Today in History

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 21, the 21st day of 2015. There are 344 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 21, 1915, the first Kiwanis Club, dedicated to community service, was founded in Detroit.

On this date:

In 1793, during the French Revolution, King Louis XVI, condemned for treason, was executed on the guillotine.

In 1861, Jefferson Davis of Mississippi and four other Southerners whose states had seceded from the Union resigned from the U.S. Senate.

In 1908, New York City's Board of Aldermen passed an ordinance prohibiting women from smoking in public establishments (the measure was vetoed by Mayor George B. McClellan Jr., but not before one woman, Katie Mulcahey, was jailed overnight for refusing to pay a fine).

In 1910, the Great Paris Flood began as the rain-swollen Seine River burst its banks, sending water into the French capital.

In 1924, Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin died at age 53.

In 1937, Count Basie and his band recorded "One O'Clock Jump" for Decca Records (on this date in 1942, they re-recorded the song for Okeh Records).

In 1954, the first atomic submarine, the USS Nautilus, was launched at Groton, Connecticut (however, the Nautilus did not make its first nuclear-powered run until nearly a year later).

In 1968, the Battle of Khe Sanh began during the Vietnam War. An American B-52 bomber carrying four hydrogen bombs crashed in Greenland, killing one crew member and scattering radioactive material.

In 1975, female reporters entered a National Hockey League locker room for post-game interviews for the first time. Robin Herman of The New York Times and Canadian radio reporter Marcel St. Cyr were allowed to talk to players following the NHL All-Star Game in Montreal in which the Wales Conference defeated the Campbell Conference 7-1.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter pardoned almost all Vietnam War draft evaders.

In 1982, convict-turned-author Jack Henry Abbott was found guilty in New York of first-degree manslaughter in the stabbing death of waiter Richard Adan in 1981. (Abbott was later sentenced to 15 years to life in prison; he committed suicide in 2002.)

In 1994, a jury in Manassas, Virginia, found Lorena Bobbitt not guilty by reason of temporary insanity of maliciously wounding her husband John, whom she'd accused of sexually assaulting her.

Ten years ago: A car bomb outside a Shiite mosque in Baghdad killed at least 14 people; a suicide bombing at a Shiite wedding south of the capital killed at least seven people. The body of Megan LeAnn Holden, a college student whose abduction was captured on a surveillance videotape as she was leaving her clerk's job at a Wal-Mart, was found in western Texas. (Johnny Lee Williams Jr. later pleaded guilty to capital murder and was sentenced to life in prison.)

Five years ago: A bitterly divided U.S. Supreme Court, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, vastly increased the power of big business and labor unions to influence government decisions by freeing them to spend their millions directly to sway elections for president and Congress. Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards finally admitted fathering a daughter during an affair before his second White House bid. Toyota recalled 2.3 million U.S. vehicles to fix accelerator pedals.

One year ago: Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, once viewed as a rising star in the GOP, and his wife, Maureen, were indicted on federal corruption charges; the couple denied wrongdoing. (A jury in Sept. 2014 convicted the McDonnells of doing favors for former Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams in exchange for more than $165,000 in low-interest loans and gifts.)

Today's Birthdays: Actress Ann Wedgeworth is 81. World Golf Hall of Famer Jack Nicklaus is 75. Opera singer-conductor Placido Domingo is 74. Singer Mac Davis is 73. Actress Jill Eikenberry is 68. Country musician Jim Ibbotson (The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) is 68. Singer-songwriter Billy Ocean is 65. Former U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke is 65. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is 64. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is 62. Actor-director Robby Benson is 59. Actress Geena Davis is 59. Basketball Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon is 52. Actress Charlotte Ross is 47. Actor John Ducey is 46. Actress Karina Lombard is 46. Rapper Levirt (B-Rock and the Bizz) is 45. Rock musician Mark Trojanowski (Sister Hazel) is 45. Rock singer-songwriter Cat Power is 43. Rock DJ Chris Kilmore (Incubus) is 42. Actor Vincent Laresca is 41. Singer Emma Bunton (Spice Girls) is 39. Actor Jerry Trainor is 38. Country singer Phil Stacey is 37. Rhythm-and-blues singer Nokio (Dru Hill) is 36. Actress Izabella Miko is 34.

Thought for Today: "The road to ruin is always in good repair, and the travellers pay the expense of it." -- Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw), American humorist (1818-1885).

Copyright 2015, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.