Today in History: November 8, 2026
Today in History – November 8
1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and his forces meet Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II in Tenochtitlan (present-day Mexico City). The encounter marks the beginning of a tense occupation that leads to the fall of the Aztec Empire.
1864 – Abraham Lincoln is reelected President of the United States, defeating Democrat George B. McClellan amid the Civil War. Northern voters endorse Lincoln’s leadership and policies, including the Emancipation Proclamation.
1889 – Montana is admitted to the Union as the 41st state by proclamation of President Benjamin Harrison.
1895 – German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovers X-rays while experimenting with cathode rays in his laboratory at the University of Würzburg. The breakthrough revolutionizes medicine and physics.
1923 – Adolf Hitler and members of the Nazi Party launch the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, a failed attempt to seize power in Bavaria. The putsch collapses quickly; Hitler is arrested and later imprisoned, where he writes Mein Kampf.
1932 – Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected the 32nd President of the United States, defeating incumbent Herbert Hoover in a landslide amid the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s New Deal begins to take shape.
1942 – Operation Torch begins as American and British forces under General Dwight D. Eisenhower land in French North Africa (Morocco and Algeria). The invasion opens a new front against Axis powers in the Mediterranean theater of World War II.
1960 – John F. Kennedy is elected the 35th President of the United States, narrowly defeating Vice President Richard Nixon. At 43, Kennedy becomes the youngest elected president and the first Catholic to hold the office.
2016 – Donald Trump is elected the 45th President of the United States, defeating Hillary Clinton in the Electoral College while trailing in the popular vote.
Arkansas & Oklahoma Connections
No major statewide events uniquely tied to Arkansas or Oklahoma fall on November 8.
Born on November 8
1847 – Bram Stoker, Irish author best known for the 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula, which defined the modern vampire genre.
1900 – Margaret Mitchell, American novelist and journalist whose 1936 novel Gone with the Wind became one of the best-selling books of all time and the basis for the iconic 1939 film.
1922 – Christiaan Barnard, South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world’s first successful human heart transplant in 1967.
1949 – Bonnie Raitt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist known for her blues-rock style and Grammy-winning career.
1954 – Kazuo Ishiguro, British novelist (born in Japan) whose works include The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go; he received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017.
1966 – Gordon Ramsay, British chef, restaurateur, and television personality known for his Michelin-starred restaurants and competitive cooking shows.
