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Almanac for Nov. 2, 2026

Today is Monday, Nov. 2, the 306th day of 2026. There are 59 days left in the year. Today in history: On Nov. 2, 1948, in one of the most unexpected results in U.S. presidential election history, Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman defeated the heavily favored Republican governor of New York, Thomas E. Dewey. Also on this date: In 1783, Gen. George Washington issued his Farewell Address to the Army. In 1861, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln relieved Maj. Gen. John C. Fremont of his command of the Army's Western Department, following Fremont's unauthorized ...

The grumpy, trumpy turkey on the table

Pick a Thanksgiving table, any Thanksgiving table in America, and it's sure to have a turkey and a grumpy uncle. Sometimes they are one and the same, stuffed with all the trimmings. As the midterms draw near, this November will be an especially heated month, right? We the people are so ...

Almanac for Oct. 31, 2026

Today is Saturday, Oct. 31, the 304th day of 2026. There are 61 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi, India's Prime Minister for more than 15 years, was assassinated by two of her own security guards. Also on this date: In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation making Nevada the 36th state, eight days before the presidential election. In 1913, the Lincoln Highway, the first automobile highway across the United States, was dedicated. In 1941, work was completed on the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, begun in ...

Social (In)Security

"We will always protect Social Security, Medicare!" says President Donald Trump. That would be nice. But when I look at these programs' balance sheets, I don't see how he's protected anything. Both Social Security and Medicare are on track to run out of money. Politicians mostly ignore the ...

Almanac for Oct. 30, 2026

Today is Friday, Oct. 30, the 303rd day of 2026. There are 62 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 30, 1974, Muhammad Ali, 32, knocked out George Foreman, 25, in the eighth round of a scheduled 15-round bout known as the "Rumble in the Jungle," in Kinshasa, Congo (then Zaire), to regain his world heavyweight title. Also on this date: In 1912, Vice President James S. Sherman, running for a second term with Republican President William Howard Taft, died six days before Election Day. (Taft was defeated by Democrat Woodrow Wilson in the election). In 1938, the radio ...

The strange case of the two Sullivans

How many "Dan Sullivans" does an election need? One would seem plenty, but Alaska is going to the polls with two "Dan Sullivans" on the ballot -- one the sitting Republican U.S. senator in a nip-and-tuck battle to save his seat, and the other a random guy whose only discernible purpose in ...