Today in History

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 5, the 309th day of 2014. There are 56 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 5, 1914, Britain and France declared war against the Ottoman Empire; Britain also annexed Cyprus.

On this date:

In 1605, the "Gunpowder Plot" failed as Guy Fawkes was seized before he could blow up the English Parliament.

In 1781, the Continental Congress elected John Hanson of Maryland its chairman, giving him the title of "President of the United States in Congress Assembled."

In 1872, suffragist Susan B. Anthony defied the law by attempting to cast a vote for President Ulysses S. Grant. (Anthony was convicted by a judge and fined $100, but she never paid the fine.)

In 1912, Democrat Woodrow Wilson was elected president, defeating Progressive Party candidate Theodore Roosevelt, incumbent Republican William Howard Taft and Socialist Eugene V. Debs.

In 1938, Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" and "Essay for Orchestra" made their world debuts on the NBC Blue radio network as they were performed by the NBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Arturo Toscanini.

In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term in office as he defeated Republican challenger Wendell L. Willkie.

In 1964, NASA launched Mariner 3, which was supposed to fly by Mars, but the spacecraft failed to reach its destination.

In 1968, Republican Richard M. Nixon won the presidency, defeating Democratic Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and American Independent candidate George C. Wallace.

In 1974, Democrat Ella T. Grasso was elected governor of Connecticut, becoming the first woman to win a gubernatorial office without succeeding her husband.

In 1989, death claimed pianist Vladimir Horowitz in New York at age 86 and singer-songwriter Barry Sadler in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, at age 49.

In 1990, Rabbi Meir Kahane, the Brooklyn-born Israeli extremist, was shot to death at a New York hotel. (Egyptian native El Sayyed Nosair was convicted of the slaying in federal court.)

In 1994, former President Ronald Reagan disclosed he had Alzheimer's disease.

Ten years ago: The Kremlin announced that Russia had given final approval to the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. In a surprise reversal, the Chilean army for the first time assumed institutional responsibility for widespread human rights violations during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.

Five years ago: A shooting rampage at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas left 13 people dead; Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, was later convicted of murder and sentenced to death.

One year ago: Republican Gov. Chris Christie won a resounding re-election victory in Democratic-leaning New Jersey, while Democrat Terry McAuliffe prevailed in Virginia's gubernatorial contest. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford acknowledged for the first time that he had smoked crack "probably a year ago" when he was in a "drunken stupor," but he refused to resign despite immense pressure to step aside as leader of Canada's largest city. India launched its first spacecraft bound for Mars; the Martian Orbiter Mission, or MOM, reached the red planet in Sept. 2014.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Chris Robinson is 76. Actress Elke Sommer is 74. Singer Art Garfunkel is 73. Actor-playwright Sam Shepard is 71. Singer Peter Noone is 67. TV personality Kris Jenner is 59. Actor Nestor Serrano is 59. Actress-comedian Mo Gaffney is 56. Actor Robert Patrick is 56. Singer Bryan Adams is 55. Actress Tilda Swinton is 54. Actor Michael Gaston is 52. Actress Tatum O'Neal is 51. Actress Andrea McArdle is 51. Rock singer Angelo Moore (Fishbone) is 49. Actress Judy Reyes is 47. Actor Seth Gilliam (TV: "Teen Wolf") is 46. Rock musician Mark Hunter (James) is 46. Actor Sam Rockwell is 46. Country singers Jennifer and Heather Kinley (The Kinleys) are 44. Actor Corin Nemec is 43. Rock musician Jonny (cq) Greenwood (Radiohead) is 43. Country singer-musician Ryan Adams is 40. Actor Sam Page is 38. Actor Jeremy Lelliott is 32. Actress Annet Mahendru (TV: "The Americans") is 29. Rock musician Kevin Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) is 27. Actor Landon Gimenez (TV: "Resurrection") is 11.

Thought for Today: "The line of least resistance was always the most difficult line in the long run." Peter Cheyney, English author (1896-1951).

Copyright 2014, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.