Today is Sunday, Nov. 3, the 308th day of 1996. There are 58 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:One hundred years ago, on Nov. 3, 1896, Republican William McKinley defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan for the presidency.
On this date:
In 1839, the first Opium War between China and Britain broke out.
In 1868, Republican Ulysses S. Grant won the presidential election over Democrat Horatio Seymour.
In 1900, the first automobile show in the United States opened at New York City's Madison Square Garden under the auspices of the Automobile Club of America.
In 1903, Panama proclaimed its independence from Colombia.
In 1908, Republican William Howard Taft was elected president, outpolling William Jennings Bryan.
In 1936, President Roosevelt won a landslide election victory over Republican challenger Alfred M. "Alf" Landon.
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2, the second man-made satellite, into orbit. Onboard was a dog named Laika, which was sacrificed in the experiment.
In 1964, President Johnson soundly defeated Republican challenger Barry Goldwater to win a White House term in his own right.
In 1970, Salvador Allende was inaugurated as president of Chile.
In 1979, five radicals were killed when gunfire erupted during an anti-Ku Klux Klan demonstration in Greensboro, N.C., after a caravan of Klansmen and Nazis had driven into the area.
In 1990, Broadway musical actress Mary Martin died in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 76.
Ten years ago: Ash-Shiraa, a pro-Syrian Lebanese magazine, first broke the story of U.S. arms sales to Iran, a revelation that escalated into the Iran-Contra affair.
Five years ago: Israeli and Palestinian representatives held their first-ever face-to-face talks in Madrid, Spain. In another milestone, Syria opened its first one-on-one meeting with Israel in 43 years.
One year ago: President Clinton dedicated a memorial at Arlington National Cemetery to the 270 victims of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. The Labor Department reported the nation's unemployment rate had edged down to 5.5 percent in October, a seven-month low. Typhoon Angela ripped through the Philippines, killing more than 880 people.
Today's Birthdays: Baseball Hall-of-Famer Bob Feller is 78. Actor Charles Bronson is 75. Actress Monica Vitti is 65. Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis is 63. Actor-dancer Ken Berry is 63. Actor Shadoe Stevens is 50. Singer Lulu is 48. Television critic Tom Shales is 48. Actor Mike Evans is 47. Comedian-actress Roseanne is 44. Actress Kate Capshaw is 43. Comedian Dennis Miller is 43. Singer Adam Ant is 42.
Thought for Today: "Vanity is as ill at ease under indifference, as tenderness is under the love which it cannot return." - George Eliot, English author (1819-1880).