This day in history

[January 15, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, Jan. 15, the 15th day of 2009. There are 350 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Jan. 15, 1929, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta.

On this date:

In 1559, England's Queen Elizabeth I was crowned in Westminster Abbey.

In 1777, the people of New Connecticut declared their independence. (The tiny republic later became the state of Vermont.)

In 1844, the University of Notre Dame received its charter from the state of Indiana.

In 1909, jazz drummer and composer Gene Krupa was born in Chicago.

In 1942, Jawaharlal Nehru was named to succeed Mohandas K. Gandhi as head of India's Congress Party.

In 1943, work was completed on the Pentagon, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense.

In 1947, the mutilated remains of Elizabeth Short, the 22-year-old aspiring actress nicknamed the "Black Dahlia," were found in a vacant Los Angeles lot; her slaying remains unsolved.

In 1967, the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League 35-10 in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, retroactively known as Super Bowl I.

In 1973, President Richard M. Nixon announced the suspension of all U.S. offensive action in North Vietnam, citing progress in peace negotiations.

In 1989, NATO, the Warsaw Pact and 12 other European countries adopted a human rights and security agreement in Vienna, Austria.

Ten years ago: House prosecutors prodded senators at President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial to summon Monica Lewinsky and others for testimony and "invite the president" to appear as well.

Five years ago: The NASA Spirit rover rolled onto the surface of Mars for the first time since the vehicle bounced to a landing nearly two weeks earlier. Fourteen-year-old golfer Michelle Wie shot a 2-over 72 in the first round at the PGA Sony Open in Honolulu. "First Wives Club" novelist Olivia Goldsmith died in New York at age 54.

One year ago: Mitt Romney scored his first major primary victory in his native Michigan. During a visit to Saudi Arabia, President George W. Bush warned that surging oil prices threatened the U.S. economy and he urged OPEC nations to boost their output. Actor Brad Renfro, who as a youngster had played the title role in "The Client," was found dead in his Los Angeles home; he was 25.

Today's birthdays: Actress Margaret O'Brien is 72. Singer Don Van Vliet (aka "Captain Beefheart") is 68. Actress Andrea Martin is 62. Actor-director Mario Van Peebles is 52. Actor James Nesbitt is 44. Singer Lisa Lisa (Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam) is 42. Actor Chad Lowe is 41. Actress Regina King is 38. Actor Eddie Cahill is 31. Rapper/reggaeton artist Pitbull is 28.

Thought for today: "One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means." -- Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

[Associated Press]

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