Today’s highlights in history
On Jan. 10, 1946, the first manmade contact with the moon was made as radar signals transmitted by the U.S. Army Signal Corps were bounced off the lunar surface.
On this date
In 1776, Thomas Paine anonymously published his influential pamphlet, “Common Sense,” which argued for American independence from British rule.
In 1870,
John D. Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil.
In 1917,
legendary Western frontiersman and showman William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody died at his sister’s home in Denver at age 70.
In 1946,
the first General Assembly of the United Nations convened in London.
In 1967,
Massachusetts Republican Edward W. Brooke, the first African-American elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote, took his seat.
In 1971,
“Masterpiece Theatre” premiered on PBS with host Alistair Cooke introducing the drama series “The First Churchills.”
In 1994,
President Bill Clinton, attending a NATO summit meeting in Brussels, Belgium, announced completion of an agreement to remove all long-range nuclear missiles from the former Soviet republic of Ukraine.
Ten years ago:
The Democratic-controlled House voted 315-116 to increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour.
Five years ago:
Alabama was voted No. 1 in the final AP poll for the eighth time, tying Notre Dame for the most of any team in college football, after winning a rematch with LSU in the BCS championship.
One year ago:
David Bowie, the chameleon-like star who transformed the sound and the look of rock, died in New York at age 69.