This day in history

[February 04, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Monday, Jan. 18, the 18th day of 2010. There are 347 days left in the year. This is the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Today's highlight in history:

On Jan. 18, 1949, Charles Ponzi, engineer of one of the most spectacular swindles in history, died destitute in the charity ward of a hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at age 66.

On this date:

In 1778, English navigator Capt. James Cook reached the Hawaiian Islands, which he dubbed the "Sandwich Islands."

In 1862, the 10th president of the United States, John Tyler, died in Richmond, Va., at age 71.

In 1871, William I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor in Versailles, France.

In 1911, the first landing of an aircraft on a ship took place as pilot Eugene B. Ely brought his Curtiss biplane in for a safe landing on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Harbor.

In 1919, the Paris Peace Conference, held to negotiate peace treaties ending World War I, opened in Versailles, France.

In 1943, during World War II, the Soviets announced they'd broken through the long Nazi siege of Leningrad (it was another year before the siege was fully lifted). A wartime ban on the sale of pre-sliced bread in the U.S. -- aimed at reducing bakeries' demand for metal replacement parts -- went into effect.

In 1957, a trio of B-52's completed the first nonstop, round-the-world flight by jet planes, landing at March Air Force Base in California after more than 45 hours aloft.

In 1967, Albert DeSalvo, who claimed to be the "Boston Strangler," was convicted in Cambridge, Mass., of armed robbery, assault and sex offenses. (Sentenced to life, DeSalvo was killed in prison in 1973.)

In 1970, David Oman McKay, the ninth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died at the age of 96.

In 1990, a jury in Los Angeles acquitted former preschool operators Raymond Buckey and his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey, of 52 child molestation charges. Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was arrested in an FBI sting on drug-possession charges (he was later convicted of a misdemeanor).

Ten years ago: In a blow to the Pentagon's push to develop a national missile defense by 2005, officials announced that a prototype missile interceptor had roared into space in search of a mock warhead over the Pacific, but had failed to hit it.

Five years ago: Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice, at her Senate confirmation hearing, insisted the United States was fully prepared for the Iraq war and its aftermath and refused to give a timetable for U.S. troops to come home. The world's largest commercial jet, an Airbus A380 that can carry 800 passengers, was unveiled in Toulouse, France.

One year ago: Israeli troops begin to withdraw from Gaza after their government and Hamas militants declared an end to a three-week war. A star-studded preinaugural concert took place on the National Mall, featuring Bruce Springsteen, Bono and Beyonce, with President-elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, in attendance. The Arizona Cardinals advanced to their first Super Bowl with a 32-25 win over the Philadelphia Eagles; the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens 23-14 to win the AFC Championship and reach their seventh Super Bowl.

Today's birthdays: Movie director John Boorman is 77. Sen. Paul Kirk, D-Mass., is 72. Singer-songwriter Bobby Goldsboro is 69. Comedian-singer-musician Brett Hudson is 57. Actor-director Kevin Costner is 55. Country singer Mark Collie is 54. Actress Jane Horrocks is 46. Comedian Dave Attell is 45. Actor Jesse L. Martin is 41. Rapper DJ Quik is 40. Rock singer Jonathan Davis (Korn) is 39. Singer Christian Burns (BBMak) is 37. NAACP chief executive Benjamin Todd Jealous is 37. Actor Derek Richardson is 34. Actor Jason Segel is 30. Actress Samantha Mumba is 27. Country singer Kristy Lee Cook ("American Idol") is 26.

Thought for today: "The compensation of growing old was simply this: that the passions remain as strong as ever, but one has gained -- at last! -- the power which adds the supreme flavor to existence, the power of taking hold of experience, of turning it round, slowly, in the light." -- Virginia Woolf, English author (1882-1941)

[Associated Press]

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