TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS MONDAY, JAN. 2, the second day of 2017. There are 363 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1942, the Philippine capital of Manila was captured by Japanese forces during World War II.
In 1788, Georgia became the fourth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
In 1792, the first classes began at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
In 1893, the U.S. Postal Service issued its first commemorative stamp to honor the World’s Columbian Expedition and the quadricentennial of Christopher Columbus’ voyage.
In 1935, Bruno Hauptmann went on trial in Flemington, New Jersey, on charges of kidnapping and murdering the 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. (Hauptmann was found guilty, and executed.)
In 1967, Republican Ronald Reagan took the oath of office as the new governor of California in a ceremony that took place in Sacramento shortly after midnight.
In 1974, President Richard Nixon signed legislation requiring states to limit highway speeds to 55 miles an hour as a way of conserving gasoline in the face of an OPEC oil embargo. (The 55 mph limit was effectively phased out in 1987; federal speed limits were
abolished in 1995.) “Singing cowboy” star Tex Ritter died in Nashville at age 68.
In 1981, police in Sheffield, England, arrested Peter Sutcliffe, who confessed to being the “Yorkshire Ripper,” the serial killer of 13 women.
In 1991, Sharon Pratt was sworn in as mayor of Washington, D.C., becoming the first black woman to head a city of Washington’s size and prominence.
In 2006, a methane gas explosion at the Sago Mine in West Virginia claimed the lives of 12 miners, but one miner, Randal McCloy, Jr., was eventually rescued. The roof of a skating rink collapsed in the German town of Bad Reichenhall, killing 15 people.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Country musician Harold Bradley is 91. Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert is 75. TV host Jack Hanna is 70. Retired MLB All-Star pitcher David Cone is 54. Actress Tia Carrere is 50. Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. is 49. Model Christy Turlington is 48. Actor Taye Diggs, actress Renee Elise Goldsberry (Stage: “Hamilton”) and rock musician Scott Underwood are 46. Rock singer Doug Robb (Hoobastank) and actor Dax Shepard are 42. Actress Paz Vega is 41. Country musician Chris Hartman and ballroom dancer Karina Smirnoff (TV: “Dancing with the Stars”) are 39. Actress Kate Bosworth is 34.