THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

Today is Thursday, November 3, the 307th day of 2011. There are 58 days left in the year.

1679 ― Great panic occurs in Europe over the close approach of a comet

1839 ― First Opium War; two British frigates engage several Chinese junks

1888 ― Jack the Ripper kills last victim

1918 ― Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolves

1931 ― First commercially produced synthetic rubber manufactured

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

1956 ― ``Wizard of Oz" first televised (CBS-TV)

1957 ― USSR launches Sputnik 2 with a dog (Laika), first animal in orbit

1970 ― Salvador Allende inaugurated as President of Chile

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