Today in history
On Jan. 6, 1968, a surgical team at Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California, led by Dr. Norman Shumway performed the first U.S. adult heart transplant, placing the heart of a 43-year-old man in a 54-year-old patient (the recipient died 15 days later).
In 1759, George Washington and Martha Dandridge Custis were married in New Kent County, Virginia.
In 1838, Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail gave the first successful public demonstration of their telegraph in Morristown, New Jersey.
In 1912, New Mexico became the 47th state. In 1945, George Herbert Walker Bush married Barbara Pierce at the First Presbyterian Church in Rye, New York.
In 1950, Britain recognized the Communist government of China.
In 1974, year-round daylight saving time began in the United States on a trial basis as a fuel-saving measure in response to the OPEC oil embargo.
In 1987, the U.S. Senate voted 88-4 to establish an 11-member panel to hold public hearings on the Iran-Contra affair.
In 1993, authorities rescued Jennifer Stolpa and her infant son, Clayton, after Jennifer’s husband, James, succeeded in reaching help, ending the family’s eight-day ordeal after becoming lost in the snow-covered Nevada desert.
In 1994, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the leg by an assailant at Detroit’s Cobo Arena; four men, including the ex-husband of Kerrigan’s rival, Tonya Harding, went to prison for their roles in the attack. (Harding pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution, but denied any advance knowledge about the assault.)
In 2001, with Vice President Al Gore presiding in his capacity as president of the Senate, Congress formally certified George W. Bush the winner of the bitterly contested 2000 presidential election.
Five years ago: The NHL and the players’ association agreed on a tentative pact to end a 113-day lockout.
One year ago: Congress certified Donald Trump’s presidential victory over the objections of a handful of House Democrats, with Vice President Joe Biden pronouncing, “It is over.” Actresses Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher were laid to rest together at Forest Lawn Memorial Park — Hollywood Hills. Tilikum the orca died after more than two decades at SeaWorld Orlando, where he gained notoriety for killing a trainer.