This day in history

[January 21, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Friday, Jan. 21, the 21st day of 2011. There are 344 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Jan. 21, 1861, Jefferson Davis of Mississippi and four other Southerners whose states had seceded from the Union resigned from the U.S. Senate.

On this date:

In 1793, during the French Revolution, King Louis XVI, condemned for treason, was executed on the guillotine.

In 1910, the Great Paris Flood began as the rain-swollen Seine River burst its banks, sending water into the French capital.

In 1911, Sen. Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin announced creation of the National Progressive Republican League with the goal of promoting "popular government and progressive legislation."

In 1915, the first Kiwanis Club was founded, in Detroit.

In 1924, Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin died at age 53.

In 1950, former State Department official Alger Hiss, accused of being part of a Communist spy ring, was found guilty in New York of lying to a grand jury. (Hiss, who proclaimed his innocence, served less than four years in prison.) George Orwell (Eric Blair), author of "Nineteen Eighty-Four," died in London at age 46.

In 1954, the first atomic submarine, the USS Nautilus, was launched at Groton (GRAH'-tuhn), Conn. (However, the Nautilus did not make its first nuclear-powered run until nearly a year later.)

In 1968, the Battle of Khe Sanh began during the Vietnam War as North Vietnamese forces attacked a U.S. Marine base; the Americans were able to hold their position until the siege was lifted 2 1/2 months later. In Greenland, an American B-52 bomber carrying four hydrogen bombs crashed, killing one crew member and scattering radioactive material.

In 1970, the Boeing 747 went on its first commercial flight as Pan Am passengers traveled from New York to London.

In 1976, the supersonic Concorde jet was put into service by Britain and France.

Ten years ago: Pope John Paul II elevated archbishops of New York and Washington and 35 other church leaders to the College of Cardinals. The Roman epic "Gladiator" claimed best dramatic movie and the 1970s rock-and-roll story "Almost Famous" won best comedy at the Golden Globes Awards. Byron De La Beckwith, a white supremacist convicted of assassinating civil rights leader Medgar Evers, died in Jackson, Miss., at age 80.

Five years ago: Rescuers in West Virginia found the bodies of two miners who'd disappeared after a conveyor belt caught fire deep inside a coal mine. A Red Cross-chartered helicopter that had been used for earthquake relief in Pakistan went missing (the wreckage of the copter and the bodies of the seven people on board were found in June 2006).

One year ago: A bitterly divided U.S. Supreme Court, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, vastly increased the power of big business and labor unions to influence government decisions by freeing them to spend their millions directly to sway elections for president and Congress. Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards finally admitted fathering a child during an affair before his second White House bid. Toyota recalled 2.3 million U.S. vehicles to fix accelerator pedals.

Today's birthdays: Actress Ann Wedgeworth is 77. World Golf Hall of Famer Jack Nicklaus is 71. Opera singer Placido Domingo is 70. Singer Richie Havens is 70. Singer Mac Davis is 69. Actress Jill Eikenberry is 64. Country musician Jim Ibbotson (The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) is 64. Singer-songwriter Billy Ocean is 61. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke is 61. Attorney General Eric Holder is 60. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is 58. Actor-director Robby Benson is 55. Actress Geena Davis is 55. Basketball Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon is 48. Actress Charlotte Ross is 43. Actor John Ducey is 42. Actress Karina Lombard is 42. Rapper Levirt (B-Rock and the Bizz) is 41. Rock musician Mark Trojanowski (Sister Hazel) is 41. Rock singer-songwriter Cat Power is 39. Rock DJ Chris Kilmore (Incubus) is 38. Actor Vincent Laresca is 37. Singer Emma Bunton (Spice Girls) is 35. Country singer Phil Stacey is 33. Rhythm-and-blues singer Nokio (Dru Hill) is 32. Actress Izabella Miko (MEE'-koh) is 30.

Thought for today: "The road to ruin is always kept in good repair." -- Anonymous

[Associated Press]

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