Today in History

Today is Thursday, Jan. 3, the third day of 2019. There are 362 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 3, 1977, Apple Computer was incorporated in Cupertino, California, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Mike Makkula Jr.

On this date:

In 1521, Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Leo X.

In 1777, Gen. George Washington's army routed the British in the Battle of Princeton, New Jersey.

In 1868, Japan's Meiji Restoration re-established the authority of the emperor and heralded the fall of the military rulers known as shoguns; the upheaval paved the way for Japan's drive toward becoming a modern power.

In 1938, the March of Dimes campaign to fight polio was established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who himself had been afflicted with the crippling disease.

In 1958, the first six members of the newly formed U.S. Commission on Civil Rights held their first meeting at the White House.

In 1959, Alaska became the 49th state as President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation.

In 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced the United States was formally terminating diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba.

In 1967, Jack Ruby, the man who shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy, died in a Dallas hospital.

In 1980, conservationist Joy Adamson, author of "Born Free," was killed in northern Kenya by a former employee.

In 1993, President George H.W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed the START II missile-reduction treaty in Moscow. (However, the agreement ultimately fell apart.)

In 2008, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama won Democratic caucuses in Iowa, while Mike Huckabee won the Republican caucuses.

In 2013, students from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, reconvened at a different building in the town of Monroe about three weeks after the massacre that had claimed the lives of 20 first-graders and six educators. The new 113th Congress opened for business, with House Speaker John Boehner re-elected to his post despite a mini-revolt in Republican ranks.

Ten years ago: After seven days of pummeling the Gaza Strip from the air, Israel launched a ground offensive; Hamas vowed that Gaza would be a "graveyard" for the Israelis. Veteran actor Pat Hingle died in Carolina Beach, N.C., at age 84.

Five years ago: The secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruled again that the National Security Agency could keep collecting every American's telephone records every day. Phil Everly, who with his brother Don formed an influential harmony duo, died in Burbank, California, at age 74. No. 12 Clemson rallied to beat No. 7 Ohio State 40-35 in the Orange Bowl.

One year ago: President Donald Trump signed an executive order disbanding the controversial voter fraud commission he had set up to investigate the 2016 presidential election after alleging without evidence that voting fraud cost him the popular vote; the White House blamed the decision to end the panel on more than a dozen states that refused to cooperate. A brutal winter storm delivered a rare blast of snow and ice to the coastal Southeast, giving parts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina their heaviest snowfall in nearly three decades.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Dabney Coleman is 87. Journalist-author Betty Rollin is 83. Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Hull is 80. Singer-songwriter-producer Van Dyke Parks is 76. Musician Stephen Stills is 74. Rock musician John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) is 73. Actress Victoria Principal is 69. Actor-director Mel Gibson is 63. Actress Shannon Sturges is 51. Actor John Ales is 50. Jazz musician James Carter is 50. Contemporary Christian singer Nichole Nordeman is 47. Musician Thomas Bangalter (Daft Punk) is 44. Actor Jason Marsden is 44. Actress Danica McKellar is 44. Actor Nicholas Gonzalez is 43. Singer Kimberley Locke (TV: "American Idol") is 41. Actress Kate Levering is 40. NFL quarterback Eli Manning is 38. Actress Nicole Beharie is 34. Pop musician Mark Pontius (Foster the People) is 34. Rhythm-and-blues singer Lloyd is 33. Pop-rock musician Nash Overstreet (Hot Chelle Rae) is 33. Actor Alex D. Linz is 30.

Thought for Today: "The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't." -- Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman (1813-1887).