Today in History

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 22, the 22nd day of 2020. There are 344 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 22, 1998, Theodore Kaczynski pleaded guilty in Sacramento, California, to being the Unabomber responsible for three deaths and 29 injuries in return for a sentence of life in prison without parole.

On this date:

In 1498, during his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus arrived at the present-day Caribbean island of St. Vincent.

In 1901, Britain's Queen Victoria died at age 81 after a reign of 63 years; she was succeeded by her eldest son, Edward VII.

In 1944, during World War II, Allied forces began landing at Anzio, Italy.

In 1953, the Arthur Miller drama "The Crucible," set during the Salem witch trials, opened on Broadway.

In 1970, the first regularly scheduled commercial flight of the Boeing 747 began in New York and ended in London some 6 1/2 hours later.

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court, in its Roe v. Wade decision, legalized abortions using a trimester approach. Former President Lyndon B. Johnson died at his Texas ranch at age 64.

In 1987, Pennsylvania treasurer R. Budd Dwyer, convicted of defrauding the state, proclaimed his innocence at a news conference before pulling out a gun, placing the barrel in his mouth and shooting himself to death in front of horrified onlookers.

In 1994, actor Telly Savalas died in Universal City, California, a day after turning 72.

In 1995, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy died at the Kennedy compound at Hyannis Port, Mass., at age 104.

In 1997, the Senate confirmed Madeleine Albright as the nation's first female secretary of state.

In 2007, a double car bombing of a predominantly Shiite commercial area in Baghdad killed 88 people. Iran announced it had barred 38 nuclear inspectors on a United Nations list from entering the country in apparent retaliation for U.N. sanctions imposed the previous month.

In 2009, President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp within a year. (The facility remained in operation as lawmakers blocked efforts to transfer terror suspects to the United States; President Donald Trump later issued an order to keep the jail open and allow the Pentagon to bring new prisoners there.)

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama tried to revive his battered agenda and rally Democrats with a renewed emphasis on jobs during a town hall meeting in Elyria, Ohio. The "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon raised more than $66 million. Conan O'Brien ended his brief tenure of only seven months on "The Tonight Show" after accepting a $45 million buyout from NBC to leave the show he'd long dreamed of hosting. Actress Jean Simmons, 80, died in Santa Monica, California. Actor James Mitchell, 89, died in Los Angeles.

Five years ago: With thousands of abortion protesters swarming Washington in their annual March for Life, the House voted 242-179 to permanently forbid federal funds for most abortion coverage, even though the legislation had no realistic chance of passage. Yemen's U.S.-backed president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, quit under pressure from rebels holding him captive in his home. Former U.S. Senator and Kentucky Governor Wendell Ford, 90, died in Owensboro.

One year ago: The Supreme Court said the Trump administration could go ahead with its plan to restrict military service by transgender men and women as court challenges continued. Los Angeles teachers overwhelmingly approved a new contract, ending a six-day strike over funding and staffing in the nation's second-largest school district. "Roma" and "The Favourite" each picked up 10 nominations for the 91st Academy Awards; Netflix and Marvel each scored their first best-picture nomination, for "Roma" (Netflix) and "Black Panther" (Marvel.) Former New York Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera became baseball's first unanimous Hall of Fame selection, as he was elected along with Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina and the late Roy Halladay.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Piper Laurie is 88. Celebrity chef Graham Kerr (TV: "The Galloping Gourmet") is 86. Author Joseph Wambaugh is 83. Singer Steve Perry is 71. Country singer-musician Teddy Gentry (Alabama) is 68. Movie director Jim Jarmusch is 67. Actor John Wesley Shipp is 65. Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Bossy is 63. Actress Linda Blair is 61. Actress Diane Lane is 55. Actor and rap DJ Jazzy Jeff is 55. Country singer Regina Nicks (Regina Regina) is 55. Celebrity chef Guy Fieri is 52. Actress Olivia d'Abo is 51. Actress Katie Finneran is 49. Actor Gabriel Macht is 48. Actor Balthazar Getty is 45. Actor Christopher Kennedy Masterson is 40. Jazz singer Lizz Wright is 40. Pop singer Willa Ford is 39. Actress Beverley (cq) Mitchell is 39. Rock singer-musician Ben Moody is 39. Actor Kevin Sheridan is 38. Actress-singer Phoebe Strole is 37. Rapper Logic is 30. Tennis player Alize Cornet is 30. Actress Sami Gayle is 24.

Thought for Today: "I know there's a proverb which that says 'To err is human,' but a human error is nothing to what a computer can do if it tries." -- Dame Agatha Christie, English mystery writer (1890-1976).

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