Today is Friday, January 28th, the 28th day of 2005. There are 337 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight in history:
On January 28th, 1915, the Coast Guard was created by an act of Congress.
On this date:
In 1853, Cuban revolutionary Jose Marti was born in Havana.
In 1878, the first commercial telephone switchboard went into operation, in New Haven, Connecticut.
In 1878, the first daily college newspaper, the Yale News, began publication in New Haven, Connecticut.
In 1909, the United States ended direct control over Cuba.
In 1916, Louis D. Brandeis was appointed by President Wilson to the Supreme Court, becoming its first Jewish member.
In 1945, during World War Two, Allied supplies began reaching China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
In 1973, a cease-fire officially went into effect in the Vietnam War.
In 1980, six U.S. diplomats who had avoided being taken hostage at their embassy in Tehran flew out of Iran with the help of Canadian diplomats.
In 1982, Italian anti-terrorism forces rescued U.S. Brigadier General James L. Dozier, 42 days after he had been kidnapped by the Red Brigades.
In 1986, the space shuttle “Challenger” exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, killing all seven crew members.
Ten years ago: President Clinton was host to a 5.5 hour “work session” of governors, legislators and local officials, both Democrats and Republicans, to discuss welfare reform.
Five years ago: Sister Jeanne O’Laughlin, the Florida nun selected by Attorney General Janet Reno as a neutral party in the custody battle over Elian Gonzalez, sought unsuccessfully to persuade Reno to change her mind about returning the six-year-old to Cuba.
One year ago: British Prime Minister Tony Blair won vindication when a judge said the BBC was wrong to report the government had “sexed up” intelligence to justify war in Iraq. Former U.S. Navy commander Lloyd “Pete” Bucher, who helped his USS “Pueblo” crew survive brutal captivity in North Korea, then faced criticism back home, died in Poway, California, at age 76.
Today’s birthdays: Musician-composer Acker Bilk is 76. Actor Nicholas Pryor is 70. Actor Alan Alda is 69. Actress Susan Howard is 63. Actress Marthe Keller is 60. Actress-singer Barbi Benton is 55. Actress Harley Jane Kozak is 48. Rock musician Dave Sharp is 46. Rock singer Sam Phillips is 43. Country musician Greg Cook (Ricochet) is 40. Singer Sarah McLachlan is 37. Rapper Rakim is 37. DJ Muggs (Cypress Hill) is 37. Actress Kathryn Morris (“Cold Case”) is 36. Singer Joey Fatone Junior (’N Sync) is 28. Singer Nick Carter (Backstreet Boys) is 25. Actor Elijah Wood is 24.
Thought for today: “Success and failure are not true opposites and they’re not even in the same class; they’re not even a couch and a chair.” -- Lillian Hellman, American author and playwright (1905-1984).