TODAY IN HISTORY Also on this date
On Jan. 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court, in its Roe v. Wade decision, declared a nationwide constitutional right to abortion.
In 1901, Britain’s Queen Victoria died at age 81 after a reign of 63 years; she was succeeded by her eldest son, Edward VII.
In 1938, Thornton Wilder’s play “Our Town” was performed publicly for the first time in Princeton, New Jersey.
In 1944, during World War II, Allied forces began landing at Anzio, Italy.
In 1947, America’s first commercially licensed television station west of the Mississippi, KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, made its official debut.
In 1997, the Senate confirmed Madeleine Albright as the nation’s first female secretary of state.
In 1998, Theodore Kaczynski pleaded guilty in Sacramento, California, to being the Unabomber responsible for three deaths and 29 injuries in return for a sentence of life in prison without parole.
In 2008, actor Heath Ledger, 28, was found dead of an accidental prescription overdose in a New York City apartment.
In 2009, President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp within a year. (The facility remained in operation as lawmakers blocked efforts to transfer terror suspects to the United States; President Donald Trump later issued an order to keep the jail open and allow the Pentagon to bring new prisoners there.)
In 2020, Chinese health authorities urged people in Wuhan to avoid crowds and public gatherings after warning that a new viral illness that had infected hundreds of people and caused at least nine deaths could spread further. Health officials in Washington state said they were monitoring 16 people who had come in close contact with a traveler to China, the first U.S. resident known to be infected with the virus.
Ten years ago: Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who’d won more games than anyone in major college football but was fired amid a child sex abuse scandal that scarred his reputation, died at age 85.
Five years ago: After a combative start to his presidency, Donald Trump delivered a more unifying message and sought to reassure Americans he was ready to begin governing a divided nation.
One year ago: Baseball legend Hank Aaron, who endured racist threats with stoic dignity during his pursuit of Babe Ruth’s home run record, died at 86.