Sunday, November 7, 1688

Hillary Clinton was elected as a US senator from New York, the first time a first lady had been elected to public office.

NASA launched the Mars Global Surveyor from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Magic Johnson announced his retirement from professional basketball due to HIV infection.

Singapore's first Mass Rapid Transit line opened, with train services running between Yio Chu Kang and Toa Payoh.

Tunisian prime minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali deposed and replaced President Habib Bourguiba by declaring him medically unfit for the duties of the office.

A ship collision with the Sidney Lanier Bridge in the U.S. state of Georgia resulted in a bridge collapse (pictured), which killed ten people.

Oil was discovered in the Caspian Sea off the coast of Azerbaijan, leading to the construction of Neft Daşları, the world's first offshore oil platform.

The first specimens of the tufted jay (pictured) to be scientifically described were collected in Mexico.

World War I: British forces captured Gaza following the retreat of the Ottoman garrison.

In the congressional elections, Jeannette Rankin became the first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives.

Between 20 and 30 people were killed in the Liceu bombing, a terrorist attack by the Spanish anarchist Santiago Salvador.

American Civil War: Future U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant engaged in his first combat leadership role in the Battle of Belmont in Mississippi County, Missouri.