Today in history
Today is Thursday, Jan. 19, the 19th day of 2023. There are 346 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
In 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. (By coincidence, Ball gave birth the same day to her son, Desi Arnaz Jr.)
On this date:
In 1853, Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Il Trovatore” premiered in Rome.
In 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.
In 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.
In 1944, the federal government relinquished control of the nation’s railroads to their owners following settlement of a wage dispute.
In 1966, Indira Gandhi was chosen to be prime minister of India by the National Congress party.
In 1987, Guy Hunt became Alabama’s first Republican governor since 1874 as he was sworn into office, succeeding George C. Wallace.
In 2005, the American Cancer Society reported that cancer had passed heart disease as the top killer of Americans age 85 and younger.
In 2009, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal restoring natural gas shipments to Ukraine and paving the way for an end to the nearly twoweek cutoff of most Russian gas to a freezing Europe.
In 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.
Ten years ago: 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.