This Day in HistoryNovember 2

1777

During the American Revolution, American naval captain John Paul Jones sets sail for the Irish Sea to raid British warships

1795

James Polk, the 11th president of the United States, is born in North Carolina

1861

Union General John C. Fremont is relieved of his command in the West after controversially ordering the emancipation of all slaves in Missouri, a border state

1889

North Dakota becomes the 39th U.S. state

1889

South Dakota becomes the 40th U.S. state

1948

In one of the greatest upsets in U.S. election history, Harry Truman defeats Thomas Dewey to win a second term as president

1963

Ngo Dinh Diem, the president of South Vietnam, is assassinated, destabilizing the nation and leading the U.S. to increase its involvement in the region

1983

President Ronald Reagan declares a federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. to be held on the third Monday of each January

1983

Michael Jackson releases the single “Thriller,” the seventh and final single from his album Thriller, the best-selling album in history

1987

Former Beatle George Harrison releases his 11th

studio album Cloud 9, which featured the #1 hit single “Got My Mind Set on You”

1987

Former Beatle Paul McCartney releases All the Best!, his second greatest hits compilation album

1998

Irish rock band U2 releases The Best of 1980-1990, the band’s 1st greatest hits compilation

2015

Gang members in Chicago shoot and kill 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee to send a message to his father, a member of a rival gang

2016

The Chicago Cubs defeat the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 to win the team’s first World Series since 1908

2020

Academy Award-winning Scottish actor Sean Connery, the original James Bond, died over the weekend in the Bahamas at the age of 90

2020

With Election Day tomorrow, the presidential candidates hit the campaign trail today—President Trump will visit North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania while challenger Joe Biden will visit Pennsylvania and Ohio

2020

Hurricane Eta, the 28thnamed storm and 12thhurricane of a record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season, is expected to make landfall in Central America tomorrow—hurricane season ends on November 30

2020

At least 93 millionpeople in the U.S. have already voted in the 2020 election through early voting and mail-in ballots—136 million people voted in the U.S. in 2016

2020

With voter registration up 19% since 2016, at least 2.4 million people in Arizona have alreadyvoted in the 2020 election through early voting and mail-in ballots—2.7 million people voted in our state in 2016

2020

At least 1.63 millionpeople in Maricopa County have alreadyvoted in the 2020 election through early voting and mail-in ballots—that is already 20,000 more than the total number of votes cast in our county in 2016

2020

Because of rising coronavirus cases in the school and the community, Mesa High School returns to 2-day in-person modified learning just 3 weeks after moving to 5-day in-person learning—all of Mesa Public Schools moved to 5-day in-person learning on October 12 after fall break