Today in History

Today is Monday, Jan. 6, the sixth day of 2020. There are 360 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 6, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his State of the Union address, outlined a goal of "Four Freedoms": Freedom of speech and expression; the freedom of people to worship God in their own way; freedom from want; freedom from fear.

On this date:

In 1412, tradition holds that Joan of Arc was born this day in Domremy.

In 1759, George Washington and Martha Dandridge Custis were married in New Kent County, Virginia.

In 1912, New Mexico became the 47th state.

In 1919, the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, died in Oyster Bay, New York, at age 60.

In 1945, George Herbert Walker Bush married Barbara Pierce at the First Presbyterian Church in Rye, New York.

In 1968, a surgical team at Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California, led by Dr. Norman Shumway, performed the first U.S. adult heart transplant, placing the heart of a 43-year-old man in a 54-year-old patient (the recipient died 15 days later).

In 1975, the original version of "Wheel of Fortune," hosted by Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford, premiered on NBC-TV.

In 1994, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the leg by an assailant at Detroit's Cobo Arena; four men, including the ex-husband of Kerrigan's rival, Tonya Harding, went to prison for their roles in the attack. (Harding pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution, but denied any advance knowledge about the assault.)

In 1998, In a new bid to expand health insurance, President Clinton unveiled a proposal to offer Medicare coverage to hundreds of thousands of uninsured Americans from ages 55 to 64.

In 2001, with Vice President Al Gore presiding in his capacity as president of the Senate, Congress formally certified George W. Bush the winner of the bitterly contested 2000 presidential election.

In 2003, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein accused U.N. inspectors of engaging in "intelligence work" instead of searching for suspected nuclear, chemical and biological weapons in his country.

In 2005, former Ku Klux Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen was arrested on murder charges 41 years after three civil rights workers were slain in Mississippi. (Killen was later convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 60 years in prison.)

Ten years ago: James von Brunn, a 89-year-old white supremacist charged in a deadly shooting at Washington's Holocaust museum, died in North Carolina, where he was being held while awaiting trial. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown fended off a challenge to his leadership from within his own ruling Labour Party just months before general elections.

Five years ago: In a blend of pageantry and politics, Republicans took complete control of Congress for the first time in eight years, then ran straight into a White House veto threat against their top-priority legislation to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline. President Barack Obama pledged to stand with Mexico against "the scourge of violence and the drug cartels" as he met at the White House with President Enrique Pena Nieto. Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz, a trio of star pitchers who dominated in an era of offense, were elected to baseball's Hall of Fame along with Craig Biggio.

One year ago: The Freddie Mercury biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody" was named the best drama picture at the Golden Globes, defeating another movie about musicians, the more heavily favored "A Star is Born." U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said there was now no timetable for U.S. troops to leave northeastern Syria, saying they wouldn't leave until Islamic State militants were defeated and Kurdish fighters were protected. Another round of talks failed to break an impasse over funding for a border wall, as a government shutdown remained in effect.

Today's Birthdays: Country musician Joey, the CowPolka King (Riders in the Sky) is 71. Former FBI director Louis Freeh is 70. Rock singer-musician Kim Wilson (The Fabulous Thunderbirds) is 69. Singer Jett Williams is 67. Actor-comedian Rowan Atkinson is 65. World Golf Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez is 63. Actor Scott Bryce is 62. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kathy Sledge is 61. TV chef Nigella Lawson is 60. Rhythm-and-blues singer Eric Williams (BLACKstreet) is 60. Actor Aron Eisenberg is 51. Actor Norman Reedus is 51. TV personality Julie Chen is 50. Actor Danny Pintauro (TV: "Who's the Boss?") is 44. Actress Cristela Alonzo is 41. Actress Rinko Kikuchi is 39. Actor Eddie Redmayne is 38. Retired NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas is 38. Actress-comedian Kate McKinnon is 36. Actress Diona Reasonover is 36. Rock singer Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) is 34.

Thought for Today: "A little learning is not a dangerous thing to one who does not mistake it for a great deal." -- William Allen White, American newspaper editor (1868-1944).

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