Today in History

Today in History

Today is Friday, Jan. 13, the 13th day of 2017. There are 352 days left in the year.

Today[[OpenSingle]]s Highlight in History:

On Jan. 13, 1967, the Rolling Stones[[OpenSingle]] double-A sided single [[""]]Let[[OpenSingle]]s Spend the Night Together[[""]] and [[""]]Ruby Tuesday[[""]] was released in the United Kingdom by Decca Records. (It was released the following day in the United States on the London label).

On this date:

In 1733, James Oglethorpe and some 120 English colonists arrived at Charleston, South Carolina, while en route to settle in present-day Georgia.

In 1794, President George Washington approved a measure adding two stars and two stripes to the American flag, following the admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the Union. (The number of stripes was later reduced to the original 13.)

In 1898, Emile Zola[[OpenSingle]]s famous defense of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, [[""]]J[[OpenSingle]]accuse,[[""]] (zhah-KOOZ[[OpenSingle]]) was published in Paris.

In 1915, a magnitude-7 earthquake centered in Avezzano, Italy, claimed some 30,000 lives.

In 1941, a new law went into effect granting Puerto Ricans U.S. birthright citizenship. Novelist and poet James Joyce died in Zurich, Switzerland, less than a month before his 59th birthday.

In 1962, comedian Ernie Kovacs died in a car crash in west Los Angeles 10 days before his 43rd birthday.

In 1978, former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey died in Waverly, Minnesota, at age 66.

In 1982, an Air Florida 737 crashed into Washington, D.C.[[OpenSingle]]s 14th Street Bridge and fell into the Potomac River while trying to take off during a snowstorm, killing a total of 78 people; four passengers and a flight attendant survived.

In 1987, West German police arrested Mohammed Ali Hamadi, a suspect in the 1985 hijacking of a TWA jetliner. (Although convicted and sentenced to life, Hamadi was paroled by Germany in Dec. 2005; he is on the FBI[[OpenSingle]]s Most Wanted Terrorists list.)

In 1990, L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia became the nation[[OpenSingle]]s first elected black governor as he took the oath of office in Richmond.

In 1997, seven black soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for World War II valor; the lone survivor of the group, former Lt. Vernon Baker, received his medal from President Bill Clinton at the White House.

In 2014, a shooting at a Wesley Chapel, Florida, movie theater left Chad Oulson, 43, dead; retired Tampa police captain Curtis Reeves, 71, is accused of killing Oulson during what authorities said was an argument over Oulson[[OpenSingle]]s texting.

Ten years ago: Nine people were killed in an apartment building fire in Huntington, West Virginia. Two miners were killed when a roof collapsed inside the Brooks Run Mining Co.[[OpenSingle]]s Cucumber coal mine in McDowell County, West Virginia. The North Carolina state attorney general[[OpenSingle]]s office agreed to take over the sexual assault case against three Duke University lacrosse players at the request of embattled Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong (all three players were later exonerated).

Five years ago: The Italian luxury liner Costa Concordia ran aground off the Tuscan island of Giglio and flipped onto its side; 32 people were killed. Myanmar freed some of its most famous political prisoners, sparking jubilation among their supporters. Veteran TV newsman Richard Threlkeld, 74, was killed in a car crash on Long Island, New York.

One year ago: Less than a day after 10 U.S. Navy sailors were detained in Iran when their boats drifted into Iranian waters, they and their vessels were back safely with the American fleet. Defense Secretary Ash Carter laid out broad plans to defeat Islamic State militants and retake the group[[OpenSingle]]s key power centers in Iraq and Syria. The Al Jazeera America cable news network said it was shutting down two and a half years after its launch. Three winning tickets split a world-record $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot.

Today[[OpenSingle]]s Birthdays: Actress Frances Sternhagen is 87. TV personality Nick Clooney is 83. Comedian Rip Taylor is 83. Comedian Charlie Brill is 79. Actor Billy Gray is 79. Actor Richard Moll is 74. Rock musician Trevor Rabin is 63. Rhythm-and-blues musician Fred White is 62. Rock musician James Lomenzo (Megadeth) is 58. Actor Kevin Anderson is 57. Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus is 56. Rock singer Graham [[""]]Suggs[[""]] McPherson (Madness) is 56. Country singer Trace Adkins is 55. Actress Penelope Ann Miller is 53. Actor Patrick Dempsey is 51. Actress Traci Bingham is 49. Actor Keith Coogan is 47. TV producer-writer Shonda Rhimes is 47. Actress Nicole Eggert is 45. Actor Ross McCall is 41. Actor Michael Pena is 41. Actor Orlando Bloom is 40. Meteorologist Ginger Zee (TV: [[""]]Good Morning America[[""]]) is 36. Actress Ruth Wilson is 35. Actor Julian Morris is 34. Actor Liam Hemsworth is 27.

Thought for Today: [[""]]Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.[[""]] -- Leo Buscaglia, American author (1924-1998).