Today in History

Today in History

Today is Friday, Jan. 5, the fifth day of 2018. There are 360 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 5, 1953, Samuel Beckett's two-act tragicomedy "Waiting for Godot," considered a classic of the Theater of the Absurd, premiered in Paris.

On this date:

In 1066, Edward the Confessor, King of England, died after a reign of nearly 24 years.

In 1781, a British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold burned Richmond, Virginia.

In 1895, French Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, convicted of treason, was publicly stripped of his rank. (He was ultimately vindicated.)

In 1905, the National Association of Audubon Societies for the Protection of Wild Birds and Animals was incorporated in New York State.

In 1925, Democrat Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming took office as America's first female governor, succeeding her late husband, William, following a special election.

In 1933, the 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, died in Northampton, Massachusetts, at age 60. Construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge. (Work was completed four years later.)

In 1943, educator and scientist George Washington Carver died in Tuskegee, Alabama, at about age 80.

In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed assistance to countries to help them resist Communist aggression in what became known as the Eisenhower Doctrine.

In 1964, during a visit to the Holy Land, Pope Paul VI met with Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople in Jerusalem.

In 1970, Joseph A. Yablonski, an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the United Mine Workers of America, was found murdered with his wife and daughter at their Clarksville, Pennsylvania, home. (UMWA President Tony Boyle and seven others were convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, the killings.) "All My Children" premiered on ABC-TV.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan announced he was nominating Elizabeth Dole to succeed Drew Lewis as secretary of transportation; Dole became the first woman to head a Cabinet department in Reagan's administration, and the first to head the DOT.

In 1998, Sonny Bono, the 1960s pop star-turned-politician, was killed when he struck a tree while skiing at the Heavenly Ski Resort on the Nevada-California state line; he was 62.

Ten years ago: Republican Mitt Romney won the Wyoming caucuses, picking up eight delegates; in a debate three days before the New Hampshire primary, Romney clashed with Mike Huckabee on foreign policy and John McCain on immigration. In a Democratic faceoff, Hillary Rodham Clinton accused campaign rival Barack Obama of changing his positions on health care and "a number of issues"; Obama replied that he'd been "entirely consistent" in his position. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady won The Associated Press 2007 NFL MVP award.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama hailed a last-minute deal with Congress that pulled the country back from the "fiscal cliff," but warned in his Saturday radio and Internet address that he would not compromise over his insistence that lawmakers lift the federal debt ceiling.

One year ago: President-elect Donald Trump, in a series of tweets, urged Republicans and Democrats to "get together" to design a replacement for President Barack Obama's health care law. Four black people in Chicago were charged with hate crimes in connection with a video broadcast live on Facebook that showed a mentally disabled white man being tortured. Friends and family members gathered at the next-door homes of Debbie Reynolds and daughter Carrie Fisher in the Hollywood Hills for an intimate memorial to mourn the late actresses.

Today's Birthdays: Former Vice President Walter F. Mondale is 90. Actor Robert Duvall is 87. Juan Carlos, former King of Spain, is 80. Singer-musician Athol Guy (The Seekers) is 78. Former talk show host Charlie Rose is 76. Actress-director Diane Keaton is 72. Actor Ted Lange (lanj) is 70. Rhythm-and-blues musician George "Funky" Brown (Kool and the Gang) is 69. Rock musician Chris Stein (Blondie) is 68. Former CIA Director George Tenet is 65. Actress Pamela Sue Martin is 65. Actor Clancy Brown is 59. Singer Iris Dement is 57. Actress Suzy Amis is 56. Actor Ricky Paull Goldin is 53. Actor Vinnie Jones is 53. Rock musician Kate Schellenbach (Luscious Jackson) is 52. Actor Joe Flanigan is 51. Dancer-choreographer Carrie Ann Inaba is 50. Rock musician Troy Van Leeuwen (Queens of the Stone Age) is 50. Actress Heather Paige Kent is 49. Rock singer Marilyn Manson is 49. Actor Shea Whigham is 49. Actor Derek Cecil is 45. Actress-comedian Jessica Chaffin is 44. Actor Bradley Cooper is 43. Actress January Jones is 40. Actress Brooklyn Sudano is 37. Actor Franz Drameh is 25.

Thought for Today: "Wisdom is divided into two parts: (a) having a great deal to say, and (b) not saying it." -- Author unknown.