Today is Tuesday, Jan. 17, the 17th day of 2006. There are 348 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
Three hundred years ago, on Jan. 17, 1706, statesman, inventor and editor Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston.
On this date:
In 1806, Thomas Jefferson’s daughter, Martha, gave birth to James Madison Randolph, the first child born in the White House.
In 1893, the 19th president of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes, died in Fremont, Ohio, at age 70.
In 1893, Hawaii’s monarchy was overthrown as a group of businessmen and sugar planters forced Queen Liliuokalani to abdicate.
In 1945, Soviet and Polish forces liberated Warsaw during World War II.
In 1945, Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, credited with saving tens of thousands of Jews, disappeared in Hungary while in Soviet custody.
In 1961, in his farewell address, President Eisenhower warned against the rise of “the military-industrial complex.”
In 1966, a U.S. Air Force B-52 carrying four unarmed hydrogen bombs crashed on the Spanish coast. (Three of the bombs were quickly recovered, but the fourth wasn’t found until April.)
In 1991, in the first day of Operation Desert Storm, U.S.-led forces hammered Iraqi targets in an effort to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.
In 1994, a 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck Southern California, killing at least 61 people and causing $20 billion worth of damage.
In 1995, more than 6,000 people were killed when an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 devastated the city of Kobe, Japan.
Ten years ago: Russian forces unleashed a scorching barrage of rockets on Chechen rebels in Pervomayskaya. Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and nine followers were handed long prison sentences for plotting to blow up New York-area landmarks. Former U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan died in Austin, Texas, at age 59.
Five years ago: Faced with an electricity crisis, California used rolling blackouts to cut off power to hundreds of thousands of people. Gov. Gray Davis signed an emergency order authorizing the state to buy power.
One year ago: Iraqi expatriates in 14 countries began registering to vote in Iraq’s Jan. 30 elections. Zhao Ziyang, who was ousted as China’s Communist Party leader after sympathizing with the 1989 pro-democracy protests, died in Beijing at age 85 after 15 years under house arrest. Actress Virginia Mayo died in Thousand Oaks, Calif., at age 84.
Today’s Birthdays: Actress Betty White is 84. Ballerina-actress Moira, Lady Kennedy (Moira Shearer) is 80. Singer-actress Eartha Kitt is 79. Actor James Earl Jones is 75. Talk show host Maury Povich is 67. Former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali is 64. Rhythm-and-blues singer William Hart (The Delfonics) is 61. Rock musician Mick Taylor is 58. Rhythm-and-blues singer Sheila Hutchinson (The Emotions) is 53. Singer Steve Earle is 51. Singer Paul Young is 50. Actor-comedian Steve Harvey is 49. Singer Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles) is 47. Actor-comedian Jim Carrey is 44. Actor Joshua Malina is 40. Singer Shabba Ranks is 40. Actor Naveen Andrews is 37. Rapper Kid Rock is 35. Actor Freddy Rodriguez is 31. Actress Zooey Deschanel is 26. Singer Ray J is 25. Country singer Amanda Wilkinson is 24.
Thought for Today: “He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.” — Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790).