On this day, Jan. 6

1759 George Washington and Martha Dandridge Custis were married in New Kent County in Virginia.

1838 Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail gave the first successful public demonstration of their telegraph in Morristown, N.J. 1932 Allegheny County government was reorganized, and six departments were created: Highways, Property and Supplies, Parks, Airport, Elections and Law.

1968 A surgical team at Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, Calif., led by Dr. Norman Shumway performed the first U.S. adult heart transplant, placing the heart of a 43-year-old man in a 54year-old patient (the recipient died 15 days later). 1982 Rand McNally’s Places Rated Almanac named Pittsburgh as the third most livable city in the country.

2009 Alcoa, a Pittsburgh based aluminum manufacturer, announced it wiould have to cut 13,500 jobs locally and globally due to the economy. Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).

— Compiled by Rick Nowlin

Today’s birthdays: Country musician Joey, the CowPolka King (Riders in the Sky), 70. Former FBI director Louis Freeh, 69. Rock singer-musician Kim Wilson (The Fabulous Thunderbirds), 68. Singer Jett Williams, 66. Actor-comedian Rowan Atkinson, 64. World Golf Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez, 62. Actor Scott Bryce, 61. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kathy Sledge, 60. TV chef Nigella Lawson, 59. Movie director John Singleton, 51. Actor Aron Eisenberg, 50. Actor Norman Reedus, 50. TV personality Julie Chen, 49. Actor Danny Pintauro (TV: “Who’s the Boss?”), 43. Actress Cristela Alonzo, 40. Actress Rinko Kikuchi, 38. Actor Eddie Redmayne, 37. Retired NBA AllStar Gilbert Arenas, 37. Actress-comedian Kate McKinnon, 35.

Thought for today: “Simplicity is an acquired taste. Mankind, left free, instinctively complicates life.”

— Katharine Fullerton Gerould, American author (1879-1944)