The Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of the executive branch of government in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The Kentucky Constitution empowers the governor to grant pardons, veto legislation, and call the legislature into session. He or she serves as commander-in-chief of the Kentucky National Guard and is charged with enforcing the state's laws. The officeholder is given broad authority to make appointments to the cabinets and departments of the executive branch, limited somewhat by the adoption of a merit system in 1960. Fifty-six men and one woman have held the office. The governor's term is four years in length, and since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-election once before becoming ineligible for four years. Kentucky is one of five U.S. states that hold gubernatorial elections in odd-numbered years; the others are Louisiana, Mississippi, Virginia, and New Jersey. The incumbent governor, Democrat Steve Beshear, is seeking re-election on November 8, 2011. His opponent is Republican David L. Williams, who is currently president of the state senate. (more...)

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• ... that the Brighton Wheel (pictured) in Brighton, England, stood in South Africa last year?
• ... that oil shale deposits in Israel may cover approximately 15% of the country's territory, but only a small part of them are mineable for energy use?
• ... that the street children in the Indonesian film Leaf on a Pillow were given an education after production finished?
• ... that the British destroyer HMS Harvester sank one German submarine by ramming on 3 March 1943 whilst escorting Convoy HX 228, but was sunk by another submarine the following day?
• ... that KRSA, a radio station in Petersburg, Alaska, was sold in December 2010 for the sum of $1.00?
• ... that a nude picture of 1996 Summer Paralympics gold medallist Gerry Hewson and his pregnant wife was published by Time Out New York?
• ... that Baker's Hole, near Dartford, Kent, England, contains a site at which Neanderthals made blades?
  
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• More than one hundred people are killed by floods and landslides in Colombia.
• Kenyan runner Geoffrey Mutai (pictured) wins the New York City Marathon with a course record time.
• Alfonso Cano, leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, is killed by government forces.
• The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) follows sister body IUPAC in approving the element names darmstadtium, roentgenium and copernicium for general use.
• Paul Biya is sworn in for a sixth term as President of Cameroon.
• A 520-day ground-based experiment simulating a manned flight to Mars, part of the MARS-500 program, concludes in Russia.
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November 8: St. Demetrius' Day (Coptic Church and Serbian Orthodox Church)

• 1576 – The provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands signed the Pacification of Ghent, to make peace with the rebelling provinces Holland and Zeeland, and also to form an alliance to drive the occupying Spanish out of the country.
• 1861 – American Civil War: The USS San Jacinto stopped the British mailship Trent and arrested two Confederate envoys en route to Europe, sparking a major diplomatic crisis between Great Britain and the United States.
• 1895 – German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range that is known today as X-ray (example pictured).
• 1965 – Journalist Dorothy Kilgallen was found dead in her New York City townhouse, in what was rumored to be a murder because of information she had regarding controversial stories such as the John F. Kennedy assassination.
• 1971 – English rock group Led Zeppelin released their fourth album, which would go on to be one of the best-selling albums worldwide.

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