|
 Today's
highlight in history:
On Jan. 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center, killing all seven of its crew members: flight commander Francis R. "Dick" Scobee; pilot Michael Smith; Ronald McNair; Ellison Onizuka; Judith Resnik; Gregory Jarvis; and schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.
On this date:
In 1547, England's King Henry the VIII died; he was succeeded by his 9-year-old son, Edward the VI.
In 1853, Cuban revolutionary Jose Marti was born in Havana.
In 1878, the first daily college newspaper, Yale News (now Yale Daily News), began publication in New Haven, Conn.
In 1909, the United States ended direct control over Cuba.
In 1915, the United States Coast Guard was created as President Woodrow Wilson signed into law a bill merging the Life-Saving Service and Revenue Cutter Service.
In 1916, Louis D. Brandeis was nominated by President Woodrow Wilson to the Supreme Court; Brandeis became the court's first Jewish member.
In 1945, during World War II, Allied supplies began reaching China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
In 1973, a cease-fire officially went into effect in the Vietnam War.
In 1978, fire swept through the historic downtown Coates House hotel in Kansas City, Mo., killing 20 people.
In 1988, a 13-day standoff in Marion, Utah, between police and a polygamist clan ended in gunfire that killed a state corrections officer and seriously wounded the group's leader, Addam Swapp.
Ten years ago: The day after his State of the Union address, President Bill Clinton barnstormed in the nation's heartland, where he was warmly received; accompanying him was Vice President Al Gore, who urged Americans to "join me in supporting him and standing by his side."
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Five years ago: President Bush, girding the nation for war, said in his State of the Union address that Saddam Hussein had shown "utter contempt" for the world community and had to be held to account. Bush also pledged to help the ailing economy with lower taxes and a stronger health care system. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud party and other hawkish parties won a resounding victory in Israel's parliamentary elections. John Philip Thompson, who expanded his family's business into the nationwide 7-Eleven chain, died at age 77.
One year ago: U.S.-backed Iraqi troops attacked insurgents allegedly plotting to kill pilgrims at a major Shiite Muslim religious festival; Iraqi officials estimated some 300 militants died in the daylong battle near Najaf. (A U.S. helicopter crashed during the fight, killing two American soldiers.) Britain's Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, met with New York schoolchildren as they visited Harlem during their whirlwind American weekend. Roger Federer captured his 10th Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open, beating Fernando Gonzalez 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4. The Rev. Robert Drinan, a priest who'd represented Massachusetts in the U.S. House during the 1970s, died in Washington, D.C., at age 86.
Today's birthdays: Musician-composer Acker Bilk is 79. Actor Nicholas Pryor is 73. Actor Alan Alda is 72. Actress Susan Howard is 66. Actress Marthe Keller is 63. Actress-singer Barbi Benton is 58. Actress Harley Jane Kozak is 51. Movie director Frank Darabont is 49. Rock musician Dave Sharp is 49. Rock singer Sam Phillips is 46. Rock musician Dan Spitz (Anthrax) is 45. Country musician Greg Cook (Ricochet) is 43. Singer Sarah McLachlan is 40. Rapper Rakim is 40. DJ Muggs (Cypress Hill) is 40. Actress Kathryn Morris ("Cold Case") is 39. Rhythm-and-blues singer Anthony Hamilton is 37. Rock musician Brandon Bush (Train) is 35. Singer Joey Fatone Jr. ('N Sync) is 31. Actress Rosamund Pike is 29. Singer Nick Carter (Backstreet Boys) is 28. Actor Elijah Wood is 27.
Thought for today: "The best teacher, until one comes to adult pupils, is not the one who knows most, but the one who is most capable of reducing knowledge to that simple compound of the obvious and the wonderful which slips into the infantile comprehension. ... The best teacher of children, in brief, is one who is essentially childlike."
-- H.L. Mencken, American author-journalist (1880-1956)
[Associated Press]
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