Today in History

Today is Friday, Jan. 6, the sixth day of 2012. There are 360 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 6, 1912, New Mexico became the 47th state.

On this date:

In 1412, tradition holds that Joan of Arc was born this day in Domremy.

In 1540, England's King Henry VIII married his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. (The marriage lasted about six months.)

In 1759, George Washington and Martha Dandridge Custis were married in New Kent County, Va.

In 1838, Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail gave the first successful public demonstration of their telegraph, in Morristown, N.J.

In 1912, entertainer and philanthropist Danny Thomas was born in Deerfield, Mich.

In 1919, the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, died in Oyster Bay, N.Y., at age 60.

In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his State of the Union address, outlined a goal of "Four Freedoms": Freedom of speech and expression; the freedom of people to worship God in their own way; freedom from want; freedom from fear.

In 1942, the Pan American Airways Pacific Clipper, a flying boat built by Boeing, arrived in New York more than a month after leaving California and following a westward route.

In 1950, Britain recognized the Communist government of China.

In 1967, U.S. Marines and South Vietnamese troops launched Operation Deckhouse Five, an offensive in the Mekong River delta.

In 1982, truck driver William G. Bonin was convicted in Los Angeles of 10 of the "Freeway Killer" slayings of young men and boys. (Bonin was later convicted of four other killings; he was executed in 1996.)

In 1994, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the leg by an assailant at Detroit's Cobo Arena; four men, including the ex-husband of Kerrigan's rival, Tonya Harding, went to prison for their roles in the attack. (Harding, who denied knowing about plans for the attack, received probation after pleading guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution.)

Ten years ago: Argentina announced the devaluation of its peso, ending a decade-long policy pegging the currency one-to-one with the U.S. dollar. (In the year that followed, the peso lost 70 percent of its value against the dollar.)

Five years ago: At a Baptist church in Fort Worth, Texas, the Denver Broncos filed past the open casket of Darrent Williams, the promising cornerback who had been gunned down in a drive-by shooting on New Year's Day. A large avalanche pushed two cars off the heavily traveled road at Berthoud Pass in Colorado, but no deaths resulted.

One year ago: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced he would cut $78 billion from the Defense Department budget over the next five years, an effort to trim fat in light of the nation's ballooning deficit. Vang Pao, a revered former general in the Royal Army of Laos who'd led thousands of Hmong guerrillas in a CIA-backed secret army in the Vietnam War, died in Clovis, Calif., at age 81.

Today's Birthdays: Pollster Louis Harris is 91. Bluegrass performer Earl Scruggs is 88. Retired MLB All-Star Ralph Branca is 86. Author E.L. Doctorow is 81. Actress Bonnie Franklin is 68. Country musician Joey, the CowPolka King (Riders in the Sky) is 63. Former FBI director Louis Freeh is 62. Rock singer-musician Kim Wilson (The Fabulous Thunderbirds) is 61. Singer Jett Williams is 59. Rock musician Malcolm Young (AC-DC) is 59. Actor-comedian Rowan Atkinson is 57. World Golf Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez is 55. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kathy Sledge is 53. TV chef Nigella Lawson is 52. Rhythm-and-blues singer Eric Williams (BLACKstreet) is 52. Movie composer A.R. Rahman (Film: "Slumdog Millionaire") is 46. Movie director John Singleton is 44. TV personality Julie Chen is 42. Actor Danny Pintauro ("Who's the Boss?") is 36. Actress Rinko Kikuchi (Film: "Babel") is 31. NBA player Gilbert Arenas is 30. Rock singer Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) is 26.

Thought for Today: "A little learning is not a dangerous thing to one who does not mistake it for a great deal." -- William Allen White, American newspaper editor (1868-1944).

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.