Obama elected, Berlin Wall falls: News Journal archives, week of Nov. 5

"Pages of history" features excerpts from The News Journal archives including the Wilmington Morning News and the Evening Journal.

Nov. 5, 2008, The News Journal

Obama elected first black president; Biden achieves highest office for Delawarean

Barack Obama swept to victory as the nation’s first black president last night in an Electoral College landslide that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself.

“Change has come,” he told a huge throng of jubilant supporters.

The son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas, the Democratic senator from Illinois sealed his historic triumph by defeating Republican Sen. John McCain in a string of wins in hard-fought battleground states: Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Iowa and more….

Obama’s election capped a meteoric rise – from mere state senator to president-elect in four years….

Delaware’s garrulous, amiable and seemingly ever-present Joe Biden was introduced to the world as vice president-elect of the United States, an unplanned chapter in his legacy as a career politician and would-be president….

Recent news with Biden connection: The Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station unveiled new upgrades in Wilmington on Oct. 23

Nov. 8, 1944, Wilmington Morning News

Roosevelt wins fourth term

The vote-getting magic of Franklin Delano Roosevelt won him a fourth term in the White House today, and continued leadership in the vast unfinished business of war and peace.

Thomas Edmund Dewey, youthful New York governor who declared in vain that “it’s time for a change,” conceded defeat at 3:15 a.m.

The Roosevelt tide was felt also in congressional and gubernatorial races. At the rate the President was going, it looked as if he would carry a Democratic House with him. There never was much doubt about the Senate….

Looking toward peace and creation of a world security organization, the importance of congressional control was stressed by both parties in the campaign. Sen. Harry Truman, President Roosevelt’s running mate, called openly for the defeat of eight Republican senators he dubbed “isolationists.”

Nov. 8, 2000, The News Journal

Final few states likely to decide closest presidential race since 1960

In a wildly unpredictable election, Vice President Al Gore used a massive turnout by labor and minority voters to win California and key industrial states, but Texas Gov. George W. Bush rolled up impressive victories in the heartland and a handful of Democratic states to keep the race close.

Both candidates have likened the election to the 1960 presidential election when John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon by 0.4 percent of the popular vote, and won in the Electoral College vote.

With polls closed in every state but Alaska, the race between Democrat Gore and Republican Bush was a heart-stopper whose outcome could turn on a single state – Florida.

All five major television networks – ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox – initially declared Gore the winner in Florida based on exit polling of voters, but moved it back into the “too close to call” column more than an hour later….

Also from Nov. 8, 2000, The News Journal

Minner first woman elected Delaware governor

Lt. Gov. Ruth Ann Minner soundly defeated Republican John Burris in the race for governor Tuesday, after leading in opinion polls from the start.

Minner, who rose through the ranks of public office, succeeds fellow Democrat Tom Carper and is the first woman to be elected governor in Delaware.

Minner won with 59 percent of the vote, while Burris earned 40 percent, with all election districts reporting. Independent Party candidate Floyd McDowell picked up 1 percent….

Catch up on history: Bomb at Atlanta Olympics, test-tube baby: News Journal archives, week of July 23

Nov. 8, 1991, The News Journal

Magic’s farewell: Laker basketball star retires after testing HIV positive

Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who transformed professional basketball and won the hearts of millions of Americans with his dazzling passing skills and his smile, Thursday announced his retirement from the Los Angeles Lakers because he has contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The dramatic statement came at a crowded news conference at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California, Johnson’s home arena for his 12-year professional career. Upbeat and almost relaxed in demeanor, Johnson told reporters he will become a national spokesman on HIV because he wants young people to understand “that safe sex is the way to go.”

“I think we sometimes think only gay people can get it; it’s not going to happen to me,” he said. “And here I am saying that it can happen to anybody, even Magic Johnson.”

Johnson, 32, and his physician, Michael Mellman, one of the team’s doctors, said he does not have AIDS. Johnson would not comment on how he contracted the virus….

Nov. 10, 1989, The News Journal

East Germany opens Berlin Wall

Thousands of East Germans today filled West Berlin in joyful celebration after East Germany opened the Berlin Wall and its western borders for the first time in 28 years. East and West Germans joined in an impromptu dance on the wall.

“The Wall is gone! Berlin is again Berlin,” proclaimed today’s banner headline in the the Bild Zeitung, the West Berlin tabloid. Revelers flashed copies of the newspaper, popped champagne corks and waved sparklers.

The sight of people dancing atop the barrier that epitomized the Cold War since it was built in 1961 was unthinkable only hours earlier. Some took hammers and chisels to the wall, chipping for souvenirs or joining in the symbolic effort to tear it down….

Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Obama wins, Berlin Wall falls: News Journal archives, week of Nov. 5