By an act of Congress in 1845, the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November was designated Election Day for future presidential elections. The first such election took place on November 7, 1848. Whig Party candidate Zachary Taylor won out over Democrat Lewis Cass and Free-Soil candidate (and former president) Martin Van Buren. Taylor’s running mate was Millard Fillmore, who became the nation’s 13th president on July 10, 1850, upon Taylor’s untimely death. Learn more about Election Day.
Daily Calendar for Tuesday, November 4, 2025
Daily Calendar
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Tuesday, November 4, 2025
Will Rogers, a great American humorist, was born on November 4, 1879 in the Cooweescoowee District of the Cherokee Nation—in what would become Oklahoma. Starting life on a large ranch in Indian territory, Rogers was part Cherokee. He was taught by a former slave how to use a lasso as a tool to work Texas longhorn cattle. He became a rope-tricking cowboy and all-around entertainer and his rope tricks eventually led to a career on Broadway and in the movies. Rogers later became a popular broadcaster and syndicated newspaper columnist. Rogers died in a plane crash in Point Barrow, Alaska, on August 15, 1935. Will Rogers had a folksy persona and some of his best quotes are still timeless. Here’s a few that you should enjoy: “I don’t make jokes, I just watch the government and report the facts.” “Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.” “We can’t all be heroes, because somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by.” “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
Question of the Day
Do the wiggle test. Grab one of the legs and check to see if the leg joint moves freely when you rotate the drumstick. If it does not, your turkey is not done. Also, insert a long fork into the deepest part of the leg joint and check the juices. If they are clear, not pink, the turkey is done.
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Guido Reni (artist) –
- Benjamin F. Goodrich (manufacturer) –
- Will Rogers (humorist) –
- Walter Cronkite (newscaster) –
- Art Carney (actor) –
- Doris Roberts (actress) –
- Shakuntala Devi (computational genius) –
- Loretta Swit (actress) –
- Laura Bush (U.S. First Lady) –
- Ralph Macchio (actor) –
- Jeff Probst (host of Survivor) –
- Matthew McConaughey (actor) –
Died
- Felix Mendelssohn (composer) –
- Grover Cleveland Alexander (baseball player) –
- Cy Young (baseball player) –
- Albert Franklin Yeager (horticulturist) –
- Dominique Dunne (actress) –
- Michael Crichton (author) –
- Andy Rooney (news commentator) –
Events
- Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd were married –
- The Royal Montreal Golf Club (oldest golf club in North America) was founded –
- An earthquake shook New York state, New England, and eastern Canada –
- An earthquake rang bells in the Notre Dame basilica in Montreal –
- The first cash register was patented by James and John Ritty of Dayton, Ohio –
- Grover Cleveland elected president of the U.S. –
- Sergei Rachmaninoff’s first piano recital in the U.S., Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts –
- T. S. Eliot won the Nobel Prize for literature –
- Dwight D. Eisenhower elected president of the U.S. –
- Ronald Reagan elected president of U.S. –
- The biggest ever solar flare, sunspot 486, saturated X-ray detectors onboard GOES satellites for 11 minutes. It was estimated to be an X40-class solar flare –
- Ranaga Farbiarz erected a then-record 35-foot 10-inch tall wind chime in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. –
- Senator Barack Obama was elected U.S. president. This marked the first time in U.S. history that an African American was elected to the position –
- EPOXI spacecraft flew by comet Hartley 2 –
Weather
- Tropical rains flooded the Green Mountain area of Vermont causing the worst flood in the history of the state –