On This Day, November 4th

1. 1922: The first clue found which led to King Tut’s tomb

Photo: snapzu

Photo: snapzu

After years of searching through the ancient ruins of Egyptian tombs, British Archaeologist Howard Carter and his crew of workers discovered the steps that led to King Tut’s tomb. He first entered the country in 1891 and at that time most of the ancient burial chambers had been located, with exception of one and that was King Tutankhamen who had died at the young age of 18. While sifting through the ruins near King Ramses VI tomb, Carter and crew found what appeared to be steps carved into the ground. After a day’s worth of digging they discovered the whole staircase. That sparked a massive excavation and by the 29th of November the tomb was opened which lead to incredible discoveries unlike the world had seen at that time.

2. 1928: Arnold Rothstein shot during poker game

Photo: flickr

Photo: flickr

It was on this date in 1928 that notorious gambler from New York, Arnold Rothstein was shot during a poker game at the Park Central Hotel in Manhattan. Rothstein had made a small fortune at a young age by playing craps, poker and other forms of gambling. He soon owned a casino and was on quite the winning streak. Turns out that there was a reason he usually won when it came to sporting events and that’s because he had a tendency to fix the games. He was even linked to one of the most famous “fixes” in baseball, the 1919 World Series in which he paid key players on the White Sox to throw the games. According to reports, Rothstein had lost over $320,000 during the poker game he was shot. He died on November 6th in the Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital in Manhattan. When authorities asked him who had pulled the trigger he apparently followed the “gangster code” because he just held his finger up to his lips as a sign that his lips were sealed.

3. 2008:Barack Obama becomes the United States first African American president.

Photo: biography

Photo: biography

History is made on this date in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected as the first African American President of the United States of America. Obama had been a Senator for the State of Illinois and represented the Democratic Party for the 2008 election. His opposition was Arizona Senator John McCain who represented the Republican party. Obama won by a landslide with more than 53% of the popular vote and a total of 365 electoral votes over McCain who finished with just 173. Senator McCain attempted something a little different when he appointed Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, to be his running mate as Vice President. This was the first time the Republican party had nominated a female as a running mate.