TODAY IN HISTORY

NOVEMBER 6

1860:Abraham Lincoln prevails over three others to be elected 16th president of the United States. Exactly a year later, Jefferson Davis—already the interim president—is elected president of the Confederacy.

1998: House Speaker Newt Gingrich resigns after the Republican Party suffers midterm election setbacks.

1991: Russia’s first president, Boris Yeltsin, bans the Communist Party from the country.