MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2008

Today is Monday, November 3, the 308th day of 2008. There are 58 days left in the year

1839 _ First opium war ― two British frigates engage several Chinese junks

1918 _ Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolves

1918 _ Poland proclaims independence from Russia after WW I

1931 _ First commercially produced synthetic rubber manufactured

1936 _ President FDR wins landslide victory over Alfred M. Landon (R)

1955 _ First virus crystallized (announced)

1956 _ ``Wizard of Oz" 1st televised (CBS-TV)

1970 _ Salvador Allende inaugurated as President of Chile

1979 _ 63 Americans taken hostage at U.S. Embassy (Teheran, Iran)

1984 _ 3,000 die in three-day anti-Sikh riot in India