Today In History

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 16, the 16th day of 2019. There are 349 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1920: Prohibition began in the United States as the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution took effect, one year to the day after its ratification. (It was later repealed by the 21st Amendment.)

ON THIS DATE

› 27 B.C.: Caesar Augustus was declared the first Emperor of the Roman Empire by the Senate.

› 1547: Ivan IV of Russia (popularly known as “Ivan the Terrible”) was crowned czar.

› 1865: Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman decreed that 400,000 acres of land in the South would be divided into 40-acre lots and given to former slaves. (The order, later revoked by President Andrew Johnson, is believed to have inspired the expression, “Forty acres and a mule.”)

› 1912: A day before reaching the South Pole, British explorer Robert Scott and his expedition found evidence that Roald Amundsen of Norway and his team had gotten there ahead of them.

› 1991: The White House announced the start of Operation Desert Storm to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. (Allied forces prevailed on Feb. 28, 1991.)

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Author William Kennedy is 91. Author-editor Norman Podhoretz is 89. Opera singer Marilyn Horne is 85. Hall of Fame auto racer A.J. Foyt is 84. Singer Barbara Lynn is 77. Country singer Ronnie Milsap is 76. Singer Katherine Anderson Schaffner (The Marvelettes) is 75. Country singer Jim Stafford is 75. Talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger is 72. Rhythm and blues singer Maxine Jones (En Vogue) is 60. Singer Sade is 60. Pop/rock singer-songwriter Jill Sobule is 60. Rock musician Paul Webb (Talk Talk) is 57. Actor David Chokachi is 51. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta is 50. Actor-writer-director Josh Evans is 48. Actor-comedian Jonathan Mangum is 48. Actor Richard T. Jones is 47. Actress Josie Davis is 46. Model Kate Moss is 45. Actor-playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda is 39. Country musician James Young (The Eli Young Band) is 39. Rock musician Nick Valensi (The Strokes) is 38. Actress Renee Felice Smith is 34. NFL quarterback Joe Flacco is 34. Actress Yvonne Zima is 30.