TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SUNDAY, JAN. 13, the 13th day of 2019. There are 352 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1982, an Air Florida 737 crashed into Washington, D.C.’s 14th Street Bridge and fell into the Potomac River while trying to take off during a snowstorm, killing a total of 78 people; four passengers and a flight attendant survived.
In 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. The number of stripes was later reduced to the original 13.
In 1915, a magnitude-7 earthquake centered in Avezzano, Italy, claimed some 30,000 lives.
In 1941, a new law went into effect granting Puerto Ricans U.S. birthright citizenship.
In 1962, comedian Ernie Kovacs died in a car crash in west Los Angeles 10 days before his 43rd birthday.
In 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 was a hit.
In 1990, L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia became the nation’s first elected black governor when he took the oath of office in Richmond.
In 1992, Japan apologized for forcing tens of thousands of Korean women to serve as sex slaves for its soldiers during World War II, citing newly uncovered documents that showed the Japanese army had had a role in abducting the so-called “comfort women.”
In 1997, seven black soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for World War II valor; the lone survivor of the group, former Lt. Vernon Baker, received his medal from President Bill Clinton at the White House.
In 2012, the Italian luxury liner Costa Concordia ran aground off the Tuscan island of Giglio and flipped onto its side; 32 people were killed.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actress Frances Sternhagen is 89. TV personality Nick Clooney and comedian Rip Taylor are 85. Actor Richard Moll is 76. Rock musician James Lomenzo (Megadeth) is 60. Actor Kevin Anderson is 59. Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus and rock singer Graham “Suggs” McPherson (Madness) are 58. Country singer Trace Adkins is 57. Actress Penelope Ann Miller is 55. Actor Patrick Dempsey is 53. Actor Keith Coogan and TV producer-writer Shonda Rhimes are 49. Actor Michael Pena is 43. Actor Orlando Bloom is 42. Actress Ruth Wilson is 37. Actor Liam Hemsworth is 29.