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 3, 2026
Daily Calendar
View daily calendar information including holidays, advice, and daily features.
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Born
- William Cullen Bryant (poet) –
- Vincenzo Bellini (composer) –
- Walker Evans (photographer) –
- Charles Bronson (actor) –
- Michael Dukakis (politician) –
- Larry Holmes (boxer) –
- Kate Capshaw (actress) –
- Charles Kiraly (volleyball champion) –
- Giant panda cub at Zoo Atlanta –
Died
- Annie Oakley (sharpshooter) –
- Henri Matisse (artist) –
- Mary Martin (actress) –
- Bob Kane (creator of the comic, Batman) –
- Bob Forsch (baseball pitcher) –
- Tom Magliozzi (co-host of Car Talk NPR national radio program, run with his brother Ray) –
- Quincy Jones ( musician and producer) –
- Dick Cheney (secretary of defense and U.S. vice president) –
Events
- John Adams is elected as the second U.S. president –
- Canada’s first chartered bank, Bank of Montreal, opened in Quebec –
- Ulysses S. Grant elected president of the U.S. –
- In California, the poet and outlaw calling himself Black Bart made his last robbery when he stole a Wells Fargo strongbox from a stagecoach. A handkerchief left at the scene led to his arrest –
- The first automobile show in the United States opened at New York’s Madison Square Garden under the auspices of the Automobile Club of America –
- William Howard Taft elected as president of the U.S. –
- Mary Jacob received a patent for a brassiere –
- Detroit-Windsor tunnel opened –
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt reelected for second term –
- The U.S.S.R. launched space satellite Sputnik II, carrying a dog –
- Mariner 10 spacecraft launched, Cape Canaveral, Florida –
- Good Morning America debuted with co-hosts David Hartman and Nancy Dussault –
- Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton was elected 42nd President of the US. Five women won Senate seats, including Democrat Carol Moseley-Braun, who became the first African-American woman senator –
- One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the United States, opens in New York City. –
- U.S. Air Force’s uncrewed X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Mission 5 landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The space plane had spent 780 days in orbit, breaking the previous record of 718 days in 2017. –
Weather
- Los Angeles, California, reached 96 degrees F –
- A storm dumped more than 8 inches of rain in parts of Vermont, causing floods and claiming 84 lives –