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Today in History - Jan. 23

Celebrity birthdays, highlights in history, plus more facts about this day
/ Source: The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday, Jan. 23, the 23rd day of 2007. There are 342 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Jan. 23, 1968, North Korea seized the U.S. Navy ship Pueblo, charging its crew with being on a spying mission. (The crew was released 11 months later.)

On this date:

In 1789, Georgetown University was established in present-day Washington, D.C.

In 1845, Congress decided all national elections would be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

In 1932, New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In 1943, critic Alexander Woollcott suffered a fatal heart attack during a live broadcast of the CBS radio program “People’s Platform.”

In 1950, the Israeli Knesset approved a resolution proclaiming Jerusalem the capital of Israel.

In 1964, the 24th amendment to the Constitution, eliminating the poll tax in federal elections, was ratified.

In 1973, President Nixon announced an accord had been reached to end the Vietnam War.

In 1977, the TV miniseries “Roots,” based on the Alex Haley novel, began airing on ABC.

In 1989, surrealist artist Salvador Dali died in his native Spain at age 84.

In 2005, former “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson died in Malibu, Calif., at age 79.

Ten years ago: A panel of experts gathered by the National Cancer Institute concluded that “each woman should decide for herself” whether to start having mammograms as early as her 40s — a recommendation that outraged the American Cancer Society.

Five years ago: President Bush proposed the biggest defense spending increase in 20 years. Kenneth Lay stepped down as chairman and chief executive of Enron Corp. Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was abducted in Karachi, Pakistan, by a group demanding the return of prisoners from the Afghan campaign; he was later murdered. John Walker Lindh, a U.S.-born Taliban fighter, was returned to the United States to face criminal charges that he’d conspired to kill fellow Americans.

One year ago: Ford Motor Co. said it would cut up to 30,000 jobs and idle 14 facilities in North America by 2012. A U.S. military jury at Fort Carson, Colo., ordered a reprimand, but no jail time, for an Army interrogator convicted of killing an Iraqi general. Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party won Canada’s national elections, ending 13 years of Liberal rule.

Today’s Birthdays: Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J., is 83. Actress Jeanne Moreau is 79. Actress Chita Rivera is 74. Actor-director Lou Antonio is 73. Actor Gil Gerard is 64. Actor Rutger Hauer is 63. Rhythm-and-blues singer Jerry Lawson (The Persuasions) is 63. Sen. Thomas R. Carper, D-Del., is 60. Singer Anita Pointer is 59. Actor Richard Dean Anderson is 57. Rock musician Bill Cunningham is 57. Rock singer-musician Patrick Simmons (The Doobie Brothers) is 57. Rock musician Danny Federici (Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band) is 57. Rock singer Robin Zander (Cheap Trick) is 54. Princess Caroline of Monaco is 50. Singer Anita Baker is 49. Reggae musician Earl Falconer (UB40) is

48. Actress Gail O’Grady is 44. Actress Mariska Hargitay is 43. Rhythm-and-blues singer Marc Nelson is 36. Actress Tiffani Thiessen is 33.

Thought for Today: “The trouble is that hardly anybody in America goes to bed angry at night.” — George J. Stigler, American economist (1911-1991).