Today is Friday, Nov. 4, the 309th day of 2016. There are 57 days left in the year.

Today’s birthdays: Cardinal Bernard Law, former leader of the Archdiocese of Boston, is 85. Actress Loretta Swit is 79. Blues singer Delbert McClinton is 76. Former first lady Laura Bush is 70. Rock musician Chris Difford is 62. Comedian Kathy Griffin is 56. Actor Ralph Macchio is 55. Actor Matthew McConaughey is 47. Rapper-producer Sean ‘‘Puffy’’ Combs is 47.

In 1942, during World War II, Axis forces retreated from El Alamein in North Africa in a major victory for British forces.

In 1952, the National Security Agency came into existence.

In 1956, Soviet troops moved in to crush the Hungarian Revolution.

In 1964, comedian Lenny Bruce was convicted of obscenity charges stemming from his performances at the Cafe Au Go Go in Greenwich Village. (Bruce received a posthumous pardon in 2003 from New York Governor George Pataki.)

In 1979, the Iran hostage crisis began as militants stormed the US Embassy in Tehran, seizing its occupants; for some of them, it was the start of 444 days of captivity.

In 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing Israeli minutes after attending a peace rally. Retired professor Morris Schwartz of ‘‘Tuesdays with Morrie’’ fame died in Newton at age 78.

In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama was elected the first black president of the United States.

Last year, Justin Trudeau was sworn in as Canada’s new Liberal prime minister.