TODAY IN HISTORY

THURSDAY JAN 19, 2023

1953

CBS-TV aired the widely watched episode of “I Love Lucy” in which Lucy Ricardo, played by Lucille Ball, gave birth to Little Ricky.

1853

Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Il Trovatore” premiered in Rome.

1915

Germany carried out its first air raid on Britain during World War I as a pair of Zeppelins dropped bombs onto Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn in England.

1942

During World War II, Japanese forces captured the British protectorate of North Borneo. A German submarine sank the Canadian liner RMS Lady Hawkins off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, killing 251 people; 71 survived.

1944

The federal government relinquished control of the nation’s railroads to their owners following settlement of a wage dispute.

1966

Indira Gandhi was chosen to be prime minister of India by the National Congress party.

1987

Guy Hunt became Alabama’s first Republican governor since 1874 as he was sworn into office, succeeding George C. Wallace.

2005

The American Cancer Society reported that cancer had passed heart disease as the top killer of Americans age 85 and younger.

2009

Russia and Ukraine signed a deal restoring natural gas shipments to Ukraine and paving the way for an end to the nearly two-week cutoff of most Russian gas to a freezing Europe.

2012

Rupert Murdoch’s media empire apologized and agreed to cash payouts to 37 people who’d been harassed and phone-hacked by its tabloid press.

2013

Thousands of gun advocates gathered peacefully at state capitals around the U.S. to rally against stricter limits on firearms. Minister Greg Griego, his wife, Sara, and three of their children were shot to death in their home near Albuquerque, N.M.; the couple’s teenage son, Nehemiah, is charged with murder. Death claimed baseball Hall-of-famers Stan Musial at age 92 and Earl Weaver at age 82..