Today in history

On Jan. 12, 1519, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I died. In 1773 the first public museum in America was established, in Charleston, S.C.

In 1915 the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a proposal to give women the right to vote.

In 1932 Hattie Caraway became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

In 1948 the Supreme Court ruled states could not discriminate against law school applicants because of race.

In 1969 the New York Jets defeated the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

In 1986 the space shuttle Columbia blasted off with a crew that included U.S. Rep. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and the first Hispanic-American in space, Franklin Chang-Diaz.

In 1987 Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite arrived in Lebanon to help win the release of Western hostages; instead, Waite ended up being taken captive himself.

In 1991 a deeply divided Congress gave President George H.W. Bush the authority to use force to expel Iraq from Kuwait.

In 1998 nineteen European nations signed a treaty in Paris opposing human cloning. Also in 1998, Linda Tripp provided Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr’s office with taped conversations between herself and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

In 2000 the U.S. Supreme Court gave police broad authority to stop and question people who run at the sight of an officer.

In 2006 a stampede broke out during the hajj in Saudi Arabia, killing 363 people.

In 2010 a magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck near the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, devastating the impoverished nation and killing more than 300,000.