Nov. 7
Today in history
Today is Nov. 7. On this date in:
1811: An alliance of Native Americans at Prophetstown, in Indiana Territory, attacked the encampment of U.S. forces outside the city. The forces were led by territorial Gov. William Henry Harrison (later the ninth president of the United States) in what became known as the Battle of Tippecanoe. After the battle, the Native Americans evacuated the city, where Harrison’s forces found British weapons and gunpowder, a discovery that gave momentum to those calling for war with Britain ahead of the War of 1812.
1916: Jeannette Rankin became the first woman elected to a federal office when the Republican from Montana won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
1917: Vladimir Lenin’s Bolshevik Party began Russia’s October Revolution (because it was late October on the Old-Style calendar in use at the time in Russia). The uprising overthrew the provisional government installed in another revolution in February of that year and spurred a civil war.
1932: In Powell v. Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the convictions of nine Black teens and children, ages 12-19 years old, who were accused of raping two white women on a train in Alabama. The group had not had effective representation, the justices ruled. During subsequent retrials, juries continued to find them guilty even after one of the women recanted and said the rapes never happened. After several retrials, four were still found guilty of rape, one of assaulting a deputy, and four had their charges dropped after they had already served several years in prison.
1940: The Tacoma Narrows Bridge – nicknamed Galloping Gertie because winds caused it to sway and undulate – collapsed. The span linked Tacoma, Washington, to the Kitsap Peninsula. The lone casualty was a cocker spaniel named Tubby, who was trapped in a vehicle.
1962: After losing in the gubernatorial election in California, Richard Nixon gave what he called his “last press conference” and said “you don’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” Of course, the future president at the center of the Watergate scandal had not seen his last boot.
1967: Carl Stokes was elected mayor of Cleveland, and Richard Hatcher was elected mayor of Gary, Indiana. Others had previously been appointed, but Stokes and Hatcher became the first two Black men elected mayor of a major U.S. city.
1989: Virginia’s Lt. Gov. Douglas Wilder became the first Black elected governor in the United States (P.B.S. Pinchback in 1872 had been the first Black governor for just over a month in Louisiana, sworn in as acting governor while Gov. Henry Clay Warmoth was facing impeachment in the final days of his term).
1991: NBA superstar Earvin “Magic” Johnson announced he had HIV and was retiring immediately. With the disease often misunderstood and widely feared, there was pushback against his early hopes of rekindling his career. He still played with the U.S. Dream Team in the 1992 Olympics and made a few brief comeback attempts in the NBA.
2000: Hillary Clinton was elected to the U.S. Senate, becoming the first former first lady to be elected to public office.
2000: The presidential election between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore was deemed too close to call in Oregon, Wisconsin and Florida. In the coming days, Oregon and Wisconsin went to Gore, but Florida and 25 electoral votes made Bush president. The Supreme Court ended a Florida recount on Dec. 12 with its Bush v. Gore ruling, and Gore conceded the race.
2016: Janet Reno, the first woman to serve as U.S. attorney general (1993-2001), died.
– USA TODAY Network
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Today in history, November 7
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