Today is Wednesday, November 3, the 307th day of 2010. 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
1885 ― Tacoma vigilantes drive out Chinese, burn their homes and businesses
1918 ― Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolves
1918 ― Poland proclaims independence from Russia after WWI
1931 ― First commercially produced synthetic rubber manufactured
1936 ― President 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
1979 ― 63 Americans taken hostage at U.S. Embassy (Teheran, Iran)