November 4 ...

In 1879 humorist Will Rogers was born in Oologah, OK. In 1884 Democrat Grover Cleveland was elected to his first term as president, defeating Republican James G. Blaine. In 1922 the entrance to King Tutankhamen's tomb was discovered in Egypt. In 1924 Nellie T. Ross of Wyoming was elected the nation's first female governor to serve out the remaining term of her late husband, William B. Ross. In 1942 during World War II, Axis forces retreated from El Alamein in North Africa in a major victory for British forces commanded by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. In 1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president, defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson. In 1956 Soviet troops moved in to crush the Hungarian Revolution. In 1979 the Iranian hostage crisis began as militants stormed the US Embassy in Tehran, seizing its occupants. For some of the hostages, it was the start of 444 days of captivity. In 1980 Ronald Reagan won the White House as he defeated President Carter by a strong margin. In 1990 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing Israeli minutes after attending a festive peace rally. In 1991 Ronald Reagan opened his presidential library in Simi Valley, CA. In 2000 Yugoslavia's parliament approved the country's first communist-free government in more than half a century. In 2008 Illinois Senator Barack Obama was elected president of the US.