Today in History - Nov. 6

Today is Friday, Nov. 6, the 310th day of 2009. There are 55 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 6, 1934, Nebraska voters approved a constitutional amendment which dissolved their two-chamber legislature in favor of a nonpartisan, single legislative body (or "unicameral"), which was implemented in 1937.

On this date:

In 1860, former Illinois Congressman Abraham Lincoln defeated three other candidates for the presidency: John Breckinridge, John Bell and Stephen Douglas.

In 1861, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was elected to a six-year term of office.

In 1888, Benjamin Harrison won the presidential election, defeating incumbent Grover Cleveland with enough electoral votes, even though Cleveland led in the popular vote.

In 1893, composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky died in St. Petersburg, Russia, at age 53.

In 1900, President William McKinley was re-elected, beating Democrat William Jennings Bryan.

In 1906, Republican Charles Evans Hughes was elected governor of New York, defeating newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst.

In 1928, in a first, the results of Herbert Hoover's election victory over Democrat Alfred E. Smith were flashed onto an electric wraparound sign on the New York Times building.

In 1944, British official Lord Moyne was assassinated in Cairo, Egypt, by members of the Zionist Stern gang.

In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower won re-election, defeating Democrat Adlai E. Stevenson.

In 1977, 39 people were killed when the Kelly Barnes Dam burst, sending a wall of water through Toccoa Falls College in Georgia.

Ten years ago: During his visit to India, Pope John Paul II praised Christian missionaries and exhorted his bishops to spread the Christian message across Asia. Australians rejected a referendum to drop Britain's monarch as their head of state.

Five years ago: An Ivory Coast airstrike killed nine French peacekeepers and an American aid worker, prompting France to wipe out the country's modest air force. The designers of SpaceShipOne, the first privately manned rocket to burst into space, were handed a $10 million check and the Ansari X Prize trophy.

One year ago: President-elect Barack Obama spoke by phone with nine world leaders and met privately at the FBI office in Chicago with U.S. intelligence officials, preparing to become commander in chief.

Today's Birthdays: Director Mike Nichols is 78. Country singer Stonewall Jackson is 77. Singer Eugene Pitt (The Jive Five) is 72. Singer P.J. Proby is 71. Country singer Guy Clark is 68. Actress Sally Field is 63. Pop singer-musician Glenn Frey (The Eagles) is 61. Singer Rory Block is 60. Jazz musician Arturo Sandoval is 60. TV host Catherine Crier is 55. California's first lady Maria Shriver is 54. Actress Lori Singer is 52. Actor Lance Kerwin is 49. Rock musician Paul Brindley (The Sundays) is 46. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is 45. Rock singer Corey Glover is 45. Actor Peter DeLuise is 43. Actress Kelly Rutherford is 41. Actor Ethan Hawke is 39. Actress Thandie Newton is 37. Model-actress Rebecca Romijn is 37. Actress Zoe McLellan is 35. Actress Nicole Dubuc is 31. Actress Taryn Manning 31. Actress Emma Stone is 21. Actress Mercedes Kastner is 20.

Thought for Today: "When writers come, I find I'm talking all the time, exchanging thoughts I haven't exchanged for some time. I get stupid in solitude." - Mary McCarthy, American author (1912-1989).