Today in History
Today is Monday, Jan. 8, the eighth day of 2024. There are 358 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Jan. 8, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson, in his State of the Union address, declared an “unconditional war on poverty in America.”
On this date:
In 1815, the last major engagement of the War of 1812 came to an end as U.S. forces defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans, not having received word of the signing of a peace treaty.
In 1867, the U.S. House of Representatives joined the Senate in overriding President Andrew Johnson’s veto of the District of Columbia Suffrage Bill, giving Black men in the nation’s capital the right to vote.
In 1912, the African National Congress was founded in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson outlined his Fourteen Points for lasting peace after World War I. Mississippi became the first state to ratify the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which established Prohibition.
In 1935, rock-and-roll legend Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi.
In 1982, American Telephone and Telegraph settled the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against it by agreeing to divest itself of the 22 Bell System companies.
In 1994, Tonya Harding won the ladies’ U.S. Figure Skating Championship in Detroit, a day after Nancy Kerrigan dropped out because of the clubbing attack that had injured her right knee. (The U.S. Figure Skating Association later stripped Harding of the title.)
In 1998, Ramzi Yousef (RAHM’-zee YOO’-sef), the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was sentenced in New York to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In 2008, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton powered to victory in New Hampshire’s 2008 Democratic primary in a startling upset, defeating Sen. Barack Obama and resurrecting her bid for the White House; Sen. John McCain defeated his Republican rivals to move back into contention for the GOP nomination.
In 2011, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was shot and critically wounded when a gunman opened fire as the congresswoman met with constituents in Tucson; six people were killed, 12 others were injured. (Gunman Jared Lee Loughner (LAWF’-nur) was sentenced in Nov. 2012 to seven consecutive life sentences, plus 140 years.)
In 2016, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the world’s most-wanted drug lord, was captured for a third time in a daring raid by Mexican marines, six months after walking through a tunnel to freedom from a maximum security prison.
In 2018, Alabama beat Georgia in overtime, 26-23, to claim the College Football Playoff national championship after freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (tag-oh-vay-LOH’-ah) came off the bench to spark a comeback.
In 2020, Iran struck back at the United States for killing Iran’s top military commander, firing missiles at two Iraqi military bases housing American troops; more than 100 U.S. service members were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries after the attack. As Iran braced for a counterattack, the country’s Revolutionary Guard shot down a Ukrainian jetliner after apparently mistaking it for a missile; all 176 people on board were killed, including 82 Iranians and more than 50 Canadians.
In 2022, NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope opened its huge mirror, the final step in the unfurling of the observatory, which had already traveled more than 660,000 miles since its Christmas Day launch.
In 2023, supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who refused to accept his election defeat stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace in the capital, a week after the inauguration of his leftist rival, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Today’s birthdays: Former CBS newsman Charles Osgood is 91. Singer Shirley Bassey is 87. Game show host Bob Eubanks is 86. Country-gospel singer Cristy Lane is 84. R&B singer Jerome Anthony Gourdine (Little Anthony and the Imperials) is 83. Singer Juanita Cowart Motley (The Marvelettes) is 80. Actor Kathleen Noone is 79. Rock musician Robby Krieger (The Doors) is 78. Movie director John McTiernan is 73. Actor Harriet Sansom Harris is 69. Actor Ron Cephas Jones is 67. Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is 66. Singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith is 60. Actor Michelle Forbes is 59. Actor Maria Pitillo (pih-TIHL’-loh) is 58. Actor/producer Ami Dolenz is 55. Reggae singer Sean Paul is 51. Actor Donnell Turner (“General Hospital”) is 51. Country singer Tift Merritt is 49. Actor-rock singer Jenny Lewis is 48. Actor Amber Benson is 47. Actor Scott Whyte is 46. Singer-songwriter Erin McCarley is 45. Actor Sarah Polley is 45. Actor Gaby (GAB’-ee) Hoffman is 42. Rock musician Disashi Lumumba-Kasongo (dih-SAH’-shee LUHM’-uhm-boh kuh-SAHN’-goh) (Gym Class Heroes) is 41. Actor Cynthia Erivo is 37. Actor Freddie Stroma is 37.
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