Today in History

Today is Friday, Jan. 12, the 12th day of 2024. There are 354 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 12, 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown Records (originally Tamla Records) in Detroit.

On this date:

In 1828, the United States and Mexico signed a Treaty of Limits defining the boundary between the two countries to be the same as the one established by an 1819 treaty between the U.S. and Spain.

In 1910, at a White House dinner hosted by President William Howard Taft, Baroness Rosen, wife of the Russian ambassador, caused a stir by requesting and smoking a cigarette -- it was, apparently, the first time a woman had smoked openly during a public function in the executive mansion. (Some of the other women present who had brought their own cigarettes began lighting up in turn.)

In 1915, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected, 204-174, a proposed constitutional amendment to give women nationwide the right to vote.

In 1932, Hattie W. Caraway became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate after initially being appointed to serve out the remainder of the term of her late husband, Thaddeus.

In 1945, during World War II, Soviet forces began a major, successful offensive against the Germans in Eastern Europe. Aircraft from U.S. Task Force 38 sank about 40 Japanese ships off Indochina.

In 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Sipuel v. Board of Regents of University of Oklahoma, unanimously ruled that state law schools could not discriminate against applicants on the basis of race.

In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson said in his State of the Union address that the U.S. military should stay in Vietnam until Communist aggression there was stopped.

In 1969, the New York Jets of the American Football League upset the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League 16-7 in Super Bowl III, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

In 1971, the groundbreaking situation comedy "All in the Family" premiered on CBS television.

In 2000, in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Illinois v. Wardlow, gave police broad authority to stop and question people who run at the sight of an officer.

In 2010, Haiti was struck by a magnitude-7 earthquake; the Haitian government said 316,000 people were killed, while a report prepared for the U.S. Agency for International Development suggested the death toll may have been between 46,000 and 85,000.

In 2013, the NHL's four-month lockout finally ended as the league and the players' association completed signing a required memorandum of understanding.

In 2016, Iran detained 10 American sailors and their two small Navy boats after the boats drifted into Iranian waters; the sailors and their vessels were released the following day.

In 2018, sportscaster Keith Jackson, best known as the down-home voice of college football, died; he was 89.

In 2022, Ronnie Spector, who sang 1960s hits including "Be My Baby" as leader of the girl group The Ronettes, died at 78 after a brief battle with cancer.

In 2023, Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis Presley and a singer-songwriter dedicated to her father's legacy, died at age 54.

Today's birthdays: The Amazing Kreskin is 89. Country singer William Lee Golden (The Oak Ridge Boys) is 85. Actor Anthony Andrews is 76. Movie director Wayne Wang is 75. Legal affairs blogger Ann Althouse is 73. Writer Walter Mosley is 72. Country singer Ricky Van Shelton is 72. Radio-TV personality Howard Stern is 70. Writer-producer-director John Lasseter is 67. Broadcast journalist Christiane Amanpour is 66. Actor Oliver Platt is 64. Basketball Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins is 64. Entrepreneur Jeff Bezos is 60. Rock singer Rob Zombie is 59. Actor Olivier Martinez is 58. Model Vendela is 57. Actor Rachael Harris is 56. Rock singer Zack de la Rocha is 54. Rapper Raekwon (Wu Tang Clan) is 54. Actor Zabryna Guevara is 52. Singer Dan Haseltine (Jars of Clay) is 51. Singer Melanie Chisholm (Spice Girls) is 50. Contemporary Christian singer Jeremy Camp is 46. Actor Cynthia Addai-Robinson is 44. R&B singer Amerie is 44. Actor Issa Rae is 39. Actor Will Rothhaar is 37. Actor Andrew Lawrence is 36. Singer Zayn Malik is 31. Pop/soul singer Ella Henderson (TV: "The X Factor") is 28.