- 2008First African-American U.S. PresidentDemocratic senator Barack Obama wins the presidential election against Sen. John McCain, taking 338 electoral votes to McCain's 161. Obama makes history as the first African American U.S. president.
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1842
Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd in Springfield, Ill.
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1880
James and John Ritty of Dayton, Ohio, patented the first cash register.
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1922
Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen in Egypt.
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1924
Nellie T. Ross of Wyoming was elected the nation's first woman governor, to serve out the term of her husband who died in office.
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1956
Russian troops attacked Budapest and crushed the Hungarian revolt under Premier Imre Nagy.
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1979
The American embassy in Tehran, Iran, was seized by militants and 90 Americans were taken hostage.
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1995
Israeli Prime Minister, and Nobel Laureate, Yitzhak Rabin, was assassinated by a right-wing Israeli.
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2008
Democratic senator Barack Obama wins the presidential election against Sen. John McCain, taking 338 electoral votes to McCain's 161. Obama becomes the first African American to be elected president of the United States.