November 4: First female governor elected, Obama is elected president

November 4, 10:14 PMPortland History ExaminerNatalie Leavitt

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Maine Fast Fact: The state of Maine has a two-house legislature and elects 35 state senators and 151 state representatives for two-year terms.

Births:

• 1809: Benjamin Robbins Curtis, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
• 1816: Stephen Johnson Field, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
• 1879: Will Rogers, American actor and comedian
• 1916: Walter Cronkite, American news broadcaster; Ruth Handler, American businesswoman and inventor of the Barbie doll
• 1918: Art Carney, American actor, known for his role as Ed Norton on the television series The Honeymooners
• 1930: Doris Roberts, American actress, known for her role as Marie Barone on the television series Everybody Loves Raymond
• 1944: Scherrie Payne, American singer, part of the group The Supremes
• 1946: Laura Bush, former First lady of the United States, wife of President George W. Bush
• 1960: Kathy Griffin, American comedienne, actress and media personality
• 1961: Ralph Macchio, American actor, best known for his role as Daniel LaRusso in the Karate Kid movie series
• 1962: Jeff Probst, American television host, reporter and executive producer, host of the reality television series Survivor
• 1969: Sean “Diddy” Combs, American rapper and record producer; Matthew McConaughy, American actor

Deaths:

• 1955: Cy Young, American baseball player
• 1997: H. Richard Hornberger, American writer, author of the novel MASH which the movie and television series is based on, attended Bowdoin College
• 2008: Michael Chrichton, American author, producer, director and screenwriter

History:

• 1825: Governor DeWitt Clinton from New York performs the Wedding of the Waters ceremony in New York Harbor when the Erie Canal is completed.
• 1842: Abraham Lincoln marries Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois.
• 1864: Confederate troops bombard a Union supply base and destroy millions of dollars in material at the Battle of Johnsonville during the Civil War.
• 1880: James and John Ritty of Dayton, Ohio patent the first cash register.
• 1884: Democrat Grover Cleveland is elected president over Republican James G. Blaine.
• 1918: Austria-Hungary surrenders to Italy during World War I.
• 1922: The entrance to King Tutankhamun’s tomb is discovered in the Valley of the King’s by British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men.
• 1924: Nellie Tayloe Ross is elected the first female governor in the United States when she is elected governor of Wyoming.
• 1939: The United States modifies its stance in World War II when it allows “cash and carry” purchases of arms by belligerents, a policy which favors Britain and France.
• 1952: The National Security Agency is established by the United States government; Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected president when he defeats Democrat Adlai Stevenson.
• 1956: Soviet troops enter Hungary to try and end the Hungarian revolution against the Soviet Union which began October 23 where thousands are killed and wounded and almost 250,000 people leave the country.
• 1970: Genie, a 13-year-old child, is rescued in Los Angeles, California after being locked in her bedroom for most of her life.
• 1979: The Iran hostage crisis begins when a group of Iranians invade the U.S. embassy in Tehran and take 90 people hostage, including 53 Americans.
• 1980: Ronald Reagan is elected president defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter.
• 1984: PC’s Limited is established, later re-named Dell Computers.
• 1995: Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel is assassinated by an extremist Orthodox Israeli.
• 2008: Barack Obama is elected the first African-American president of the United States.

November 4 is Victory Day in Italy, celebrating the country’s victory in World War I when Austria-Hungary surrendered to it on this day in 1918 and it is also National Unity Day and Armed Forces Day in Italy. Today is also Flag Day in Panama.