November 3
1493: Christopher Columbus arrives at the Caribbee Isles (Dominica) during his second expedition.
1507: Leonardo da Vinci is commissioned to paint Lisa Gherardini (“Mona Lisa”).
1529: The first Parliament for five years opens in England and the Commons put forward bills against abuses amongst the clergy and in the church courts.
1794: Thomas Paine is released from a Parisian jail with help from the American ambassador James Monroe. He was arrested for having offended the Robespierre faction.
1813: American troops destroy the Indian village of Tallushatchee in the Mississippi Valley.
1868: Ulysses S. Grant elected the 18th president of the United States.
1883: A poorly trained Egyptian army, led by British Gen. William Hicks, marches toward El Obeid in the Sudan –– straight into a Mahdist ambush and massacre.
1883: The U.S. Supreme Court declares American Indians to be “dependent aliens.”
1892: First automatic telephone exchange goes into operation in La Porte, Indiana.
1896: William McKinley is elected 25th president of the United States.
1912: The first all-metal plane flies near Issy, France, piloted by Ponche and Prinard.
1918: The German fleet at Kiel mutinies. This is the first act leading to Germany’s capitulation in World War I.
1920: Oodgeroo Noonuccal [Kath Walker], Australian Aboriginal poet.
1921: Milk drivers on strike dump thousands of gallons of milk onto New York City’s streets to protest the drink’s varying prices on the market.
1935: Left-wing groups in France form the Socialist and Republican Union.
1956: Gary Ross, film director, screenwriter (“The Hunger Games,” “Seabiscuit”).
1957: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik II with the dog Laika, the first animal in space, aboard.
1964: Robert F. Kennedy, brother of the slain president John F. Kennedy, is elected as a senator from New York.
1964: For the first time, residents of Washington, D.C., are allowed to vote in the U.S. presidential election.
1964: Lyndon B. Johnson is elected the 36th president of the United States.
1967: The Battle of Dak To begins in Vietnam’s Central Highlands; actually a series of engagements, the battle would continue through Nov. 22.
1969: U.S. President Richard Nixon, speaking on TV and radio, asks the “silent majority” of the American people to support his policies and the continuing war effort in Vietnam.
1973: NASA launches Mariner 10, the first probe to reach Mercury.
1979: Ku Klux Klansmen and neo-Nazis kill five and wound seven members of the Communist Workers Party during a “Death to the Klan” rally in Greensboro, North Carolina; the incident becomes known as the Greensboro Massacre.
1986: The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reports the U.S. has secretly been selling weapons to Iran in order to secure the release of seven American hostages being held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon, in what later became known as the Iran-Contra Affair.
1992: Arkansas Gov. Bill (William Jefferson) Clinton is elected 42nd president of the United States.
1997: The U.S. imposes economic sanctions against Sudan in response to human rights abuses and support of Islamic extremist groups.
Born on November 3
1718: John Montague, fourth earl of Sandwich and inventor of the sandwich.
1794: William Cullen Bryant, American poet and journalist.
1801: Karl Baedeker, German publisher, well known for travel guides.
1831: Ignatius Donnelly, American social reformer best known for his book “Atlantis: The Antediluvian World.”
1901: Andre Malraux, French novelist and author of “La Condition Humaine” (“Man’s Fate”).
1903: Walker Evans, photographer best known for his Great Depression photos for the Farmers Security Administration (FSA).
1909: James “Scotty” Reston, New York Times reporter, editor and columnist.
1918: Russell Long, U.S. senator from Louisiana from 1951 to 1968 and son of Huey P. Long.
1933: Amartya Sen, Indian economist, winner of Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (1998) for his work on economic theories of famines and social justice and indexes for measuring the well-being of citizens in developing countries.
1933: Michael Dukakis, politician; the longest-serving governor in the history of the state of Massachusetts (1975-79, 1983-91); unsuccessful Democratic candidate for U.S. presidency (1988).
1933: Jeremy Brett, actor; best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in the Granada TV productions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories about the detective.
1942: Martin Cruz Smith, novelist (“Gorky Park”).
1949: Larry Holmes, professional boxer known as “The Easton Assassin”; his 20 successful defenses of his heavyweight title is second only to Joe Louis’ record of 25.
1952: David Ho, virologist, HIV/AIDS researcher whose significant contributions helped pave the way for better understanding and technological treatment of the infection.
1952: Roseanne Barr, comedian, actress, producer; best known for her starring role in the TV series “Roseanne,” for which she won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe.
