Today in History, November 4: Barack Obama elected president

Illinois Senator Barack Obama became the first African-American to be elected president of the United States, on this day in 2008.

Highlights in history on this date:

1605: In London, Guy Fawkes is arrested under the House of Commons for preparing gunpowder to blow up the building when Parliament reassembles the next day.
1854: Florence Nightingale and a team of 38 nurses arrive in the Crimea to set up a hospital for British troops at Scutari.
1944: Allies announce Greece has been liberated from German Nazis in World War II.
1946: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is formed.
1952: Dwight D Eisenhower is elected US president.
1970: UN General Assembly calls for 90-day ceasefire in Middle East.
1975: The US closes its mission in Angola because of a violent struggle between three rival liberation groups.
1980: Ronald Reagan wins the White House, defeating US President Jimmy Carter.

1983: At least 40 Israeli soldiers are killed when an Arab suicide bomber drives a truck full of explosives into their camp in Lebanon.
1989: Eight of 10 people killed are found shot in the head in one village during scattered rebel violence in Peru.
1992: Discussing US foreign policy, president-elect Bill Clinton pledges to continue George Bush’s efforts to broker Middle East peace talks and negotiate an arms treaty with Russia.
1993: Thousands of people who received transfusions demand AIDS tests, terrified they may have been given tainted blood from a company in Germany accused of improper testing.
1995: Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is shot to death as he leaves a pro-peace rally in Tel Aviv.
1996: Tutsi rebels in eastern Zaire declare a unilateral ceasefire to allow refugees who want to return to Rwanda to go home.
1997: Iraq agrees to postpone the expulsion of American weapons inspectors until after UN envoys finish their mission; New Zealand cabinet minister Jenny Shipley forces Prime Minister Jim Bolger to retire, clearing the way for her to become leader of the National Party and the country’s first female prime minister.

1999: Tens of thousands of Iranians rally outside the former US embassy on the 20th anniversary of the hostage crisis.
2001: Mastermind of 9/11 US plane bombings Osama bin Laden is condemned by the Arab League’s foreign ministers, saying the fugitive Saudi terrorist does not represent Arabs or Muslims.
2004: President Vladimir Putin approves Russia’s ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, aimed at curbing global warming.
2005: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf suspends a major purchase of US fighter planes, explaining the money is needed for recovery from a massive earthquake.
2007: Representatives from the Lord’s Resistance Army meet with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in the first talks to mark a key step towards long-term peace for the African nation.
2008: Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be elected president of the United States.

2010: A Sydney-bound Qantas A380 – the world’s largest jetliner – makes an emergency landing in Singapore with 459 people aboard after one of its engines explodes mid-air.
2011: About 15 protesters are killed when security forces in Syria open fire on thousands rallying against President Basharal-Assad.
2012: President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney face their last full day of campaigning before the US election.
2013: Tens of thousands of people chant “death to America” outside the US embassy in Iran.
2014: Melbourne Cup favourite Admire Rakti collapses and dies, adding a sad postscript to Australia’s greatest race.
2015: The Banjima people of WA’s Pilbara region and mining giant BHP Billiton sign a 100-year native title agreement worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
2017: Netflix cuts all ties with Kevin Spacey after a series of allegations of sexual harassment and assault against him.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
“Drop the question what tomorrow may bring, and count as profit every day that fate allows you” – Horace, Roman poet (65BC-8BC).