Today in History

Today is Saturday, Jan. 9, the ninth day of 2021. There are 356 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 9, 2020, Chinese state media said a preliminary investigation into recent cases of viral pneumonia had identified the probable cause as a new type of coronavirus.

On this date:

In 1788, Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1793, Frenchman Jean Pierre Blanchard, using a hot-air balloon, flew from Philadelphia to Woodbury, New Jersey.

In 1861, Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union, the same day the Star of the West, a merchant vessel bringing reinforcements and supplies to Federal troops at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, retreated because of artillery fire.

In 1913, Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th president of the United States, was born in Yorba Linda, California.

In 1916, the World War I Battle of Gallipoli ended after eight months with an Ottoman Empire victory as Allied forces withdrew.

In 1945, during World War II, American forces began landing on the shores of Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines as the Battle of Luzon got underway, resulting in an Allied victory over Imperial Japanese forces.

In 1951, the United Nations headquarters in New York officially opened.

In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in his State of the Union address to Congress, warned of the threat of Communist imperialism.

In 1987, the White House released a January 1986 memorandum prepared for President Ronald Reagan by Lt. Col. Oliver L. North showing a link between U.S. arms sales to Iran and the release of American hostages in Lebanon.

In 2003, U.N. weapons inspectors said there was no "smoking gun" to prove Iraq had nuclear, chemical or biological weapons but they demanded that Baghdad provide private access to scientists and fresh evidence to back its claim that it had destroyed its weapons of mass destruction.

In 2009, the Illinois House voted 114-1 to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who defiantly insisted again that he had committed no crime. (The Illinois Senate unanimously voted to remove Blagojevich from office 20 days later.)

In 2015, French security forces shot and killed two al-Qaida-linked brothers suspected of carrying the rampage at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo that had claimed 12 lives, the same day a gunman killed four people at a Paris kosher grocery store before being killed by police.

Ten years ago: Federal prosecutors brought charges against Jared Loughner, the man accused of attempting to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and killing six people at a political event in Tucson the day before. British movie director Peter Yates, who sent actor Steve McQueen screeching through the streets of San Francisco in a Ford Mustang in "Bullitt," died in London at age 81.

Five years ago: French Jewish leaders and the nation's prime minister, Manuel Valls, held a memorial ceremony for four people killed in a kosher market a year earlier by an attacker claiming ties to the Islamic State group. Actor Angus Scrimm, 89, the "Tall Man" in the "Phantasm" horror films, died in Tarzana, California.

One year ago: The Democratic-controlled House approved a resolution asserting that President Donald Trump must seek approval from Congress before engaging in further military action against Iran. At his first campaign rally of 2020, Trump told an Ohio crowd that he had served up "American justice" by ordering a drone strike to take out Iran's top general.

Today's Birthdays: Actor K. Callan is 85. Folk singer Joan Baez is 80. Rock musician Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) is 77. Actor John Doman is 76. Singer David Johansen (aka Buster Poindexter) is 71. Singer Crystal Gayle is 70. Actor J.K. Simmons is 66. Actor Imelda Staunton is 65. Nobel Peace laureate Rigoberta Menchu is 62. Rock musician Eric Erlandson is 58. Actor Joely Richardson is 56. Rock musician Carl Bell (Fuel) is 54. Actor David Costabile is 54. Rock singer Steve Harwell (Smash Mouth) is 54. Rock singer-musician Dave Matthews is 54. Actor-director Joey Lauren Adams is 53. Comedian/actor Deon Cole is 50. Actor Angela Bettis is 48. Actor Omari Hardwick is 47. Roots singer-songwriter Hayes Carll is 45. Singer A.J. McLean (Backstreet Boys) is 43. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, is 39. Pop-rock musician Drew Brown (OneRepublic) is 37. Rock-soul singer Paolo Nutini is 34. Actor Nina Dobrev is 32. Actor Basil Eidenbenz is 28. Actor Kerris Dorsey is 23. Actor Tyree Brown is 17.