Today in history

1519 : University of Leuven convicts teaching of Luther.

1651 : King Louis XIV of France (13) declared of full age

1665 : First edition of 'London Gazette'

1775 : Lord Dunmore promises freedom to male slaves who join the British army

1814 : First sitting of States-general in Hague

1917 : The Bolsheviks seize power in Petrograd, overthrowing Russia's Provisional Government in the October Revolution. (October 25 in the Old Style calendar)

1918 : United Press erroneously reports WW I armistice has been signed.

1982 : Elizabeth Taylor's 7th divorce (John Warner).

1995 : Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Pittsburgh, PA on WXDX 105.9 FM.

2000 : Republican Governor of Texas George W. Bush defeats Democratic Vice President Al Gore in the U.S. presidential election but there is a miscount in Florida resulting in a recount of the votes.

2015 : Chinese and Taiwanese presidents Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou formally meet for the first time

2016 : Theresa May is the next prime minister of Britain from the Conservative Party. May takes over from David Cameron who is resigning in light of the recent Brexit vote.

2019 : The Times reports that Downing Street is suspected by unnamed sources of suppressing a parliamentary report into Russian interference because it contains 'embarrassing' disclosures about the Kremlin links of wealthy Russian donors to the Conservative Party.

2019 : Two former Twitter employees are charged with spying for Saudi Arabia. Ahmad Abouammo, a US citizen, was arrested in Seattle in November, but Ali Alzabarah, a Saudi citizen, is presumably back in the Middle East.

2020 : Joe Biden is projected to win the U.S. presidential election as vote counting continues in several states.