November 8 Birthday
On November 8, 1960, John F. Kennedy was elected the thirty-fifth president, defeating Richard Nixon by 112,000 votes out of 68 million cast — a margin of 0.17%. Kennedy was the first Catholic president. His election broke the religious barrier that had kept Catholics from the presidency since Al Smith's defeat in 1928. Kennedy won Illinois by 9,000 votes — Mayor Daley's Chicago machine delivered the state. Whether the election was fair has been debated ever since. On November 8, 1895, Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays while experimenting with a cathode ray tube. He noticed that a fluorescent screen in his lab glowed even though it was covered with black cardboard. He called the rays "X" for unknown. Within months, X-ray machines were being used in hospitals. Within a year, a man was convicted of murder based on an X-ray image of a bullet. Röntgen received the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. People born on November 8 fall under the zodiac sign of Scorpio. The birthstone is Topaz and the birth flower is Chrysanthemum. Historical events on November 8 include 1895: Wilhelm Röntgen discovers X-rays, 1923: Beer Hall Putsch — Hitler's failed coup in Munich, 1960: John F. Kennedy elected president (first Catholic). Famous people born on November 8 include Bram Stoker (1847), Margaret Mitchell (1900), Bonnie Raitt (1949).