Today in History: November 4

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On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants seized the United States Embassy in Tehran and captured 90 hostages; 52 were held captive for 444 days.

U.S. diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students, who supported the Iranian revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy.

Political analysts cited the standoff as a major factor in the continuing downfall of Jimmy Carter’s presidency and his landslide loss in the 1980 presidential election.

In 1980, the Republican Ronald Reagan was elected U.S. president, defeating the incumbent Democrat, Jimmy Carter.

Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan is seen in this October 19, 1983 file photo addressing a news conference in Washington D.C.

In 2001, the first film adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s best-selling Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, premiered in London.

The film went on to make more than $974.7 million at the international box office, picked up three Academy Award nominations, and validated the production of seven subsequent big-screen installments.

On November 4, 2008, Democrat Barack Obama won a grueling two-year struggle for the White House, beating Republican John McCain to become the first Black president in U.S. history.

The 47-year-old Democrat garnered 365 electoral college votes and nearly 53 percent of the popular vote, while his 72-year-old Republican challenger captured 173 electoral votes and more than 45 percent of the popular vote.

On the same day in 2008, best-selling U.S. author Michael Crichton, who wrote novels such as “Jurassic Park” and created the popular tv drama “ER,” died.