Today in History

Today in History

Today is Saturday, Jan. 30, the 30th day of 2016. There are 336 days left in the year.

Today's Highlights in History:

On Jan. 30, 1945, during World War II, more than 500 Allied captives held at the Japanese prison camp in Cabanatuan in the Philippines were liberated by U.S. Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts and Filipino guerrilla fighters. Adolf Hitler marked the 12th anniversary of his appointment as Germany's chancellor with his last public speech in which he called on Germans to keep resisting until victory.

On this date:

In 1615, Thomas Rolfe, the only child of John Rolfe and his wife, Rebecca (the former Pocahontas), was born in Jamestown in the Virginia Colony.

In 1649, England's King Charles I was executed for treason.

In 1815, the U.S. House of Representatives joined the Senate in agreeing to purchase the personal book collection of former President Thomas Jefferson to replace volumes lost when the British burned the U.S. Capitol and its congressional library during the War of 1812.

In 1882, the 32nd president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was born in Hyde Park, New York.

In 1911, James White, an intellectually disabled black man who'd been convicted of rape for having sex with a 14-year-old white girl when he was 16, was publicly hanged in Bell County, Kentucky.

In 1933, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. The first episode of the "Lone Ranger" radio program was broadcast on station WXYZ in Detroit.

In 1948, Indian political and spiritual leader Mohandas K. Gandhi, 78, was shot and killed in New Delhi by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist. (Godse and a co-conspirator were later executed.) Aviation pioneer Orville Wright, 76, died in Dayton, Ohio.

In 1962, two members of "The Flying Wallendas" high-wire act were killed when their seven-person pyramid collapsed during a performance at the State Fair Coliseum in Detroit.

In 1968, the Tet Offensive began during the Vietnam War as Communist forces launched surprise attacks against South Vietnamese provincial capitals.

In 1969, The Beatles staged an impromptu concert atop Apple headquarters in London; it was the group's last public performance.

In 1972, 13 Roman Catholic civil rights marchers were shot to death by British soldiers in Northern Ireland on what became known as "Bloody Sunday."

In 1981, an estimated 2 million New Yorkers turned out for a ticker-tape parade honoring the freed American hostages from Iran.

In 2005, Iraqis voted in their country's first free election in a half-century; President George W. Bush called the balloting a resounding success. The downing of a C-130 military transport plane north of Baghdad killed all 10 British servicemen on board; the militant group Ansar al-Islam claimed responsibility. In Northern Ireland, Robert McCartney, 33, was fatally stabbed in a fight at a Belfast pub by members of the Irish Republican Army. Marat Safin defeated Lleyton Hewitt 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to win the Australian Open.

Ten years ago: Coretta Scott King, widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., died in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, at age 78. Exxon Mobil posted then-record profits for any U.S. company: $10.71 billion for the fourth quarter of 2005 and $36.13 billion for the year. Video aired by Al-Jazeera showed American journalist Jill Carroll, kidnapped while in Iraq, wearing an Islamic veil and weeping (she was released on March 30, 2006) Jennifer San Marco, an ex-postal worker, killed a former neighbor in Santa Barbara, California, before opening fire at a mail processing plant in Goleta, killing six people before committing suicide. Award-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein died in New York City at age 55.

Five years ago: Egypt's most prominent democracy advocate, Mohamed ElBaradei (ehl-BEHR'-uh-day), called for President Hosni Mubarak to resign during an address to thousands of protesters in Cairo who were defying a curfew for a third night. Rachid Ghanouchi, leader of the long-outlawed Tunisian Islamist party, returned home after two decades in exile. MVP DeAngelo Hall had one of his team's five interceptions and returned a fumble 34 yards for a touchdown to help the NFC match a Pro Bowl scoring record in a 55-41 victory over the AFC. Novak Djokovic won his second Australian Open title, breezing past Andy Murray 6-4, 6-2, 6-3. Ryan Bradley won his first title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

One year ago: Mitt Romney announced that he had put "considerable thought into making another run for president," but in the end, he decided to give other leaders in the Republican party a chance. Death Row Records co-founder Marion "Suge" Knight was arrested on suspicion of hitting and killing a man with his truck and fleeing the scene of the crash near Los Angeles. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that even if no competitive advantage was gained, the New England Patriots could face penalties if a league investigation found they violated rules by deflating footballs in the AFC championship game. Speaking to reporters two days before the Patriots would face Seattle in the Super Bowl, Goodell declared that the NFL is "a league of rules."

Today's Birthdays: Actress Dorothy Malone is 91. Producer-director Harold Prince is 88. Actor Gene Hackman is 86. Actress Tammy Grimes is 82. Actress Vanessa Redgrave is 79. Chess grandmaster Boris Spassky is 79. Country singer Jeanne Pruett is 79. Country singer Norma Jean is 78. Former Vice President Dick Cheney is 75. Rock singer Marty Balin is 74. Rhythm-and-blues musician William King (The Commodores) is 67. Singer Phil Collins is 65. Actor Charles S. Dutton is 65. World Golf Hall of Famer Curtis Strange is 61. Actress-comedian Brett Butler is 58. Singer Jody Watley is 57. Actor-filmmaker Dexter Scott King is 55. The King of Jordan, Abdullah II, is 54. Actor Norbert Leo Butz is 49. Country singer Tammy Cochran is 44. Actor Christian Bale is 42. Rock musician Carl Broemel (My Morning Jacket) is 42. Actress-singer Lena Hall is 36. Pop-country singer-songwriter Josh Kelley is 36. Actor Wilmer Valderrama is 36. Actor Jake Thomas is 26. Actress Danielle Campbell is 21.

Thought for Today: "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death." -- Harold Wilson, British prime minister (1916-1995).