Today in History

Today is Thursday, Nov. 7, the 311th day of 2013. There are 54 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 7, 1972, President Richard Nixon was re-elected in a landslide over Democrat George McGovern.

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 1862, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln replaced replace Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac with Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside.

In 1912, black boxing champion Jack Johnson was indicted in Chicago for allegedly violating the Mann Act with a white woman, Belle Schreiber. (Johnson was convicted and sentenced to a year in prison; he fled the U.S., later returning to serve his term.)

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, Republican 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." Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, 78, died in New York City.

In 1963, the all-star comedy "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" had its world premiere in Hollywood.

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 1992, former Czechoslovak leader Alexander Dubcek, whose failed attempt to loosen the Communist grip on his country became known as the "Prague Spring," died at age 70.

Ten years ago: Six U.S. soldiers were killed in the crash of their Black Hawk helicopter in Tikrit, Iraq. The defending champion U.S. baseball team failed to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympics, losing to Mexico 2-1 in the quarterfinals of a qualifying tournament in Panama City, Panama.

Five years ago: In his first news conference since being elected president, Barack Obama called on Congress to extend unemployment benefits and pass a stimulus bill. The government reported the unemployment rate had soared to 6.5 percent in October 2008, up from 6.1 percent just a month earlier. General Motors Corp. reported a $2.5 billion loss in the third quarter while Ford Motor Co. said it had lost $129 million. A school in Haiti collapsed, killing some 90 people. Mieczyslaw Rakowski, Poland's last communist-era party chairman and prime minister, died in Warsaw at age 81.

One year ago: Stocks plunged on the day after Election Day, as investors worried whether a divided Congress would be able to fend off automatic tax increases and spending cuts that could stall the U.S. economy. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 313 points, the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 34 points and the Nasdaq composite index lost 75. A storm struck parts of the Northeast already battered by Superstorm Sandy, leaving a blanket of wet snow on already weakened trees and causing hundreds of thousands of new power outages.

Today's Birthdays: Evangelist Billy Graham is 95. Actor Barry Newman is 75. Singer Johnny Rivers is 71. Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is 70. Former CIA Director David Petraeus is 61. Actor Christopher Knight ("The Brady Bunch") is 56. Rock musician Tommy Thayer (KISS) is 53. Actress Julie Pinson is 46. Rock musician Greg Tribbett (Mudvayne) is 45. Actor Christopher Daniel Barnes is 41. Actors Jeremy and Jason London are 41. Actress Yunjin Kim is 40. Rock musician Zach Myers (Shinedown) is 30. Actor Lucas Neff is 28. Rapper Tinie Tempah is 25. Rock singer Lorde is 17.

Thought for Today: "Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one." -- Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962).

Copyright 2013, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.