Today in History

Today is Friday, Nov. 8, the 312th day of 2013. There are 53 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 8, 1988, Vice President George H.W. Bush won the presidential election, defeating Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.

On this date:

In 1889, Montana became the 41st state.

In 1909, the original Boston Opera House first opened with a performance of "La Gioconda" by Amilcare Ponchielli.

In 1913, the play "Woyzeck," by Georg Buchner, had its premiere in Munich, Germany, more than six decades after the playwright's death.

In 1923, Adolf Hitler launched his first attempt at seizing power in Germany with a failed coup in Munich that came to be known as the "Beer-Hall Putsch."

In 1932, New York Democratic Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated incumbent Republican Herbert Hoover for the presidency.

In 1942, Operation Torch, resulting in an Allied victory, began during World War II as U.S. and British forces landed in French North Africa.

In 1950, during the Korean War, the first jet plane battle took place as U.S. Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown shot down a North Korean MiG-15.

In 1960, Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy defeated Vice President Richard M. Nixon for the presidency.

In 1972, the premium cable TV network HBO (Home Box Office) made its debut with a showing of the movie "Sometimes a Great Notion."

In 1980, scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., announced that the U.S. space probe Voyager 1 had discovered a 15th moon orbiting the planet Saturn.

In 1987, 11 people were killed when an Irish Republican Army bomb exploded as crowds gathered in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, for a ceremony honoring Britain's war dead.

In 1994, midterm elections resulted in Republicans winning a majority in the Senate while at the same time gaining control of the House for the first time in 40 years.

Ten years ago: A suicide car bombing of a housing complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killed 17 people. Front-runner Howard Dean became the first Democratic presidential candidate ever to reject taxpayer money and avoid the accompanying spending limits, saying he had to act to compete against President Bush's cash-rich campaign.

Five years ago: Indonesia executed three Islamic militants for helping to plan and carry out the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, many of them foreign tourists. An accident on a Russian nuclear submarine undergoing a test in the Sea of Japan asphyxiated 20 people on board. Florence Wald, a former Yale nursing dean whose interest in compassionate care led her to launch the first U.S. hospice program, died in Branford, Conn. at age 91.

One year ago: Wall Street saw stocks fall sharply for a second straight day as investors worried about the potential for gridlock in Washington. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 121 points, a day after plunging 313 points. The Congressional Budget Office warned that failing to avoid the "fiscal cliff" of tax increases and spending could send the economy back into recession and push the unemployment rate up to 9.1 percent. Jared Loughner was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the January 2011 shootings in Tucson, Ariz. that killed six people and wounded 13 others including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Norman Lloyd is 99. CBS newsman Morley Safer is 82. Singer-actress Bonnie Bramlett is 69. Singer Bonnie Raitt is 64. TV personality Mary Hart is 63. Former Playboy Enterprises chairman and chief executive Christie Hefner is 61. Actress Alfre Woodard is 61. Singer-songwriter Rickie Lee Jones is 59. Author Kazuo Ishiguro is 59. Rock musician Porl Thompson (The Cure) is 56. Singer-actor Leif Garrett is 52. Chef and TV personality Gordon Ramsay is 47. Actress Courtney Thorne-Smith is 46. Actress Parker Posey is 45. Rock musician Jimmy Chaney is 44. Actress Roxana Zal is 44. Singer Diana King is 43. Actor Gonzalo Menendez is 42. Actress Gretchen Mol is 40. Actor Matthew Rhys is 39. Actress Tara Reid is 38. Country singer Bucky Covington is 36. Actress Dania Ramirez is 34. Actress Azura Skye is 32. Actor Chris Rankin is 30. TV personality Jack Osbourne is 28. Actress Jessica Lowndes is 25. Country singer Lauren Alaina is 19.

Thought for Today: "Man is born to live, not to prepare for life." -- Boris Pasternak, Russian author (1890-1960).

Copyright 2013, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.