TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS FRIDAY, JAN. 17, the 17th day of 2020. There are 349 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS IN HISTORY:
On this date 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 1806, Thomas Jefferson’s daughter, Martha, gave birth to James Madison Randolph, the first child born in the White House.
In 1916, the Professional Golfers’ Association of America had its beginnings as department store magnate Rodman Wanamaker hosted a luncheon of pro and amateur golfers in New York City. (The PGA of America was formally established on April 10, 1916.) In 1917, Denmark ceded the Virgin Islands to the United States for $25 million.
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 1996, Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and nine followers were handed long prison sentences for plotting to blow up New York-area landmarks.
In 1997, a court in Ireland granted the first divorce in the Roman Catholic country’s history.
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 98. Former FCC chairman Newton N. Minow is 94. Actor James Earl Jones is 89. Talk show host Maury Povich is 81. Actresses Joanna David and Jane Elliot are 73. Rock musician Mick Taylor is 72. Rhythm-andblues singer Sheila Hutchinson (The Emotions) is 67. Singer Paul Young is 64. Actor-comedian Steve Harvey is 63. Singer Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles) is 61. Actor-comedian Jim Carrey and actor Denis O’Hare are 58. Former first lady Michelle Obama is 56. Rapper Kid Rock is 49. Actor Freddy Rodriguez is 45. Actor-writer Leigh Whannel is 43. Actress-singer Zooey Deschanel and dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy (TV: “Dancing with the Stars”) are 40. Country singer Amanda Wilkinson and former NBA player Dwyane Wade are 38. Actor Ryan Gage is 37. DJ-singer Calvin Harris is 36. Folk-rock musician Jeremiah Fraites is 34. Actor Jonathan Keltz is 32. Actress Kelly Marie Tran is 31. Actress Kathrine Herzer is 23.