This day in history
In Alaska
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• In 1909, the population of Fairbanks was estimated at 6,000 by the R.L. Polk 1909-1910 Gazetter.
• In 1929, "Cap" A.E. Lathrop assumed ownership of The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
• In 1955, the Alaska Constitutional Convention convened at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.
• In 1960, for the first time, Alaskans cast their votes for president of the United States. A total of 62,177 votes were cast, and the state's three electoral votes went to Richard Nixon.
• In 1966, Walter Hickel was elected second governor of Alaska.
In the nation
• In 1837, Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, a college exclusively for women, opened in South Hadley, Mass.
• In 1889, Montana became the 41st state.
• In 1932, New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated incumbent Herbert Hoover for the presidency.
• In 1933, President Roosevelt created the Civil Works Administration, designed to create jobs for more than 4 million unemployed.
• In 1960, Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy defeated Vice President Richard M. Nixon for the presidency.
• In 1966, Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California. Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts became the first black to be elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote.
• In 1988, Vice President George Bush won the presidential election, defeating Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.
• In 1996, three days after his re-election, President Clinton said at a news conference that there always are "a lot of hard feelings" after elections, but he urged Republicans to put aside politically charged investigations and work with him to balance the budget and enact campaign finance reform.
• In 2001, in a prime-time address, President Bush called on Americans to defy acts of terror by strengthening their communities, comforting their neighbors and remaining vigilant in the face of further threats.
• In 2005, at Campbell County Comprehensive High School in Tennessee, Assistant Principal Kent Bruce was shot and killed and two other administrators seriously wounded; a student, Kenneth Bartley, was charged. Bartolo Colon won the American League Cy Young Award.
In the world
• In 1923, Adolf Hitler launched his first attempt at seizing power with a failed coup in Munich, Germany, the "Beer-Hall Putsch."
• In 1942, Operation Torch began during World War II as U.S. and British forces landed in French North Africa.
• In 2001, U.S. jets struck Taliban targets across northern Afghanistan and fierce fighting was reported around the Taliban-held city of Mazar-e-Sharif. Tropical Storm Lingling continued to batter the Philippines; the storm left more than 200 dead.
• In 2005, French President Jacques Chirac declared a 12-day state of emergency to halt France's worst civil unrest in nearly four decades. Gunmen assassinated a second lawyer in the Saddam Hussein trial in Baghdad.