Today is Wednesday, Jan. 25, the 25th day of 2006. There are 340 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
Twenty-five years ago, on Jan. 25, 1981, the 52 Americans held hostage by Iran for 444 days arrived in the United States.
On this date:
In 1787, Shays’s Rebellion suffered a setback when debt-ridden farmers led by Captain Daniel Shays failed to capture an arsenal at Springfield, Mass.
In 1890, reporter Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) of the New York World completed a round-the-world journey in 72 days, six hours and 11 minutes.
In 1890, the United Mine Workers of America was founded.
In 1915, the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, inaugurated U.S. transcontinental telephone service.
In 1946, the United Mine Workers rejoined the American Federation of Labor.
In 1947, American gangster Al Capone died in Miami Beach, Fla., at age 48.
In 1959, American Airlines opened the jet age in the United States with the first scheduled transcontinental flight of a Boeing 707.
In 1961, President Kennedy held the first presidential news conference carried live on radio and television.
In 1971, Charles Manson and three women followers were convicted in Los Angeles of murder and conspiracy in the 1969 slayings of seven people, including actress Sharon Tate.
In 1990, actress Ava Gardner died in London at age 67.
Ten years ago: With Republicans bruised by two government shutdowns, the House overwhelmingly approved legislation to keep federal agencies running through March 15, 1996.
Five years ago: A jury in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., found 13-year-old Lionel Tate guilty of first-degree murder in the death of a 6-year-old family friend (Tate had said he accidentally killed the girl while imitating moves by pro wrestlers).
One year ago: A videotape showed Roy Hallums, an American kidnapped in Baghdad the previous November, pleading for his life. (Hallums was rescued by coalition troops on Sept. 7, 2005.) A stampede during a Hindu festival in western India killed at least 258 people. Architect Philip Johnson died in New Canaan, Conn., at age 98.
Today’s Birthdays: Journalist-author Edwin Newman is 87. The former president of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze, is 78. Actor Dean Jones is 75. The former president of the Philippines, Corazon Aquino, is 73. Blues singer Etta James is 68. Movie director Tobe Hooper is 63. Actress Leigh Taylor-Young is 62. Actress Jenifer Lewis is 49. Actress Dinah Manoff is 48. Country musician Mike Burch (River Road) is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kina is 37. Actress China Kantner is 35. Musician Matt Odmark (Jars of Clay) is 32. Actress Mia Kirshner is 31. Rhythm-and-blues singer Alicia Keys is 25.
Thought for Today: “Love must be learned, and learned again and again; there is no end to it. Hate needs no instruction, but wants only to be provoked.” — Katherine Anne Porter, American author (1894-1980).