Today in History

Today is Saturday, Nov. 2, the 306th day of 2019. There are 59 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 2, 1948, President Harry S. Truman surprised the experts by winning a narrow upset over Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey.

On this date:

In 1783, General George Washington issued his Farewell Address to the Army near Princeton, New Jersey.

In 1889, North Dakota and South Dakota became the 39th and 40th states with the signing of proclamations by President Benjamin Harrison.

In 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issued a declaration expressing support for a "national home" for the Jews in Palestine.

In 1947, Howard Hughes piloted his huge wooden flying boat, the Hughes H-4 Hercules (derisively dubbed the "Spruce Goose" by detractors), on its only flight, which lasted about a minute over Long Beach Harbor in California.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered a brief statement to the nation in which he said that aerial photographs had confirmed that Soviet missile bases in Cuba were being dismantled, and that "progress is now being made toward the restoration of peace in the Caribbean."

In 1963, South Vietnamese President Ngo Dihn Diem was assassinated in a military coup.

In 1976, former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter became the first candidate from the Deep South since the Civil War to be elected president as he defeated incumbent Gerald R. Ford.

In 1986, kidnappers in Lebanon released American hospital administrator David Jacobsen after holding him for 17 months.

In 1992, movie producer Hal Roach died in Los Angeles at age 100.

In 1994, a jury in Pensacola, Florida, convicted Paul Hill of murder for the shotgun slayings of an abortion provider and his bodyguard; Hill was executed in September 2003.

In 2000, American astronaut Bill Shepherd and two Russian cosmonauts, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev, became the first residents of the international space station.

In 2004, President George W. Bush was elected to a second term as Republicans strengthened their grip on Congress. Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was slain in Amsterdam after receiving death threats over his movie "Submission," which criticized the treatment of women under Islam.

Ten years ago: A suicide bomber killed 35 people outside a bank near Pakistan's military headquarters in Rawalpindi. Afghanistan's election commission proclaimed President Hamid Karzai the victor of the country's tumultuous ballot, canceling a planned runoff. The Philadelphia Phillies staved off elimination from the World Series with an 8-6 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 5. World Boxing Hall of Famer Lou Filippo, 83, died in Downey, California.

Five years ago: Islamic State group extremists shot dead at least 50 Iraqi men, women and children from the same Sunni tribe. A Taliban suicide bomber killed 60 in an attack on a paramilitary checkpoint in Pakistan close to the Wagah border crossing with India. Daredevil Nik Wallenda wowed Chicago and the world with two hair-raising skyscraper crossings on high wires without a safety net or a harness.

One year ago: The Trump administration restored U.S. sanctions on Iran that had been lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal but carved out exemptions for eight countries that would still be able to import Iranian oil. The oldest victim of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, 97-year-old Rose Mallinger, was laid to rest in the last of the funerals for the 11 victims. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said drug overdose deaths in 2017 had hit the highest level ever recorded in the United States, with most of the increase due to a record number of opioid-related deaths. Actor Alec Baldwin was arrested and charged with assault and harassment after allegedly striking a man in the face during a dispute over a parking spot outside his New York City home. (Baldwin pleaded guilty to harassment and agreed to attend a one-day anger management class.) Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove died in New York after a long fight with kidney disease; he was 49.

Today's Birthdays: Singer Jay Black (Jay and the Americans) is 81. Political commentator Patrick Buchanan is 81. Actress Stefanie Powers is 77. Author Shere Hite is 77. Country-rock singer-songwriter J.D. Souther is 74. Actress Kate Linder is 72. Rock musician Carter Beauford (The Dave Matthews Band) is 61. Actor Peter Mullan is 60. Singer-songwriter k.d. lang is 58. Rock musician Bobby Dall (Poison) is 56. Actress Jenny Robinson ("Bull Durham") is 56. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage is 55. Actress Lauren Velez is 55. Actor Sean Kanan is 53. Actor David Schwimmer is 53. Christian/jazz singer Alvin Chea (Take 6) is 52. Jazz singer Kurt Elling is 52. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is 52. Rock musician Fieldy is 50. Actress Meta Golding is 48. Rock singer-musician John Hampson (Nine Days) is 48. Actress Marisol Nichols is 48. Rhythm-and-blues singer Timothy Christian Riley (Tony Toni Tone) is 45. Rapper Nelly is 45. Actor Danny Cooksey is 44. Rock musician Chris Walla is 44. Actress Reshma Shetty is 42. TV personality Karamo Brown ("Queer Eye," "Dancing With the Stars") is 39. Country singer Erika Jo is 33. Actor-singer Kendall Schmidt is 29.

Thought for Today: "Our most dangerous tendency is to expect too much of government, and at the same time do for it too little." -- President Warren G. Harding (1865-1923).

Copyright 2019, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.