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Today in History: November 7

In 1991, American professional basketball player Michael ‘Magic’ Johnson announced that he was HIV-positive and was immediately retiring from the sport.

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4 years ago

November 7, 2022

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On November 7, 1916, Jeannette Rankin became the first woman elected to United States Congress.

She served one term until she was elected again in 1940.

As of 2022, Rankin is still the only woman ever elected to Congress from Montana.

Meanwhile, in 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt was re-elected for a record fourth term as U.S. President.

He remains the only president to have served more than two terms.

In 1991, American professional basketball player Michael ‘Magic’ Johnson announced that he was HIV-positive and was immediately retiring from the sport; he later played part of the 1995–96 season.

Revered as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Johnson spent his entire 13-season NBA career with the Lakers, helping them to win five championships in the 1980s.

In 1996 NASA launched Mars Global Surveyor, a robotic spacecraft designed to carry out a long-term study of the planet. Contact with the spacecraft was lost in 2006.

On this day in 2000, the disputed U.S. Presidential Election between Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush, ended in a statistical tie, only to be settled on December 12 by the U.S. Supreme Court. On the same day American politician Hillary Clinton was also elected to the U.S. Senate, making her the first First Lady to win elective office.