HIGHLIGHTS IN HISTORY
Today’s highlight:
On Jan. 25, 1971, Charles Manson and three women followers were convicted in Los Angeles of murder and conspiracy in the 1969 slayings of seven people, including actress Sharon Tate.
On this date:
1863: During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln accepted Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside’s resignation as commander of the Army of the Potomac, and replaced him with Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker.
1890: Reporter Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) of the New York World completed a round-the-world journey in 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes.
1915: America’s first official transcontinental telephone call took place as Alexander
Graham Bell, who was in New York, spoke to his former assistant, Thomas Watson, who was in San Francisco, over a line set up by American Telephone & Telegraph.
1924: The first Winter Olympic Games opened in Chamonix, France.
1936: Former Gov. Al Smith,
D-N.Y., delivered a radio address in Washington, titled
“Betrayal of the Democratic
Party,” in which he fiercely criticized the New Deal policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1945: The World War II Battle of the Bulge ended as German forces were pushed back to their original positions. Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first community to add fluoride to its public water supply. 1961: President John F. Kennedy held the first presidential news conference to be carried live on radio and television. 1981: The 52 Americans held hostage by Iran for 444 days arrived in the United States.
1990: An Avianca Boeing 707 ran out of fuel and crashed in Cove Neck, Long Island, New York; 73 of the 158 people aboard were killed. Actress Ava Gardner died in London at age 67. 1993: A gunman shot and killed two CIA employees outside agency headquarters in Virginia (Pakistani national Mir Aimal Kansi was later tried and convicted of the shootings, and executed). 1998: Pope John Paul II ended his historic journey to Cuba.
Ten years ago: The White House used the Sunday talk shows to warn the country could face a long and painful financial recovery, even with major government intervention. The Eastern Conference won the NHL All-Star game 12-11.
Jeremy Abbott won his first title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, held in Cleveland. “Slumdog Millionaire” won the Screen Actors Guild Award for best cast of a motion picture; “30 Rock” and “Mad Men” won best for TV comedy and drama casts.
Five years ago: A gunman opened fire at a shopping mall in suburban Baltimore, killing two skate shop employees, 21-year-old Brianna Benlolo and 25-year-old Tyler Johnson; shooter Darion Aguilar then killed himself. The Anaheim Ducks beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-0 at Dodger Stadium in the NHL’s first warm-weather outdoor game. Morris
“Morrie” Turner, 90, creator of the “Wee Pals” comic strip and the first African-American cartoonist to be syndicated nationally, died in Sacramento, California.
One year ago: President Donald Trump arrived at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland; after meeting there with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump threatened to cut off U.S. aid to the Palestinians unless they negotiated peace with Israel. The White House unveiled an immigration proposal that would provide a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million young immigrants living in the country illegally in exchange for new restrictions on legal immigration and $25 billion in border security.