This day in history

[February 04, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, Jan. 21, the 21st day of 2010. There are 344 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Jan. 21, 1910, shortly before 11 a.m., the Great Paris Flood began as the rain-swollen Seine River burst its banks, sending water into the French capital for more than a week.

On this date:

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

In 1858, Felix Maria Zuloaga became president of Mexico upon the ouster of Ignacio Comonfort.

In 1861, Jefferson Davis of Mississippi and four other Southerners resigned from the U.S. Senate.

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 always 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: The grandmothers of Elian Gonzalez traveled to the United States to plead for the boy's return to Cuba.

Five years ago: A car bomb outside a Shiite mosque in Baghdad killed at least 14 people; a suicide bombing at a Shiite wedding south of the capital killed at least seven people. The body of Megan Leann Holden, a college student whose abduction was captured on a surveillance videotape as she was leaving her clerk's job at a Wal-Mart, was found in western Texas. (Johnny Lee Williams Jr. later pleaded guilty to capital murder and received consecutive life sentences.)

One year ago: In a whirlwind first full day in office, President Barack Obama showcased efforts to revive the economy, summoned top military officials to chart a new course in Iraq and eased into the daunting thicket of Middle East diplomacy. The Senate confirmed Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state.

Today's birthdays: Actress Ann Wedgeworth is 76. World Golf Hall of Famer Jack Nicklaus is 70. Opera singer Placido Domingo is 69. Singer Richie Havens is 69. Singer Mac Davis is 68. Actress Jill Eikenberry is 63. Country musician Jim Ibbotson (The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) is 63. Singer-songwriter Billy Ocean is 60. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke is 60. Attorney General Eric Holder is 59. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is 57. Actor-director Robby Benson is 54. Actress Geena Davis is 54. Basketball Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon is 47. Actress Charlotte Ross is 42. Actor John Ducey is 41. Actress Karina Lombard is 41. Rapper Levirt (B-Rock and the Bizz) is 40. Rock musician Mark Trojanowski (Sister Hazel) is 40. Rock singer-songwriter Cat Power is 38. Rock DJ Chris Kilmore (Incubus) is 37. Actor Vincent Laresca is 36. Singer Emma Bunton (Spice Girls) is 34. Country singer Phil Stacey is 32. Rhythm-and-blues singer Nokio (Dru Hill) is 31. Actress Izabella Miko (MEE'-koh) is 29.

Thought for today: "Know yourself, and your neighbor will not mistake you." -- Scottish proverb

[Associated Press]

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