On November 8, 1962, the famous Ford Rotunda stood in
Dearborn, Michigan for the last time: the next day, it is
destroyed in a massive fire. Some 1.5 million people
visited the Rotunda each year, making it the fifth most
popular tourist attraction in the U.S. (behind Niagara Falls,
Smokey Mountain National Park, the Smithsonian, and the
Lincoln Memorial).

Ford had commissioned the Rotunda for the 1933 Century
of Progress exposition in Chicago and had moved it to
Dearborn when the fair ended.

Christmas exhibit at Ford Rotunda, December 1955.

On this day – Nov. 8 1960 – John F. Kennedy defeats Richard
Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections of the
twentieth century to become the 35th president of the United
States.

Kennedy, 43, became the youngest man ever to be elected
elected president of the United States, narrowly beating
Republican Vice President Richard Nixon. He was also the
first Catholic to become president.