Today in history

On Jan. 4, 1868, “The Moonstone” by Wilkie Collins, considered by some the first full-length English detective novel, began to be serialized in Britain and the U.S. in All the Year Round and Harper’s Weekly (it was published in book form in July 1868).

In 1904, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Gonzalez v. Williams, ruled that Puerto Ricans were not aliens and could enter the United States freely; however, the court stopped short of declaring them citizens. (Puerto Ricans received U.S. citizenship in March 1917.)

In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his State of the Union address, called for legislation to provide assistance for the jobless, elderly, impoverished children and the handicapped.

In 1943, for the second time, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin made the cover of TIME as the magazine’s 1942 “Man of the Year.”

In 1951, during the Korean War, North Korean and Communist Chinese forces recaptured the city of Seoul.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered his State of the Union address in which he outlined the goals of his “Great Society.”

In 1967, “The Doors,” the self-titled debut album of the rock group featuring the song “Light My Fire,” was released by Elektra Records.

In 1974, President Richard Nixon refused to hand over tape recordings and documents subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.

In 1995, the 104th Congress convened, the first entirely under Republican control since the Eisenhower era.

Ten years ago: The government reported that the nation’s jobless rate hit 5 percent in December 2007, a two-year high, fanning recession fears.

Five years ago: The new Congress passed a

$9.7 billion bill to help pay flood insurance claims to homeowners, renters and businesses damaged by Superstorm Sandy. No. 10 Texas A&M beat No.

12 Oklahoma, 41-13, in the Cotton Bowl.

One year ago: President Barack Obama urged congressional Democrats to “look out for the American people” in defending his legacy health care overhaul, while Vice President-elect Mike Pence stood firm in telling Republicans that dismantling “Obamacare” was No. 1 on Donald Trump’s list.