ON JANUARY 13 ...

In 1733 James Oglethorpe and some 120 English colonists arrived at Charleston, S.C., while en route to settle in present-day Georgia.

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 1832 author Horatio Alger was born in Massachusetts.

In 1941 acclaimed novelist James Joyce, whose “Ulysses” ranks among the best works of the 20th century, died in Zurich; he was 58. Also in 1941, a new law went into effect granting Puerto Ricans U.S. birthright citizenship.

In 1966 Robert Weaver became the first black Cabinet member as he was appointed secretary of Housing and Urban Development by President Lyndon Johnson.

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 proved a hit.

In 1990 L. Douglas Wilder, of Virginia, became the nation’s first elected AfricanAmerican governor as he took the oath of office in Richmond.

In 1999 Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan announced his retirement from basketball. (He returned to the NBA in 2001.)

In 2000 Microsoft chairman Bill Gates stepped aside as chief executive and promoted company president Steve Ballmer to the position.

In 2012 More than 30 people were killed after the Costa Concordia cruise ship, carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew, struck rocks off Tuscany, Italy.

In 2017 the U.S. Department of Justice, after a 13-month investigation, issued a scathing report describing a broken Chicago Police Department falling woefully short on nearly every level, resulting in systematic abuse of citizens, widespread distrust and a crisis of public safety.

In 2018 a false alarm that warned of a ballistic missile headed for Hawaii sent the islands into a panic for 38 harrowing minutes until officials said the cellphone alert was a mistake; a couple of weeks later authorities said an employee misunderstood a drill and believed that a ballistic missile had actually been fired.