks two years earlier, declaring, "We'll never forget." A Yemeni judge ordered police to find Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical U.S.-born cleric, "dead or alive" after the al-Qaida-linked preacher failed to appear at his trial for his role in the killing of foreigners. (Al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in the mountains of Yemen on Sept. 30, 2011.)

Today's Birthdays: Director Mike Nichols is 80. Country singer Stonewall Jackson is 79. Singer Eugene Pitt (The Jive Five) is 74. Singer P.J. Proby is 73. Country singer Guy Clark is 70. Actress Sally Field is 65. Pop singer-musician Glenn Frey (The Eagles) is 63. Singer Rory Block is 62. Jazz musician Arturo Sandoval is 62. TV host Catherine Crier is 57. California's former first lady, Maria Shriver, is 56. Actress Lori Singer is 54. Actor Lance Kerwin is 51. Rock musician Paul Brindley (The Sundays) is 48. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is 47. Rock singer Corey Glover is 47. Actor Brad Grunberg is 47. Actor Peter DeLuise is 45. Actress Kelly Rutherford is 43. Actor Ethan Hawke is 41. Actress Thandie Newton is 39. Model-actress Rebecca Romijn is 39. Actress Zoe McLellan is 37. Actress Nicole Dubuc is 33. Actress Taryn Manning is 33. Singer-songwriter Ben Rector is 25. Actress Emma Stone is 23. Actress Mercedes Kastner is 22.

Thought for Today: "The illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn." -- Alvin Toffler, American writer-futurist (1928- ).

Copyright 2011, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.