TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS THURSDAY, JAN. 28, the 28th day of 2021. There are 337 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, killing all seven crew members, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. In A.D. 814, Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne died in Aachen in what is now Germany. In 1547, England’s King Henry VIII died; he was succeeded by his 9-year-old son, Edward VI. In 1911, the notorious Hope Diamond was sold by jeweler Pierre Cartier to socialites Edward and Evalyn McLean of Washington, D.C., for $180,000. In 1915, the American merchant vessel SS William P. Frye, sailing to England with a cargo of wheat, became the first U.S. ship to be sunk during World War I by a German cruiser, the SS Prinz Eitel Friedrich, even though the United States was not at war. In 1916, Louis D. Brandeis was nominated by President Woodrow Wilson to the Supreme Court; Brandeis became the court’s first Jewish member. In 1939, Irish poet-dramatist William Butler Yeats died in Menton, France. In 1956, Elvis Presley made his first national TV appearance on “Stage Show,” a CBS program hosted by Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. In 1973, a cease-fire officially went into effect in the Vietnam War, a day after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords by the United States, North Vietnam and South Vietnam.
In 1977, actor-comedian Freddie Prinze, 22, co-star of the NBC-TV show “Chico and the Man,” shot and mortally wounded himself at the Beverly Comstock Hotel. In 1980, six U.S. diplomats who had avoided being taken hostage at their embassy in Tehran flew out of Iran with the help of Canadian diplomats. In 1982, Italian anti-terrorism forces rescued U.S. Brig. Gen. James L. Dozier, 42 days after he had been kidnapped by the Red Brigades. In 1985, the charity supergroup USA for Africa recorded the Michael JacksonLionel Richie song “We Are the World” at A&M Studios in Los Angeles. TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor Nicholas Pryor is 86. Actor Alan Alda is 85. Actor Susan Howard is 79. Actor Marthe Keller is 76. Actor-singer Barbi Benton is 71. Actor Harley Jane Kozak is 64. Movie director Frank Darabont and rock musician Dave Sharp are 62. Rock singer Sam Phillips is 59. Rock musician Dan Spitz is 58. Singer Sarah McLachlan, rapper Rakim and DJ Muggs (Cypress Hill) are 53. Actor Kathryn Morris and humorist Mo Rocca are 52. Rock/soul musician Jeremy Ruzumna (Fitz and the Tantrums) is 51. R&B singer Anthony Hamilton is 50. Singer Monifah and actor Gillian Vigman are 49. Retired MLB All-Star Jermaine Dye is 47. Actor Terri Conn is 46. Singer Joey Fatone Jr. (’N Sync) and rapper Rick Ross are 44. Actors Rosamund Pike and Angelique Cabral are 42. Singer Nick Carter (Backstreet Boys) and actor Vinny Chhibber are 41. Actor Elijah Wood is 40. Rapper J. Cole is 36. Actor Ariel Winter is 23.