TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022.
Today’s highlight in history
On Jan. 15, 2009, US Airways Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger ditched his Airbus 320 in the Hudson River after a flock of birds disabled both engines; all 155 people aboard survived.
On this date
In 1862, the U.S. Senate confirmed President Abraham Lincoln’s choice of Edwin M. Stanton to be the new secretary of war, replacing Simon Cameron.
In 1892, the original rules of basketball, devised by James Naismith, were published for the first time in Springfield, Mass., where the game originated.
In 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta.
In 1943, work was completed on the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of War (now Defense).
In 1967, the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League 35-10 in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, retroactively known as Super Bowl I.
In 1973, President Richard M. Nixon announced the suspension of all U.S. offensive action in North Vietnam, citing progress in peace negotiations.
In 1976, Sara Jane Moore was sentenced to life in prison for her attempt on the life of President Gerald R. Ford in San Francisco. (Moore was released in 2007.)
In 1981, the police drama series “Hill Street Blues” premiered on NBC.
In 1993, a historic disarmament ceremony ended in Paris with the last of 125 countries signing a treaty banning chemical weapons.
In 2001, Wikipedia, a web-based encyclopedia, made its debut.
In 2014, a highly critical and bipartisan Senate report declared that the deadly September 2012 assault on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, could have been prevented; the report spread blame among the State Department, the military and U.S. intelligence.
In 2020, Chinese officials said they couldn’t rule out the possibility that a new coronavirus in central China could spread between humans, though they said the risk of transmission appeared to be low.
House Democratic leaders carried articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump across the U.S. Capitol in a formal procession to the Senate.
Today’s birthdays
Actor Margaret O’Brien is 84. Actor Andrea Martin is 75. Football Hall of Famer Randy White is 69. Actor-director Mario Van Peebles is 65. Actor James Nesbitt is 57. Actor Chad Lowe is 54. Singer Will Oldham (aka Bonnie Prince Billy) is 52. Actor Regina King is 51. Former NFL quarterback Drew Brees is 43. Rapper Pitbull is 41. DJ-musician Skrillex is 34. Actor Dove Cameron is 26. Singer Grace VanderWaal (“America’s Got Talent”) is 18.