Today is Tuesday, Jan. 3, the third day of 2006. There are 362 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Jan. 3, 1777, Gen. George Washington’s army routed the British in the Battle of Princeton, N.J.
On this date:
In 1521, Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1868, the Meiji Restoration re-established the authority of Japan’s emperor and heralded the fall of the military rulers known as “shoguns.”
In 1938, the March of Dimes campaign to fight polio was organized.
In 1947, congressional proceedings were televised for the first time as viewers in Washington, Philadelphia and New York got to see some of the opening ceremonies of the 80th Congress.
In 1959, President Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Alaska to the Union as the 49th state.
In 1961, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba.
In 1967, Jack Ruby, the man who shot accused presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, died in a Dallas hospital.
In 1990, ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces, 10 days after taking refuge in the Vatican’s diplomatic mission.
In 1993, President Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a historic nuclear missile-reduction treaty in Moscow.
In 2000, the last new daily “Peanuts” strip by Charles Schulz ran in 2,600 newspapers.
Ten years ago: As a partial government shutdown spilled into its record 19th day, stubborn House Republicans rebuffed a Senate bill that would have immediately returned idled federal workers to their jobs.
Five years ago: The 107th Congress opened with the Senate split evenly down the middle. Eleven people died in a house fire in Delaware. Oklahoma defeated Florida State, 13-2, to win the Orange Bowl and capture college football’s Bowl Championship Series title game.
One year ago: President Bush tapped his father, former President Bush, and former President Clinton to help raise tsunami relief funds. The third-ranked Auburn Tigers limped to a 16-13 victory over No. 9 Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. Will Eisner, the artist who revolutionized comic books and helped pioneer the graphic novel, died in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., at age 87.
Today’s Birthdays: Record producer Sir George Martin is 80. Actor Robert Loggia is 76. Actor Dabney Coleman is 74. Journalist-author Betty Rollin is 70. Hockey Hall-of-Famer Bobby Hull is 67. Singer-songwriter-producer Van Dyke Parks is 63. Musician Stephen Stills is 61. Rock musician John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) is 60. Actress Victoria Principal is 56. Actor-director Mel Gibson is 50. Actress Shannon Sturges is 38. Jazz musician James Carter is 37. Contemporary Christian singer Nichole Nordeman is 34. Actor Jason Marsden is 31. Actress Danica McKellar is 31. Actor Nicholas Gonzalez is 30. Singer Kimberley Locke (“American Idol”) is 28. Actor Alex D. Linz is 17.
Thought for Today: “To have reason to get up in the morning, it is necessary to possess a guiding principle. A belief of some kind. A bumper sticker, if you will.” — Judith Guest, American author.