Today in History

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 6, the 310th day of 2013. There are 55 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 6, 1888, Republican Benjamin Harrison won the presidential election, defeating Democratic incumbent Grover Cleveland with an electoral vote count of 233-168, even though Cleveland led in the popular vote.

On this date:

In 1632, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden was killed in battle.

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

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

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 1947, "Meet the Press" made its debut on NBC; the first guest was James A. Farley, former postmaster general and former Democratic National Committee Chair; the host was the show's co-creator, Martha Rountree.

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

In 1962, Democrat Edward M. Kennedy was elected Senator from Massachusetts.

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: President Bush signed an $87.5 billion package approved by Congress for Iraq and Afghanistan. Federal judges in New York and California blocked a new ban on certain late-term abortions, a day after President Bush signed it into law. The U.S. Mint unveiled the new nickel.

Five years ago: President-elect Barack Obama spoke by phone with nine world leaders and met privately at the FBI office in Chicago with U.S. intelligence officials, preparing to become commander in chief.

One year ago: As Americans went to the polls, President Barack Obama extended congratulations to rival Mitt Romney "on a spirited campaign" and said he was "cautiously optimistic" he would win. The president and first lady spent Election Day in Chicago while Romney gathered with his family at a waterfront hotel in Boston to watch the election returns.

Today's Birthdays: Director Mike Nichols is 82. Country singer Stonewall Jackson is 81. Singer Eugene Pitt (The Jive Five) is 76. Singer P.J. Proby is 75. Country singer Guy Clark is 72. Actress Sally Field is 67. Pop singer-musician Glenn Frey (The Eagles) is 65. Singer Rory Block is 64. Jazz musician Arturo Sandoval is 64. TV host Catherine Crier is 59. News correspondent and former California first lady Maria Shriver is 58. Actress Lori Singer is 56. Actor Lance Kerwin is 53. Rock musician Paul Brindley (The Sundays) is 50. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is 49. Rock singer Corey Glover is 49. Actor Brad Grunberg is 49. Actor Peter DeLuise is 47. Actress Kelly Rutherford is 45. Actor Ethan Hawke is 43. Actress Thandie Newton is 41. Model-actress Rebecca Romijn is 41. Actress Zoe McLellan is 39. Actress Nicole Dubuc is 35. Actress Taryn Manning is 35. Actress Katie Leclere? is 27. Singer-songwriter Ben Rector is 27. Actress Emma Stone is 25. Actress Mercedes Kastner is 24.

Thought for Today: "I know nothing grander, better exercise, better digestion, more positive proof of the past, the triumphant result of faith in human kind, than a well-contested American national election." -- Walt Whitman, American poet (1819-1892).

Copyright 2013, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.