TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, JAN. 13, the 13th day of 2021. There are 352 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1982, an Air Florida 737 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., and fell into the Potomac River while trying to take off during a snowstorm. A total of 78 people, including four motorists on the bridge, four passengers and a flight attendant, survived.
In 1733, James Oglethorpe and some 120 English colonists arrived at Charleston, South Carolina, while en route to settle in present-day Georgia.
In 1794, President George Washington approved a measure adding two stars and two stripes to the American flag, following the admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the Union. (The number of stripes was later reduced to the original 13.)
In 1898, Emile Zola’s famous defense of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, “J’accuse,” was published in Paris.
In 1941, a new law went into effect granting Puerto Ricans U.S. birthright citizenship. Novelist and poet James Joyce died in Zurich, Switzerland, less than a month before his 59th birthday.
In 1964, Roman Catholic Bishop Karol Wojtyla (the future Pope John Paul II) was appointed Archbishop of Krakow, Poland, by Pope Paul VI.
In 1967, the Rolling Stones’ double-A sided single “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and “Ruby Tuesday” was released in the United Kingdom by Decca Records. (It was released the following day in the United States on the London label.)
In 1992, Japan apologized for forcing tens of thousands of Korean women to serve as sex slaves for its soldiers during World War II, citing newly uncovered documents that showed the Japanese army had had a role in abducting the so-called “comfort women.”
In 2001, an earthquake estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey at magnitude 7.7 struck El Salvador; more than 840 people were killed.
In 2005, Major League Baseball adopted a tougher steroid-testing program that would suspend first-time offenders for 10 days and randomly test players year-round.
In 2010, Haitians piled bodies along the devastated streets of their capital a day after a powerful earthquake; in Washington, President Barack Obama pledged an all-out rescue and relief effort. R&B singer Teddy Pendergrass died in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, at age 59.
In 2012, the Italian luxury liner Costa Concordia ran aground off the Tuscan island of Giglio and flipped onto its side; 32 people were killed.
In 2018, a false alarm that warned of a ballistic missile headed for Hawaii sent the islands into a panic, with people abandoning cars on a highway and preparing to flee their homes; officials apologized and said the alert was sent when someone hit the wrong button during a shift change.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor Frances Sternhagen is 91. TV personality Nick Clooney is 87. Comedian Charlie Brill and actor Billy Gray are 83. Actor Richard Moll is 78. Rock musician Trevor Rabin is 67. Rhythm-and-blues musician Fred White is 66. Rock musician James Lomenzo (Megadeth) is 62. Actor Kevin Anderson is 61. Actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus and rock singer Graham “Suggs” McPherson (Madness) are 60. Country singer Trace Adkins is 59. Actor Penelope Ann Miller is 57. Actor Patrick Dempsey is 55. Actor Suzanne Cryer is 54. Actor Traci Bingham is 53. Actor Keith Coogan and TV producer-writer Shonda Rhimes are 51. Actor Nicole Eggert is 49. Actors Ross McCall and Michael Pena are 45. Actor Orlando Bloom is 44. Meteorologist Ginger Zee (TV: “Good Morning America”) is 40. Actor Ruth Wilson is 39. Actor Julian Morris is 38. Actor Beau Mirchoff is 32. Actor Liam Hemsworth is 31. NHL center Connor McDavid is 24.