Today is Thursday, November 8th, the 312th day of the year. There are 53 days until the end of the year.
On this day:
In 1789, bourbon whiskey was first distilled from corn by Reverend Elijah Craig in Bourbon County, Kentucky.
In 1793, the world-famous Louvre Museum in Paris opened for the first time.
In 1805, Lewis and Clark reached the Pacific Ocean.
In 1889, Montana became the 41st state of the Union.
In 1956, the movie "The Ten Commandments" was released.
In 1956, Ford Motor Company decided to name their new car "Edsel" after Henry Ford's only son.
In 1960, John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon in the run for the office of President of the United States.
In 1962, Lucille Ball bought out ex-husband Desi Arnaz's stake in Desilu Studios for more than two-million dollars. The deal made her the highest ranking woman television executive.
In 1965, the soap opera "Days of Our Lives" debuted on NBC.
In 1966, Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California.
In 1978, painter, illustrator Norman Rockwell died at the age of 84. He painted 317 covers for "The Saturday Evening Post."
In 1988, Vice President George Bush defeated Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis to win the presidential election.
In 1994, Marion Barry was reelected mayor of Washington, D.C. nearly four years after spending six-months in prison on cocaine charges.
In 2004, following a scandal that outed his gay affair with a former aide a few months earlier, New Jersey Governor James McGreevey delivered a farewell speech apologizing for the upheaval in the government he created, but refusing to apologize for being a gay American.
In 2006, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld resigned from his position.
In 2015, Google and the American Heart Association pledged 25-million-dollars over the next five years towards the creation of a research team that will seek to understand, reverse and prevent coronary heart disease. The project is dubbed "One Team, One Vision."
In 2015, Donald Trump's "Saturday Night Live" hosting gig had the show's biggest rating since 2012. That show included a guest appearance by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
In 2016, Republican Donald Trump was elected as the 45th President of the United States over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
In 2016, Colorado voters approved a ballot measure that legalizes assisted suicide. The measure allows adults with terminal illnesses to be prescribed life-ending medications.