TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

Jan. 3, 1868

Japan’s Meiji Restoration re-established the authority of the emperor and heralded the fall of the military rulers known as shoguns; the upheaval paved the way for Japan’s drive toward becoming a modern power. ALSO ON THIS DATE

1521

Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.

1870

Groundbreaking took place for the Brooklyn Bridge.

1911

The first postal savings banks were opened by the U.S. Post Office.

1938

The March of Dimes campaign to fight polio was established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who himself had been afflicted with the crippling disease.

1958

The first six members of the newly formed U.S. Commission on Civil Rights held their first meeting.

1959

Alaska became the 49th state as President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation.

1967

Jack Ruby, the man who shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy, died in a Dallas hospital.

1977

Apple Computer was incorporated in Cupertino, California, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Mike Makkula Jr.