Today is Wednesday, Jan. 4, the fourth day of 2006. There are 361 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Jan. 4, 1965, President Johnson outlined the goals of his Great Society in his State of the Union Address.
On this date:
In 1821, the first native-born American saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, died in Emmitsburg, Md.
In 1896, Utah was admitted as the 45th state.
In 1904, the Supreme Court ruled that Puerto Ricans were not aliens and could enter the United States freely; however, the court stopped short of declaring them U.S. citizens.
In 1948, Britain granted independence to Burma.
In 1951, during the Korean conflict, North Korean and Communist Chinese forces captured the city of Seoul.
In 1960, French author Albert Camus died in an automobile accident at age 46.
In 1965, poet T.S. Eliot died in London at age 76.
In 1974, President Nixon refused to hand over tape recordings and documents subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
In 1987, 16 people were killed when an Amtrak train bound from Washington to Boston collided with Conrail engines approaching from a side track in Essex, Md.
In 1995, the 104th Congress convened, the first entirely under Republican control since the Eisenhower era.
Ten years ago: Bowing to pressure from NATO and the United States, Bosnian Serbs freed 16 civilians who had entered Serb-held territory after NATO forces had declared roads in Bosnia open to all.
Five years ago: It was announced that George, the politics and lifestyle magazine founded by the late John F. Kennedy Jr., would fold. Orchestra leader Les Brown, known for his “Band of Renown,” died at age 88.
One year ago: The governor of the Baghdad region known for cooperating closely with American troops, was assassinated along with six bodyguards as he drove to work. No. 1 Southern California overwhelmed No. 2 Oklahoma 55-19 in the Orange Bowl. Wade Boggs was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, and Ryne Sandberg made it with just six votes to spare on his third try.
Today’s Birthdays: Actress Jane Wyman is 92. Actress Barbara Rush is 79. Football Hall-of-Fame coach Don Shula is 76. Former heavyweight boxing champion Floyd Patterson is 71. Actress Dyan Cannon is 69. Opera singer Grace Bumbry is 69. Country singer Kathy Forester (The Forester Sisters) is 51. Actress Ann Magnuson is 50. Rock musician Bernard Sumner (New Order, Joy Division) is 50. Country singer Patty Loveless is 49. Rock singer Michael Stipe (REM) is 46. Actor Patrick Cassidy is 44. Actor Dave Foley is 43. Actress Julia Ormond is 41. Tennis player Guy Forget is 41. Country singer Deana Carter is 40. Rock musician Benjamin Darvill (Crash Test Dummies) is 39. Actor Jeremy Licht is 35. Actress-singer Jill Jones is 31.
Thought for Today: “Very few men are wise by their own counsel; or learned by their own teaching. For he that was only taught by himself, had a fool to his master.” — Ben Jonson, English dramatist and poet (1572-1637).