TODAY IN HISTORY

On Jan. 22, 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 1907, the Richard Strauss opera “Salome” made its American debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York; its racy content sparked outrage and forced cancellation of additional performances.

In 1970, the first regularly scheduled commercial flight of the Boeing 747 began in New York and ended in London.

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court, in its Roe v. Wade decision, declared a nationwide constitutional right to abortion.

In 1997, the Senate confirmed Madeleine Albright as the nation’s first female secretary of state.

In 1998, Theodore Kaczynski pleaded guilty to being the Unabomber responsible for three deaths and 29 injuries in return for a sentence of life in prison without parole.

In 2009, President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp within a year.