Today In History

Today is Saturday, Jan. 8, the eighth day of 2022. There are 357 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson, in his State of the Union address, declared an “unconditional war on poverty in America.”

ON THIS DATE

› 1815: The last major engagement of the War of 1812 came to an end as U.S. forces defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans, not having received word of the signing of a peace treaty. ›

1867: The U.S. House of Representatives joined the Senate in overriding President Andrew Johnson’s veto of the District of Columbia Suffrage Bill, giving Black men in the nation’s capital the right to vote.

› 1912: The African National Congress was founded in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

› 1918: Mississippi became the first state to ratify the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which established Prohibition. ›

1935: Rock ’n’ roll legend Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi.

› 1982: American Telephone and Telegraph settled the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against it by agreeing to divest itself of the 22 Bell System companies.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Actor-comedian Larry Storch is 99. Former CBS newsman Charles Osgood is 89. Singer Shirley Bassey is 85. Game show host Bob Eubanks is 84. Country-gospel singer Cristy Lane is 82. R&B singer Jerome Anthony Gourdine (Little Anthony and the Imperials) is 81. Actor Yvette Mimieux is 80. Singer Juanita Cowart Motley (The Marvelettes) is 78. Actor Kathleen Noone is 77. Rock musician Robby Krieger (The Doors) is 76. Actor Harriet Sansom Harris is 67. Actor Ron Cephas Jones is 65. Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is 64. Actor Michelle Forbes is 57. Actor Maria Pitillo is 56. Reggae singer Sean Paul is 49. Actor Donnell Turner is 49. Country singer Tift Merritt is 47. Actor-rock singer Jenny Lewis is 46. Actor Amber Benson is 45. Actor Scott Whyte is 44. Singer-songwriter Erin McCarley is 43. Actor Sarah Polley is 43. Actor Rachel Nichols is 42. Actor Gaby Hoffman is 40. Rock musician Disashi Lumumbo-Kasongo (Gym Class Heroes) is 39. Actor Cynthia Erivo is 35. Actor Freddie Stroma is 35.