Today in History

Today in History

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 4, the fourth day of 2017. There are 361 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 4, 1967, "The Doors," the self-titled debut album of the rock group featuring the song "Light My Fire," was released by Elektra Records.

On this date:

In 1717, France, Britain and Holland formed a Triple Alliance against Spain.

In 1896, Utah was admitted as the 45th state.

In 1904, the Supreme Court, in Gonzalez v. Williams, ruled that Puerto Ricans were not aliens and could enter the United States freely; however, the court stopped short of declaring them U.S. citizens. (Puerto Ricans received U.S. citizenship in March 1917.)

In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his State of the Union address, called for legislation to provide assistance for the jobless, elderly, impoverished children and the handicapped.

In 1943, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin made the cover of TIME as the magazine's 1942 "Man of the Year."

In 1951, during the Korean War, North Korean and Communist Chinese forces recaptured the city of Seoul.

In 1960, author and philosopher Albert Camus died in an automobile accident in Villeblevin, France, at age 46.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered his State of the Union address in which he outlined the goals of his "Great Society."

In 1974, President Richard Nixon refused to hand over tape recordings and documents subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.

In 1987, 16 people were killed when an Amtrak train bound from Washington, D.C., to Boston collided with Conrail locomotives that had crossed into its path from a side track in Chase, Maryland.

In 1990, Charles Stuart, who claimed that he'd been wounded and his pregnant wife fatally shot by a robber, leapt to his death off a Massachusetts bridge after he himself came under suspicion.

In 1995, the 104th Congress convened, the first entirely under Republican control since the Eisenhower era.

Ten years ago: Nancy Pelosi was elected the first female speaker of the House as Democrats took control of Congress. Harriet Miers resigned as White House counsel. Vincent Sardi Jr., owner of Sardi's restaurant, the legendary Broadway watering hole, died in Berlin, Vermont, at age 91.

Five years ago: Defying Republican lawmakers, President Barack Obama barreled past the Senate by using a recess appointment to name Richard Cordray the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

One year ago: Workers returned to their offices at the San Bernardino, California campus where 14 people were killed the previous month in a terror attack carried out by a county restaurant inspector Sayed Farook and his wife. The Justice Department sued Volkswagen over emissions-cheating software found in nearly 600,000 vehicles sold in the United States.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Barbara Rush is 90. Football Hall of Fame coach Don Shula is 87. Opera singer Grace Bumbry is 80. Actress Dyan Cannon is 78. Author-historian Doris Kearns Goodwin is 74. Country singer Kathy Forester (The Forester Sisters) is 62. Actress Ann Magnuson is 61. Rock musician Bernard Sumner (New Order, Joy Division) is 61. Country singer Patty Loveless is 60. Actor Julian Sands is 59. Rock singer Michael Stipe is 57. Actor Patrick Cassidy is 55. Actor Dave Foley is 54. Actress Dot Jones is 53. Actor Rick Hearst is 52. Singer-musician Cait O'Riordan is 52. Actress Julia Ormond is 52. Tennis player Guy Forget is 52. Country singer Deana Carter is 51. Rock musician Benjamin Darvill (Crash Test Dummies) is 50. Actor Josh Stamberg is 47. Actor Jeremy Licht is 46. Actor Damon Gupton is 44. Actress-singer Jill Marie Jones is 42. Alt-country singer Justin Townes Earle is 35. Christian rock singer Spencer Chamberlain (Underoath) is 34. Actress Lenora Crichlow is 32. Comedian-actress Charlyne Yi is 31. Actress-singer Coco Jones is 19.

Thought for Today: "Sometimes history takes things into its own hands." -- Thurgood Marshall, U.S. Supreme Court justice (1908-1993).