Today in History

Today is Sunday, Jan. 18, the 18th day of 2015. There are 347 days left in the year.

Today's Highlights in History:

On Jan. 18, 1943, during World War II, Jewish insurgents in the Warsaw Ghetto launched their initial armed resistance against Nazi troops, who eventually succeeded in crushing the rebellion. A U.S. ban on the sale of pre-sliced bread -- aimed at reducing bakeries' demand for metal replacement parts -- went into effect.

On this date:

In 1778, English navigator Captain James Cook reached the present-day Hawaiian Islands, which he named the "Sandwich Islands."

In 1862, the tenth president of the United States, John Tyler, died in Richmond, Virginia, at age 71, shortly before he could take his seat as an elected member of the Confederate Congress.

In 1911, the first landing of an aircraft on a ship took place as pilot Eugene B. Ely brought his Curtiss biplane in for a safe landing on the deck of the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Harbor.

In 1919, the Paris Peace Conference, held to negotiate peace treaties ending the First World War, opened in Versailles, France.

In 1936, Nobel Prize-winning author Rudyard Kipling, 70, died in London.

In 1949, Charles Ponzi, engineer of one of the most spectacular mass swindles in history, died destitute at a hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at age 66.

In 1957, a trio of B-52's completed the first non-stop, round-the-world flight by jet planes, landing at March Air Force Base in California after more than 45 hours aloft.

In 1967, Albert DeSalvo, who claimed to be the "Boston Strangler," was convicted in Cambridge, Massachusetts, of armed robbery, assault and sex offenses. (Sentenced to life, DeSalvo was killed in prison in 1973.)

In 1975, the situation comedy "The Jeffersons," a spin-off from "All in the Family," premiered on CBS-TV.

In 1988, a China Southwest Airlines Ilyushin 18 crashed while on approach to Chongqing Airport, killing all 108 people on board.

In 1990, a jury in Los Angeles acquitted former preschool operators Raymond Buckey and his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey, of 52 child molestation charges. Washington D.C. Mayor Marion Barry was arrested in an FBI sting on drug-possession charges (he was later convicted of a misdemeanor).

In 1993, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was observed in all 50 states for the first time.

Ten years ago: Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice, at her Senate confirmation hearing, insisted the United States was fully prepared for the Iraq war and its aftermath and refused to give a timetable for U.S. troops to come home. The world's largest commercial jet, an Airbus A380 "superjumbo" capable of flying up to 800 passengers, was unveiled in Toulouse, France.

Five years ago: Taliban militants wearing explosive vests launched a brazen daylight assault on the center of Kabul with suicide bombings and gunbattles that paralyzed the Afghan capital for hours. Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who shot and seriously wounded Pope John Paul II in 1981, emerged from a prison on the outskirts of Ankara, Turkey, after more than 29 years behind bars. Crime novelist Robert B. Parker died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at age 77.

One year ago: Results showed that nearly 20 million Egyptian voters backed the country's new constitution, almost double the number of those who'd voted for one drafted in 2012 under the government of toppled Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. "American Hustle" took the Screen Actors Guild Awards' top honor for outstanding cast; Matthew McConaughey was recognized for his lead performance in "Dallas Buyers Club" while Cate Blanchett won the actress award for "Blue Jasmine."

Today's Birthdays: Movie director John Boorman is 82. Former Sen. Paul Kirk, D-Mass., is 77. Singer-songwriter Bobby Goldsboro is 74. Comedian-singer-musician Brett Hudson is 62. Actor-director Kevin Costner is 60. Country singer Mark Collie is 59. Actress Alison Arngrim (TV: "Little House on the Prairie") is 53. Actress Jane Horrocks is 51. Comedian Dave Attell is 50. Actor Jesse L. Martin is 46. Rapper DJ Quik is 45. Rock singer Jonathan Davis (Korn) is 44. Singer Christian Burns (BBMak) is 42. Former NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous is 42. Actor Derek Richardson is 39. Actor Jason Segel is 35. Actress Samantha Mumba is 32. Country singer Kristy Lee Cook (TV: "American Idol") is 31. Actress Devin Kelley (TV: "Resurrection") is 29.

Thought for Today: "Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind." -- Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936).

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