TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS THURSDAY, JAN. 17, the 17th day of 2019. There are 348 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS IN HISTORY: On this date in 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his farewell address in which he warned against “the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.”
In 1806, Thomas Jefferson’s daughter, Martha, gave birth to James Madison Randolph, the first child born in the White House.
In 1893, Hawaii’s monarchy was overthrown as a group of businessmen and sugar planters forced Queen Lili’uokalani to abdicate. The 19th president of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes, died in Fremont, Ohio, at age 70.
In 1917, Denmark ceded the Virgin Islands to the United States for $25 million.
In 1929, the cartoon character Popeye the Sailor made his debut in the “Thimble Theatre” comic strip.
In 1945, Soviet and Polish forces liberated Warsaw during World War II; Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, credited with saving tens of thousands of Jews, disappeared in Hungary while in Soviet custody.
In 1977, convicted murderer Gary Gilmore, 36, was shot by a firing squad at Utah State Prison in the first U.S. execution in a decade.
In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., ruled 5-4 that the use of home video cassette recorders to tape television programs for private viewing did not violate federal copyright laws.
In 1994, the 6.7-magnitude Northridge earthquake struck Southern California, killing at least 60 people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
In 1995, more than 6,000 people were killed when an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 devastated the city of Kobe, Japan.
In 1996, Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and nine followers were handed long prison
sentences for plotting to blow up New York-area landmarks.
In 1998, the Drudge Report said Newsweek magazine had killed a story about an affair between President Bill Clinton and an unidentified White House intern the same day Clinton gave a deposition in Paula Jones’ sexual harassment lawsuit against him in which he denied having had a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
In 2001, faced with an electricity crisis, California used rolling blackouts to cut off power to hundreds of thousands of people; Gov. Gray Davis signed an emergency order authorizing the state to buy power.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actress Betty White is 97. Former FCC chairman Newton N. Minow is 93. Actor James Earl Jones is 88. Talk show host Maury Povich is 80. Pop singer Chris Montez is 77. Rhythm-and-blues singer William Hart (The Delfonics) is 74. Actresses Joanna David and Jane Elliot are 72. Rock musician Mick Taylor is 71. Rhythm-and-blues singer Sheila Hutchinson (The Emotions) is 66. Singer Steve Earle is 64. Singer Paul Young is 63. Actor-comedian Steve Harvey is 62. Singer Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles) is 60. Movie director-screenwriter Brian Helgeland is 58. Actor-comedian Jim Carrey and actor Denis O’Hare are 57. Former first lady Michelle Obama is 55. Actor Joshua Malina and singer Shabba Ranks are 53. Rock musician Jon Wysocki is 51. Actor Naveen Andrews and electronic music DJ Tiesto are 50. Rapper Kid Rock is 48. Actor Freddy Rodriguez is 44. Actor-writer Leigh Whannel is 42. Actress-singer Zooey Deschanel and dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy (TV: “Dancing with the Stars”) are 39. Singer Ray J and actor Diogo Morgado are 38. Country singer Amanda Wilkinson and NBA player Dwyane Wade are 37. Actor Ryan Gage is 36. DJ-singer Calvin Harris is 35. Folkrock musician Jeremiah Fraites is 33. Actor Jonathan Keltz is 31. Actress Kelly Marie Tran (Film: “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”) is 30. Actress Kathrine Herzer is 22.