Today in History....November 8

On this day in …

1895, physicist Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen (1845-1923) becomes the first person to observe X-rays, a significant scientific advancement that would ultimately benefit a variety of fields, most of all medicine, by making the invisible visible

1917, one day after an armed uprising led by his radical socialist Bolsheviks toppled the provisional Russian government, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin rises before the newly formed All-Russian Congress of Soviets to call for an immediate armistice with the Central Powers in World War I

1923, Adolf Hitler, ym"sh, launched his first attempt at seizing power with a failed coup in Munich, Germany, the "Beer-Hall Putsch"

1933, President Roosevelt created the Civil Works Administration, designed to create jobs for more than 4 million unemployed

1939, on the 16th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler, ym"sh, survives assassination attempt when a bomb explodes just after he has finished giving a speech. He was unharmed.

1942, Operation Torch began during World War II as U.S. and British forces landed in French North Africa

1945, in the wake of World War II, America needed to convert its economy back to peacetime conditions. The passage of the Revenue Act of 1945 on November 8 was a key step in rolling back the heavy taxes which had been implemented to help wage the war. Along with cutting $6 billion in taxes, the Revenue Act initiated an extensive post-war revision of the nation's entire tax system

1986, former Soviet official Vyacheslav M. Molotov, whose name became attached to the incendiary bottle bomb known as a "Molotov Cocktail," died at age 96

2001, in a prime-time address, President Bush called on Americans to defy acts of terror by strengthening their communities, comforting their neighbors and remaining vigilant in the face of further threats

2005, Practitioners of that "religion of peace" go berserk in France, burning cars and buildings, looting and physically attacking "infidels". French President Jacques Chirac declared a 12-day state of emergency