Today in History

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 29, the 29th day of 2014. There are 336 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 29, 1964, Stanley Kubrick's nuclear war satire "Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb," starring Peter Sellers (in three roles) and George C. Scott, premiered in New York, Toronto and London.

On this date:

In 1820, Britain's King George III died at Windsor Castle.

In 1843, the 25th president of the United States, William McKinley, was born in Niles, Ohio.

In 1845, Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" was first published in the New York Evening Mirror.

In 1861, Kansas became the 34th state of the Union.

In 1919, the ratification of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which launched Prohibition, was certified by Acting Secretary of State Frank L. Polk.

In 1929, The Seeing Eye, a New Jersey-based school which trains guide dogs to assist the blind, was incorporated by Dorothy Harrison Eustis and Morris Frank.

In 1936, the first inductees of baseball's Hall of Fame, including Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, were named in Cooperstown, N.Y.

In 1958, actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were married in Las Vegas.

In 1963, the first charter members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame were named in Canton, Ohio (they were enshrined when the Hall opened in Sept. 1963). Poet Robert Frost died in Boston at age 88.

In 1964, the Winter Olympic Games opened in Innsbruck, Austria. Actor Alan Ladd died in Palm Springs, Calif., at age 50.

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter formally welcomed Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping to the White House, following the establishment of diplomatic relations.

In 1998, a bomb rocked an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Ala., killing security guard Robert Sanderson and critically injuring nurse Emily Lyons. (The bomber, Eric Rudolph, was captured in May 2003 and is serving a life sentence.)

Ten years ago: An accidental explosion at a weapons cache near the Afghan village of Dehe Hendu killed eight U.S. soldiers. A suicide bomber struck a bus in Jerusalem, killing ten Israelis. In a prisoner exchange, Israel freed 400 Palestinians and about 30 other Arabs while Hezbollah released a kidnapped Israeli businessman and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers. British author M.M. Kaye died in Lavenham, England, at age 95.

Five years ago: Declaring that ending pay disparity is not just a women's issue, President Barack Obama signed The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, giving workers more time to take their pay discrimination cases to court. The Illinois Senate voted, 59-0, to convict Gov. Rod Blagojevich of abuse of power and throw him out of office nearly two months after the second-term Democrat's arrest on charges of trying to sell Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat.

One year ago: BP PLC closed the book on the Justice Department's criminal probe of its role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster and Gulf of Mexico oil spill, with a U.S. judge agreeing to let the London-based oil giant plead guilty to manslaughter charges for the deaths of 11 rig workers and pay a record $4 billion in penalties. The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed President Barack Obama's choice of five-term Sen. John Kerry to be secretary of state, 94-3. (Kerry voted present.) A hostage crisis began in Midland City, Ala., as retired truck driver Jimmy Lee Dykes kidnapped 5-year-old Ethan Gilman off a school bus after killing the driver, Charles Poland; Dykes held the boy inside an underground bunker for six days until authorities moved in, killing Dykes and rescuing the child.

Today's Birthdays: Feminist author Germaine Greer is 75. Actress Katharine Ross is 74. Feminist author Robin Morgan is 73. Actor Tom Selleck is 69. Rhythm-and-blues singer Bettye LaVette is 68. Actor Marc Singer is 66. Actress Ann Jillian is 64. Rock musician Tommy Ramone (Ramones) is 62. Rock musician Louie Perez (Los Lobos) is 61. Rhythm-and-blues/funk singer Charlie Wilson is 61. Talk show host Oprah Winfrey is 60. Country singer Irlene Mandrell is 58. Actress Diane Delano is 57. Actress Judy Norton Taylor (TV: "The Waltons") is 56. Rock musician Johnny Spampinato is 55. Olympic gold-medal diver Greg Louganis is 54. Rock musician David Baynton-Power (James) is 53. Rock musician Eddie Jackson (Queensryche) is 53. Actor Nicholas Turturro is 52. Rock singer-musician Roddy Frame (Aztec Camera) is 50. Actor-director Edward Burns is 46. Actress Heather Graham is 44. U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is 44. Actor Sharif Atkins is 39. Actress Sara Gilbert is 39. Actor Justin Hartley is 37. Actor Sam Jaeger is 37. Actor Andrew Keegan is 35. Actor Jason James Richter is 34. Blues musician Jonny Lang is 33. Pop-rock singer Adam Lambert (TV: "American Idol") is 32.

Thought for Today: "Any idiot can face a crisis -- it's this day-to-day living that wears you out." -- Anton Chekhov, Russian author and playwright (born this date in 1860, died in 1904).

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