Today in History: November 3, KKK and neo-Nazis kill five in Greensboro massacre

Today is Tuesday, Nov. 3, the 307th day of 2026. There are 58 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Nov. 3, 1979, five Communist Workers Party members were killed in a clash with heavily armed Ku Klux Klansmen and neo-Nazis during an anti-Klan protest in Greensboro, North Carolina, in what became known as the Greensboro massacre. State and federal trials subsequently acquitted six defendants of murder and rioting charges.

Also on this date:

In 1908, Republican William Howard Taft was elected president, defeating Democrat William Jennings Bryan.

In 1911, the Chevrolet Motor Car Co. was founded in Detroit by Louis Chevrolet and William C. Durant.

In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt easily won reelection to a second term, losing just two states to the Republican candidate, Kansas Gov. Alf Landon.

In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the spacecraft sputnik 2, carrying the first animal into orbit, a dog named Laika.

In 1961, diplomat U Thant of Burma (now Myanmar) was elected secretary-general of the United Nations following the death of his predecessor, Dag Hammarskjold, in an airplane crash.

In 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson, who assumed the presidency after John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, won election as president, defeating Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater.

In 1992, Democrat Bill Clinton was elected the 42nd president of the United States, defeating Republican President George H.W. Bush.

In 2012, the lights went back on in lower Manhattan to the relief of residents who had been plunged into darkness for nearly five days by Hurricane Sandy.

In 2014, 13 years after the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center towers, a new 104-story, 1,776-foot-high skyscraper called the One World Trade Center opened for business at the site, marking an emotional milestone for both New Yorkers and the nation.

In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden won the presidency, though his victory would not be known for more than three days as counting continued in battleground states; Republican President Donald Trump would refuse to concede, falsely claiming that he was a victim of widespread voter fraud.

Today’s Birthdays: Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis is 93. Economist and Nobel Prize laureate Amartya Sen is 93. Vogue global editorial director Anna Wintour is 77. Boxing Hall of Famer Larry Holmes is 77. Scientist David Ho is 74. Comedian-actor Roseanne Barr is 74. Actor Kate Capshaw is 73. Comedian Dennis Miller is 73. Singer Adam Ant is 72. Actor Dolph Lundgren is 69. Olympic gold medal figure skater Evgeni Plushenko is 44. Actor Antonia Thomas (TV: “The Good Doctor”) is 40. Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is 39. Kidnap survivor and child safety activist Elizabeth Smart is 39. Grammy-winning singer Ella Mai is 32. Actor and model Ever Anderson is 19.