In 1839, the first Opium War between China and Britain broke out.

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

In 1911, the Chevrolet Motor Car Co. was founded in Detroit by Louis Chevrolet and William C. Durant. (The company was acquired by General Motors in 1918.)

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the U.S. Agency for International Development.

In 1970, Salvador Allende was inaugurated as president of Chile.

In 1976, the horror movie “Carrie,” adapted from the Stephen King novel and starring Sissy Spacek, was released by United Artists.

In 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 1986, the Iran-Contra affair came to light as Ash-Shiraa, a pro-Syrian Lebanese magazine, first broke the story of U.S. arms sales to Iran.

In 1992, Democrat Bill Clinton was elected the 42nd president of the United States, defeating President George H.W. Bush. In Illinois, Democrat Carol Moseley-Braun became the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

In 1994, Susan Smith of Union, South Carolina, was arrested for drowning her two young sons, Michael and Alex, nine days after claiming the children had been abducted by a Black carjacker.

In 1997, the Supreme Court let stand California’s groundbreaking Proposition 209, which banned race and gender preference in hiring and school admissions.

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

In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden won the presidency in an election that saw more than 103 million Americans vote early, many by mail, amid a coronavirus pandemic that upended a campaign marked by fear and rancor, waged against a backdrop of protests over racial injustice. As vote counting continued in battleground states, Biden’s victory would not be known for more than three days; Republican President Donald Trump would refuse to concede, falsely claiming that he was a victim of widespread voter fraud. Kamala Harris made history as the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to become vice president. Democrats clinched two more years of controlling the House but saw their majority shrink. Republicans emerged with a two-seat Senate majority that would be erased by Democratic wins in two runoffs in Georgia in January.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Lois Smith is 92. Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis is 89. Actor Shadoe Stevens is 76. Singer Lulu is 74. “Vogue” editor-in-chief Anna Wintour is 73. Comedian-actor Roseanne Barr is 70. Actor Kate Capshaw is 69. Comedian Dennis Miller is 69. Actor Kathy Kinney is 69. Singer Adam Ant is 68. Sports commentator and former quarterback Phil Simms is 67. Director-screenwriter Gary Ross is 66. Actor Dolph Lundgren is 65. Rock musician C.J. Pierce (Drowning Pool) is 50. Actor Francois Battiste (TV: “Ten Days in the Valley”) is 46. Olympic gold medal figure skater Evgeni Plushenko is 40. Actor Julie Berman is 39. Actor Antonia Thomas (TV: “The Good Doctor”) is 36. TV personality and model Kendall Jenner (TV: “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”) is 27.