November 8 in history — What Happened Today in History

U.S. Vice President George H. W. Bush is elected as the 41st president.

Remembrance Day bombing: A Provisional IRA bomb explodes in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland during a ceremony honouring those who had died in wars involving British forces. Twelve people are killed and sixty-three wounded.

TAAG Angola Airlines Flight 462 crashes after takeoff from Lubango Airport killing all 130 people on board. UNITA claims to have shot down the aircraft, though this is disputed.

Aeroméxico Flight 110 crashes near Zihuatanejo, Mexico, killing all 18 people on board.

Manolis Andronikos, a Greek archaeologist and professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, discovers the tomb of Philip II of Macedon at Vergina.

The right ear of John Paul Getty III is delivered to a newspaper outlet along with a ransom note, convincing his father to pay US$2.9 million.

American pay television network Home Box Office (HBO) launches.

The Vienna Convention on Road Traffic is signed to facilitate international road traffic and to increase road safety by standardising the uniform traffic rules among the signatories.

Former Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Brooke becomes the first African American elected to the United States Senate since Reconstruction.

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs into law an antitrust exemption allowing the National Football League to merge with the upstart American Football League.

The British Indian Ocean Territory is created, consisting of Chagos Archipelago, Aldabra, Farquhar and Des Roches islands.

The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 is given Royal Assent, formally abolishing the death penalty in the United Kingdom for almost all crimes.

The 173rd Airborne is ambushed by over 1,200 Viet Cong in Operation Hump during the Vietnam War, while the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment fight one of the first set-piece engagements of the war between Australian forces and the Viet Cong at the Battle of Gang Toi.

American Airlines Flight 383 crashes in Constance, Kentucky, killing 58.

Finnair's Aero Flight 217 crashes near Mariehamn Airport in Jomala, Åland, killing 22 people.

John F. Kennedy is elected as the 35th President of the United States, defeating incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon, who would later be elected president in 1968 and 1972.

Pan Am Flight 7 disappears between San Francisco and Honolulu. Wreckage and bodies are discovered a week later.

Operation Grapple X, Round C1: The United Kingdom conducts its first successful hydrogen bomb test over Kiritimati in the Pacific.

Korean War: United States Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown, while piloting an F-80 Shooting Star, shoots down two North Korean MiG-15s in the first jet aircraft-to-jet aircraft dogfight in history.

World War II: French Resistance coup in Algiers, in which 400 civilian French patriots neutralize Vichyist XIXth Army Corps after 15 hours of fighting, and arrest several Vichyist generals, allowing the immediate success of Operation Torch in Algiers.

Greco-Italian War: The Italian invasion of Greece fails as outnumbered Greek units repulse the Italians in the Battle of Elaia–Kalamas.

Venlo Incident: Two British agents of SIS are captured by the Germans.

In Munich, Adolf Hitler narrowly escapes the assassination attempt of Georg Elser while celebrating the 16th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch.

The Nazi exhibition Der ewige Jude ("The Eternal Jew") opens in Munich.

Spanish Civil War: Francoist troops fail in their effort to capture Madrid, but begin the three-year Siege of Madrid afterwards.

Great Depression: New Deal: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveils the Civil Works Administration, an organization designed to create jobs for more than four million unemployed.

Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected as the 32nd President of the United States, defeating incumbent president Herbert Hoover.

Beer Hall Putsch: In Munich, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government.

Aaron Fotheringham, American wheelchair athlete

Jack Littlejohn, Australian rugby league player

Riker Lynch, American actor and singer

DanTDM, English YouTube personality and pro gamer

Flavinha, Brazilian politician

Ingrid Puusta, Estonian sailor

Morgan Schneiderlin, French footballer

Giancarlo Stanton, American baseball player

SZA, American singer-songwriter

Yasmani Grandal, Cuban-American baseball player

Jessica Lowndes, Canadian actress and singer

Lucia Slaničková, Slovak heptathlete

Malcolm Thomas, American basketball player

Luigi Gorrini, Italian soldier and pilot (born 1917)

Don Paul, American football player and sportscaster (born 1925)

Hugo Sánchez Portugal, Spanish-Mexican footballer and sportscaster (born 1984)

Ernie Vandeweghe, Canadian-American basketball player and physician (born 1928)

William C. Davidon, American physicist, mathematician, and academic (born 1927)

Penn Kimball, American journalist and academic (born 1915)

Arnold Rosner, American composer (born 1945)

Chiyoko Shimakura, Japanese singer and actress (born 1938)

Amanchi Venkata Subrahmanyam, Indian journalist and actor (born 1957)

Lee MacPhail, American businessman (born 1917)

Pete Namlook, German composer and producer (born 1960)

Peggy Vaughan, American author (born 1936)

Heavy D, Jamaican-American rapper, producer, and actor (born 1967)