This day in history

[January 05, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, Jan. 5, the fifth day of 2011. There are 360 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Jan. 5, 1896, an Austrian newspaper, Wiener Presse, reported the discovery by German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen (RENT'-gun) of a type of radiation that came to be known as "X-rays."

On this date:

In 1781, a British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold burned Richmond, Va.

In 1809, the Treaty of the Dardanelles, which ended the Anglo-Turkish War, was concluded by the United Kingdom and the Ottoman Empire.

In 1895, French Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, convicted of treason, was publicly stripped of his rank. (He was ultimately vindicated.)

In 1925, Nellie T. Ross of Wyoming became the first female governor in U.S. history.

In 1933, the 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, died in Northampton, Mass., at age 60.

In 1949, in his State of the Union address, President Harry S. Truman labeled his administration the Fair Deal.

In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed assistance to countries to help them resist Communist aggression; this became known as the Eisenhower Doctrine.

In 1970, Joseph A. Yablonski, an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the United Mine Workers of America, was found murdered with his wife and daughter at their Clarksville, Pa. home. (UMWA President Tony Boyle and seven others were convicted of, or pleaded guilty in the killings.) The soap opera "All My Children" premiered on ABC-TV.

In 1994, Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, died in Boston at age 81.

In 1998, Sonny Bono, the 1960s pop star-turned-politician, was killed when he struck a tree while skiing at the Heavenly Ski Resort on the Nevada-California state line; he was 62.

Ten years ago: In a blizzard of last-minute executive orders, President Bill Clinton curtailed road building and logging on federal forest land and reorganized the nation's counterintelligence efforts.

Five years ago: Attacks across Iraq killed more than 120 Iraqis and 11 U.S. service members. A building used as a hostel by pilgrims in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, collapsed, killing 76 people. Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's severe stroke was divine punishment for "dividing God's land." (Robertson later apologized.)

One year ago: President Barack Obama scolded 20 of his highest-level officials over the botched Christmas Day terror attack on an airliner bound for Detroit, taking them jointly to task for "a screw-up that could have been disastrous" and should have been avoided. The U.S. and British embassies in Yemen reopened their doors after a two-day closure prompted by security concerns.

Today's birthdays: Former Vice President Walter F. Mondale is 83. Actor Robert Duvall is 80. Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll is 79. King Juan Carlos of Spain is 73. Talk show host Charlie Rose is 69. Actress-director Diane Keaton is 65. Actor Ted Lange (lanj) is 63. Rhythm-and-blues musician George "Funky" Brown (Kool and the Gang) is 62. Rock musician Chris Stein (Blondie) is 61. Former CIA Director George Tenet is 58. Actress Pamela Sue Martin is 58. Actor Clancy Brown is 52. Singer Iris Dement is 50. Actor Ricky Paull (correct) Goldin is 46. Actor Vinnie Jones is 46. Rock musician Kate Schellenbach (Luscious Jackson) is 45. Dancer-choreographer Carrie Ann Inaba is 43. Actress Heather Paige Kent is 42. Rock singer Marilyn Manson is 42. Actor Bradley Cooper is 36. Actress January Jones is 33. Actress Brooklyn Sudano is 30.

Thought for today: "It is the job that is never started that takes longest to finish." -- J.R.R. Tolkien, English author (1892-1973)

[Associated Press]

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