Today in History: November 2, Jimmy Carter beats Gerald Ford in presidential election

Today in History

Today is Thursday, Nov. 2, the 306th day of 2023. There are 59 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Nov. 2, 1976, former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter became the first candidate from the Deep South since the Civil War to be elected president as he defeated incumbent Gerald R. Ford.

On this date:

In 1783, General George Washington issued his Farewell Address to the Army near Princeton, New Jersey.

In 1861, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln relieved Maj. Gen. John C. Fremont of his command of the Army’s Department of the West based in St. Louis, following Fremont’s unauthorized efforts to emancipate slaves in Missouri.

In 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issued a declaration expressing support for a “national home” for the Jews in Palestine.

In 1920, white mobs rampaged through the Florida citrus town of Ocoee, setting fire to Black-owned homes and businesses, after a Black man, Mose Norman, showed up at the polls to vote on Election Day; some historians estimate as many as 60 people were killed.

In 1950, playwright George Bernard Shaw died in Ayot St. Lawrence, Hertfordshire, England at age 94.

In 1994, a jury in Pensacola, Florida, convicted Paul Hill of murder for the shotgun slayings of an abortion provider and his escort; Hill was executed in September 2003.

In 2000, American astronaut Bill Shepherd and two Russian cosmonauts, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev, became the first residents of the international space station.

In 2003, in Iraq, insurgents shot down a Chinook helicopter carrying dozens of U.S. soldiers, killing 16.

In 2004, President George W. Bush was elected to a second term and Republicans strengthened their control of Congress.

In 2007, British college student Meredith Kercher, 21, was found slain in her bedroom in Perugia, Italy; her roommate, American Amanda Knox and Knox’s Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted of killing Kercher, but both were later exonerated.

In 2016, ending a championship drought that had lasted since 1908, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, defeating the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in extra innings.

In 2017, authorities in Los Angeles and New York said they had opened new investigations prompted by sexual misconduct allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

In 2018, the Trump administration restored U.S. sanctions on Iran that had been lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal but carved out exemptions for eight countries that would still be able to import Iranian oil.

In 2020, in the closing hours of the presidential campaign, President Donald Trump charged across the nation delivering a false allegation that the election was being rigged, while Democrat Joe Biden pushed to claim states that were once seen as safely Republican.

In 2021, the Atlanta Braves won their first World Series championship since 1995, hammering the Houston Astros in Game 6.

In 2022, the two largest U.S. pharmacy chains, CVS Health and Walgreen Co., announced agreements in principle to pay about $5 billion each to settle lawsuits nationwide over the toll of opioids.

Today’s Birthdays: Political commentator Patrick Buchanan is 85. Actor Stefanie Powers is 81. Country-rock singer-songwriter J.D. Souther is 78. Actor Kate Linder is 76. Rock musician Carter Beauford (The Dave Matthews Band) is 65. Actor Peter Mullan is 64. Singer-songwriter k.d. lang is 62. Rock musician Bobby Dall (Poison) is 60. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage is 59. Actor Lauren Velez is 59. Actor Sean Kanan is 57. Actor David Schwimmer is 57. Christian/jazz singer Alvin Chea (Take 6) is 56. Jazz singer Kurt Elling is 56. Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is 56. Rock musician Fieldy is 54. Actor Meta Golding is 52. Actor Marisol Nichols is 52. Rapper Nelly is 49. Actor Danny Cooksey is 48. Rock musician Chris Walla is 48. Actor Reshma Shetty is 46. TV personality Karamo Brown (“Queer Eye,” “Dancing With the Stars”) is 43. Country singer Erika Jo is 37. Actor-singer Kendall Schmidt is 33.