TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT Jan. 13, 1968

Country singer Johnny Cash performed and recorded a pair of shows at Folsom State Prison in California; material from the concerts was released as an album by Columbia Records under the title “Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison,” which proved a hit.

ALSO ON THIS DATE 1733

James Oglethorpe and some 120 English colonists arrived at Charleston, South Carolina, while en route to settle in present-day Georgia.

1794

President George Washington approved a measure adding two stars and two stripes to the American flag, following the admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the Union.

1864

American songwriter Stephen Foster died in poverty in a New York hospital at age 37.

1898

Emile Zola’s famous defense of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, “J’accuse,” was published in Paris.

1915

A magnitude-7 earthquake centered in Avezzano, Italy, claimed some 30,000 lives.

1941

A new law went into effect granting Puerto Ricans U.S. birthright citizenship. Novelist and poet James Joyce died in Zurich, Switzerland, less than a month before his 59th birthday.

1962

Comedian Ernie Kovacs died in a car crash in west Los Angeles 10 days before his 43rd birthday.