TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Tuesday, Jan. 9, the ninth day of 2024. There are 357 days left in the year.
ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY
On Jan. 9, 1861, Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union, the same day the Star of the West, a merchant vessel bringing reinforcements and supplies to Federal troops at Fort Sumter, SC, retreated because of artillery fire.
1914 — The County of Los Angeles opened the country’s first public defender’s office.
1916 — The World War I Battle of Gallipoli ended after eight months with an Ottoman Empire victory as Allied forces withdrew.
1945 — During World War II, American forces began landing on the shores of Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines as the Battle of Luzon got underway, resulting in an Allied victory over Imperial Japanese forces.
2018 — Downpours sent mud and boulders roaring down Southern California hillsides that had been stripped of vegetation by a gigantic wildfire; more than 20 people died and hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed.
2020 — Chinese state media said a preliminary investigation into recent cases of viral pneumonia had identified the probable cause as a new type of Coronavirus.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Actor K Callan is 88. Folk singer Joan Baez is 83. Rock musician Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) is 80. Actor John Doman is 79. Singer David Johansen (aka Buster Poindexter) is 74. Singer Crystal Gayle is 73. Actor J.K. Simmons is 69. Actor Imelda Staunton is 68. Nobel Peace laureate Rigoberta Menchú is 65. Rock musician Eric Erlandson is 61. Actor Joely Richardson is 59. Rock musician Carl Bell (Fuel) is 57. Actor David Costabile is 57. Rock singer-musician Dave Matthews is 57. Actor-director Joey Lauren Adams is 56. Singer A.J. McLean (Backstreet Boys) is 46.