TODAY IN WORLD HISTORY
Today is Tuesday, Jan. 2, the second day of 2018. There are 363 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History On Jan. 2, 1893, the U.S. Postal Service issued its first-ever set of commemorative stamps to honor the upcoming World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago as well as the quadricentennial of Christopher Columbus’ voyage.
On this date • In 1788, Georgia became the fourth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
• In 1792, the first classes began at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
• In 1900, U.S. Secretary of State John Hay announced the “Open Door Policy” to facilitate trade with China.
• In 1921, religious services were broadcast on radio for the first time as KDKA in Pittsburgh aired the regular Sunday service of the city’s Calvary Episcopal Church.
• In 1935, Bruno Hauptmann went on trial in Flemington, N.J., on charges of kidnapping and murdering the 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. (Hauptmann was found guilty, and executed.)
• In 1942, the Philippine capital of Manila was captured by Japanese forces during World War II.
• In 1955, the president of Panama, Jose Antonio Remon Cantera, was assassinated at a racetrack.
• In 1967, Republican Ronald Reagan took the oath of office as the new governor of California in a ceremony that took place in Sacramento just after midnight.
• In 1974, President Richard Nixon signed legislation requiring states to limit highway speeds to 55 miles an hour as a way of conserving gasoline in the face of an OPEC oil embargo. (The 55 mph limit was effectively phased out in 1987; federal speed limits were abolished in 1995.) “Singing cowboy” star Tex Ritter died in Nashville at age 68.
• In 1983, the original Broadway production of the musical “Annie” closed after a run of 2,377 performances.
• In 1991, Sharon Pratt was sworn in as mayor of Washington, D.C., becoming the first black woman to head a city of Washington’s size and prominence.
• In 2006, a methane gas explosion at the Sago Mine in West Virginia claimed the lives of 12 miners, but one miner, Randal McCloy Jr., was eventually rescued. The roof of a skating rink collapsed in the German town of Bad Reichenhall, killing 15 people.
Ten years ago The Justice Department opened a full criminal investigation into the destruction of CIA videotapes of the interrogation of two al-Qaida suspects. (A special prosecutor later cleared the CIA’s former top clandestine officer and others.) Oil prices soared to $100 a barrel for the first time. Late-night talk shows returned to the air two months into a writers strike. (David Letterman and Craig Ferguson had reached agreements to allow writers to work on their shows; Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel returned without theirs.)
Five years ago The United Nations gave a grim new count of the human cost of Syria’s civil war, saying the death toll had exceeded 60,000 in 21 months. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton left a New York hospital, three days after doctors discovered a blood clot in her head. No. 22 Louisville toppled No. 4 Florida, 33-23, in the Sugar Bowl.
One year ago A suicide bomber driving a pickup loaded with explosives struck a bustling market in Baghdad, killing at least 36 people in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group hours after French President Francois Hollande arrived in the Iraqi capital. No. 9 Southern California rallied from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter for a spectacular 52-49 victory over No. 5 Penn State in the Rose Bowl.