Tuesday, November 8, 2005

Election Day through the years (part VII)...

We conclude our series of 'Election Day through the years' on Election Day 2005 with a summary of key elections from 1864 to 2000:

1864) Abraham Lincoln won election to his 2nd term as president by defeating General George McClellan during the height of the Civil War...

1892) An historical first came with the results of this election as Former President Grover Cleveland became the only president to win non-consecutive terms in the White House. Cleveland easily defeated incumbent Benjamin Harrison...

1904) Incumbent President Theodore Roosevelt defeated Democratic challenger Alton B. Parket...

1932) New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt beats incumbent Herbert Hoover for the presidency. FDR wastes little time changing things as his design for creating jobs for the more than 4 million unemployed workers is made possible with his Civil Works Administration in 1933...

1960) Massachusetts Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy defeats Vice President Richard M. Nixon for the presidency. The age of Camelot begins...

1966) Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts becomes the first black to be elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote...

1966) Ronald Reagan is elected governor of California...

1988) Vice President George H.W. Bush wins the presidential election by defeating Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis...

1994) Republicans gain control of the House of Representatives for the 1st time in 40 years and win a majority in the Senate in midterm elections...

2000) A statewide recount of presidential election ballots begins in Florida. VP Al Gore concedes the election to George W. Bush but calls back an hour later to retract his concession

More November 8 Memories...

1956) After turning down 18,000 names (was "turkey" one of them ?) the Ford Motor Company decides to name their new car, the 'Edsel' after Henry Ford's only son...

1964) Judy Garland and daughter Liza Minnelli appear together at the London Palladium...

1965) The soap opera "Days of Our Lives" debuts on NBC-TV...

1966) The Orioles' Frank Robinson wins the AL MVP award becoming the only player in baseball history to win MVP awards in both leagues (he won the MVP award with Cincinnati in 1961 previously)...

1968) Cynthia Lennon is granted a divorce from John Lennon...

1968) Jean Terrell replaces Diana Ross in the Supremes...

1970) Saints kicker Tom Dempsey, born with half a right foot and without a right hand, establishes a new field goal record with a kick of 63-yards (that record would be equaled in October 1988 by Jason Elam of Denver)...

1979) "The Iran Crisis: America Held Hostage" premieres on ABC-TV. The show is planned to be temporary but will evolve into "Nightline" in March of 1980...

1991) "The Carol Burnette Show" premieres on CBS-TV (this resurrected version of her original show will only run for one season)...

2000) Waco special counsel John C. Danforth releases his final report absolving the government of wrongdoing in the 1993 siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Texas...

Happy Birthday To...

1914) Former "St. Elsewhere" actor Norman Lloyd...

1916) June Havoc...

1927) 'The Singing Rage' Miss Patti Page...

1931) Morley Safer of "60 Minutes"...

1949) Bonnie Raitt...

1951) Mary ("ET") Hart...

1953) Alfre Woodard...

1967) Courtney Thorne-Smith...

1975) Tara Reid...

Commentary...

No sales pitch from me on whether or not you should or will vote today. I can only say that I consider it a privilege to excercise my right to do so and will be making my way to the polls shortly after putting this blog to bed...

Will I make a difference in whether or not a candidate wins or a proposal is passed ? Probably not. I choose to vote simply because I can...