This day in history

[January 12, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, Jan. 12, the 12th day of 2011. There are 353 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Jan. 12, 2010, Haiti was struck by a magnitude-7 earthquake, killing as many as 300,000 residents and leaving over 1.5 million people homeless.

On this date:

In 1773, the first public museum in America was organized, in Charleston, S.C.

In 1915, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected, 204-174, a constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote.

In 1932, Hattie W. Caraway became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate, after serving out the remainder of the term of her late husband, Thaddeus.

In 1948, the Supreme Court ruled that state law schools could not discriminate against applicants on the basis of race.

In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown Records (originally Tamla Records) in Detroit.

In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson said in his State of the Union address that the U.S. should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there was ended.

In 1969, the New York Jets of the American Football League upset the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League 16-7 in Super Bowl III, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

In 1971, the groundbreaking situation comedy "All in the Family" premiered on CBS television.

In 1986, the shuttle Columbia blasted off with a crew that included the first Hispanic-American in space, Dr. Franklin R. Chang-Diaz.

In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court gave police broad authority to stop and question people who run at the sight of an officer.

Ten years ago: The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights concluded a two-day hearing on Florida's 2000 presidential election, with members accusing Secretary of State Katherine Harris of presiding over a "disaster" and trying to shift blame to others. William Hewlett, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard Co., died in Palo Alto, Calif., at age 87.

Five years ago: Mehmet Ali Agca (MEH'-met AH'-lee AH'-juh), the Turkish gunman who'd shot Pope John Paul II in 1981, was released from an Istanbul prison after serving more than 25 years in Italy and Turkey for the plot against the pontiff and the slaying of a Turkish journalist. A stampede broke out during the Islamic hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, killing 363 people. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito completed four days of testimony at his Senate confirmation hearing.

One year ago: U.S. and Mexican authorities announced the capture of alleged drug kingpin Teodoro Garcia Simental, known as "El Teo."

Today's birthdays: Actress Luise Rainer (RY'-nuhr) is 101. Country singer Ray Price is 85. Singer Glenn Yarborough is 81. The Amazing Kreskin is 76. Country singer William Lee Golden (The Oak Ridge Boys) is 72. Boxing Hall of Famer Joe Frazier is 67. Rock musician Cynthia Robinson (Sly and the Family Stone) is 67. Singer-musician George Duke is 65. Actor Anthony Andrews is 63. Movie director Wayne Wang is 62. Radio commentator Rush Limbaugh is 60. Actress Kirstie Alley is 60. Writer Walter Mosley is 59. Country singer Ricky Van Shelton is 59. Radio personality Howard Stern is 57. Rock musician Tom Ardolino (NRBQ) is 54. Writer-producer-director John Lasseter is 54. Broadcast journalist Christiane Amanpour is 53. Rock musician Charlie Gillingham (Counting Crows) is 51. Actor Oliver Platt is 51. Basketball Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins is 51. Actor Olivier Martinez is 45. Rapper TBird (B-Rock and the Bizz) is 44. Model Vendela is 44. Actress Farrah Forke is 43. Actress Rachael Harris is 43. Rock singer Zack de la Rocha is 41. Rapper Raekwon (Wu Tang Clan) is 41. Singer Dan Haseltine (Jars of Clay) is 38. Rock musician Matt Wong (Reel Big Fish) is 38. Singer Melanie Chisholm (Spice Girls) is 37. Contemporary Christian singer Jeremy Camp is 33. Rhythm-and-blues singer Amerie is 31. Actress Naya Rivera is 24. Actor Will Rothhaar is 24. Actor Andrew Lawrence is 23.

Thought for today: "Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books that nobody reads." -- George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright (1856-1950)

[Associated Press]

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