TODAY INHISTORY
Today is Friday, Jan. 8.
TODAY’SHIGHLIGHT OnJan.8,1998,
RamziYousef, themastermindofthe1993 WorldTradeCenterbombing, wassentencedinNewYork tolifein prisonwithoutthe possibilityofparole.
ONTHISDATE
In 1815, the last major engagement of theWarof 1812 cameto an end asU.S. forces defeated the British in the Battle ofNewOrleans, not having gottenword of the signing ofapeace treaty.
In 1918, PresidentWoodrow Wilson outlined his Fourteen Points for lasting peace afterWorldWar I. Mississippi becamethefirst state to ratify the 18thAmendment to the Constitution, which establishedProhibition. In1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson, in hisState of the Union address, declared an“unconditionalwaron poverty inAmerica.”
In 1973, theParis peace talks between the UnitedStates and NorthVietnamresumed. In1982, AmericanTelephone andTelegraph settled the JusticeDepartment’s antitrust lawsuit against it by agreeing to divest itselfof the 22BellSystem companies.
In1994, Tonya Hardingwon the ladies’U.S. FigureSkating Championship inDetroit, aday afterNancyKerrigan dropped out because of the clubbing attack that had injured her right knee. (TheU.S. FigureSkating Association later stripped Harding of the title.)
In1997, thestateofArkansas putthreementodeathin thesecondtripleexecution sincecapitalpunishmentwas reinstatedin1976.(Thefirst alsooccurredinArkansas, in 1994.)
In2004, AU.S. BlackHawk medivac helicoptercrashed nearFallujah, Iraq, killing all nine soldiers aboard.
In2006, thefirst funerals were held inWest Virginia for the 12 minerswho’d died in the Sago Mine disaster six days earlier.
In2008, Sen. HillaryRodham Clinton poweredtovictory inNewHampshire’s2008 Democratic primary in a startling upset, defeating Sen. BarackObamaand resurrecting her bid for theWhite House; Sen.
John McCain defeatedhis Republican rivals tomove back into contention for the GOPnomination. Tenyearsago: U.S.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was shot and criticallywoundedwhen a gunmanopenedfire as the congresswomanmet with constituents inTucson; six peoplewere killed, 12 others also injured. (GunmanJared Lee Loughnerwas sentenced inNov. 2012 to seven consecutive life sentences, plus 140 years.) Fiveyearsago: Joaquin“El Chapo”Guzman, theworld’s most-wanted drug lord, was captured fora thirdtime in a daring raidbyMexican marines, sixmonths after walking through a tunnel to freedomfromamaximum security prison in amadefor-Hollywood escape that deeplyembarrassed the government and strained ties with the UnitedStates. Oneyearago: Iran struck back at the UnitedStates for killing Iran’s top military commander, firing missiles at two Iraqi militarybases housingAmerican troops; more than 100U.S. service memberswere diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries after the attack.