Today in History
Today is Tuesday, Jan. 28, the 28th day of 2020. There are 338 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Jan. 28, 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.
On this date:
In A.D. 814, Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne died in Aachen in present-day Germany.
In 1547, England’s King Henry VIII died; he was succeeded by his 9-year-old son, Edward VI.
In 1813, the novel “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen was first published anonymously in London.
In 1878, the first daily college newspaper, Yale News (now Yale Daily News), began publication in New Haven, Connecticut.
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, en route 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 1956, Elvis Presley made his first national TV appearance on “Stage Show,” a CBS program hosted by Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey.
In 1960, the National Football League awarded franchises to Dallas and Minneapolis-St. Paul.
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 (he died the following day).
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 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, killing all seven crew members, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.
Thought for Today: “It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.” — Robert H. Goddard, American rocket engineer (1882-1945).