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Bill Clinton wins re-election

1996 - Basking in a solid re-election win, United States President Bill Clinton returned to Washington to face a new opposition-led Congress and complete a major reshuffle of his Cabinet. Clinton said aboard Air Force One en route to the US capital from his home state of Arkansas that elections signalled that Americans have “moved back toward the vital centre”. The president won 49 per cent of vote with Republican Bob Dole taking 41 per cent and Texas billionaire Ross Perot at nine per cent. “I feel good about it,” he said of the results. Despite Clinton’s solid victory, Republicans retained control of Congress, which they had captured in 1994, losing part of their margin in the House of Representatives, but padding their Senate majority with at least one additional seat.

November 5

1817 - Third Maratha War against the British in India begins with attacks on Poona, Nagpur and Indore.

1914 - Britain annexes Cyprus, Egypt and Sudan during the First World War.

1916 - Emperor Wilhelm II & Franz Jozef I establish the kingdom of Poland.

1940 - Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the only US President to win a third term in office.

1945 - Colombia joins the United Nations.

1946 - The world’s first mobile bank goes into service on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. It is operated by the National Bank of Scotland.

1956 - Britain and France land troops in Egypt during fighting between Egyptian and Israeli forces around the Suez Canal.

1974 - Ella T. Grasso is elected Governor of Connecticut, the first woman to win gubernatorial office in the US without succeeding her husband.

1980 - Ronald Reagan wins US Presidential election in a landslide victory.

1982 - Itaipu Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric plant, is inaugurated on the Brazil-Paraguay border.

1985 - UN General Assembly approves a resolution calling on Vietnam to withdraw its forces from Cambodia.

1987 - African National Congress veteran Govan Mbeki is released after 23 years of a life sentence.

1989 - Rene Muawad is elected President of Lebanon, but was killed 17 days later.

1991 - Billionaire publisher Robert Maxwell is found dead in waters off Canary Islands where his yacht had been cruising.

1992 - Ghana’s leader Jerry J. Rawlings becomes president.

2000 - The Dubai Ring Road is opened to the public.

2001 - Conservative businessman Enrique Bolanos claims victory in Nicaragua’s hotly-contested presidential race.

2006 - Saddam Hussain is sentenced to death by an Iraqi court for crimes against humanity.

2013 - India successfully launches the first mission to Mars.

2014 - The RAK Eye Care Centre, first and only dedicated eye speciality centre in Ras Al Khaimah, opens to the public.