DAY IN HISTORY

Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022

Today is the fifth day of 2022 and the 16th day of winter.

TODAY’S HISTORY:

In 1781, British naval forces led by Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold captured and burned Richmond, Virginia.

In 1914, Ford Motor Co. raised basic wages from $2.40 for a ninehour day to $5 for an eight-hour day.

In 1933, construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco Bay.

In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced that the U.S. would intervene militarily and economically at the request of other nations in response to the spread of communism.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:

King Camp Gillette (1855-1932), safety razor inventor; George Reeves (1914-1959), actor; Jane Wyman (1917-2007), actress; Walter Mondale (1928-2021), former U.S. vice president; Alvin Ailey (1931-1989), dancer/ choreographer; Robert Duvall (1931- ), actor; Umberto Eco (1932-2016), author/philosopher; Juan Carlos (1938- ), former king of Spain; Diane Keaton (1946- ), actress; Clancy Brown (1959- ), actor; Bradley Cooper (1975- ), actor; January Jones (1978- ), actress.

TODAY’S FACT: The safety razor was one of the first disposable products ever made.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 2004, Pete Rose admitted to gambling on baseball games while serving as manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else.” -Umberto Eco, “Travels in Hyperreality”

TODAY’S NUMBER: 1,672 -- performances in the original run of “The Wiz,” an adaptation of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” at the Majestic Theatre and the Broadway Theatre in New York, after premiering this day in 1975.

TODAY’S MOON: Between new moon (Jan. 2) and first quarter moon (Jan. 9).