On Jan. 16, 1920, Prohibition began in the United States as the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution took effect, one year to the day after its ratification. (It was later repealed by the 21st Amendment.)
On this date:
In 1547, Ivan IV of Russia (popularly known as "Ivan the Terrible") was crowned Czar.
In 1581, the English Parliament outlawed Roman Catholicism.
In 1883, the US Civil Service Commission was established.
In 1919, pianist and statesman Ignacy Jan Paderewski became the first premier of the newly created republic of Poland.
In 1925, Leon Trotsky was dismissed as chairman of the Russian Revolution Military Council.
In 1935, fugitive gangster Fred Barker and his mother, Kate "Ma" Barker, were killed in a shootout with the FBI at Lake Weir, Fla.
In 1944, General Dwight D. Eisenhower took command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in London.
In 1969, two manned Soviet Soyuz spaceships became the first vehicles to dock in space and transfer personnel.
In 1978, NASA named 35 candidates to fly on the space shuttle, including Sally K. Ride, who became America's first woman in space, and Guion S. Bluford Jr., who became America's first black astronaut in space.
In 1988, Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder was fired as a CBS sports commentator one day after making a racist comment.
In 1989, three days of rioting erupted in Miami when a police officer fatally shot a black motorcyclist, causing a crash that also claimed the life of a passenger. (The officer, William Lozano, was convicted of manslaughter, but then was acquitted in a retrial.)
In 1991, the White House announced the start of Operation Desert Storm to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.
In 1997, a bomb exploded at an Atlanta building housing an abortion clinic. An hour later, after investigators and others had come to the scene, a second bomb went off, injuring six people.
In 1999, closing three days of opening arguments, House prosecutors demanded President Bill Clinton's removal from office, telling a hushed Senate that otherwise the presidency itself may be "deeply and perhaps permanently damaged." Forty-five ethnic Albanians were found slain near the southern Kosovo village of Racak.
In 2000, Ricardo Lagos was elected Chile's first socialist president since Salvador Allende.
In 2001, Laurent Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, was killed in a shooting at his home.
In 2003, the space shuttle Columbia blasted off under extremely tight security; on board was Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon. (The mission ended in tragedy when the shuttle broke up during its return descent, killing all seven crew members.)
In 2004, NASA announced that the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope would be allowed to degrade and eventually become useless. Freddy Adu, the 14-year-old phenom, was selected by D.C. United as the first pick in Major League Soccer draft.
In 2005, the US military freed 81 detainees in Afghanistan, ahead of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha. U.S. President George W. Bush said his re-election was a ratification of what he did in Iraq and there was no reason to hold any administration official accountable.
In 2006, Africa's first elected female head of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was sworn in as Liberia's president.
In 2008, President George W. Bush closed out his Mideast trip with a brief visit to Egypt, where he was welcomed by President Hosni Mubarak. Archbishop Earl Paulk, the 80-year-old leader of a megachurch, pleaded guilty in Atlanta to lying under oath about his sexual affairs and was sentenced to 10 years' probation.
In 2009, President-elect Barack Obama made a pitch for his massive economic stimulus plan at a factory in Bedford Heights, Ohio, saying his proposal would make smart investments in the country's future and create solid jobs in up-and-coming industries. Painter Andrew Wyeth died in Chadds Ford, Pa., at age 91. John Mortimer, the British lawyer-writer who'd created the curmudgeonly criminal lawyer Rumpole of the Bailey, died in the Chiltern Hills, England, at age 85.
Today's Birthdays January 16: Author William Kennedy is 82. Author-editor Norman Podhoretz is 80. Opera singer Marilyn Horne is 76. Hall of Fame auto racer A.J. Foyt is 75. Singer Barbara Lynn is 68. Country singer Ronnie Milsap is 67. Country singer Jim Stafford is 66. Talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger is 63. Movie director John Carpenter is 62. Actress-dancer-choreographer Debbie Allen is 60. Comedian Robert Schimmel is 60. Singer Sade is 51. Rock musician Paul Webb (Talk Talk) is 48. Rhythm-and-blues singer Maxine Jones (En Vogue) is 44. Actor David Chokachi is 42. Actor Richard T. Jones is 38. Actress Josie Davis is 37. Model Kate Moss is 36. Rock musician Nick Valensi (The Strokes) is 29. Actress Yvonne Zima is 21.
Those born on this date include: German philosopher Franz Brentano (1838); Andre Michelin, the French industrialist who first mass-produced rubber automobile tires (1853); Canadian poet Robert Service (1874); Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista (1901); inventor Frank Zamboni (1901); singer Ethel Merman (1909); baseball pitcher Jerome "Dizzy" Dean (1910); zoologist Dian Fossey ( 1932); writer Susan Sontag (1933).
Today In Entertaiment History January 16
In 1942, actress Carole Lombard, her mother and about 20 other people were killed when their plane crashed near Las Vegas. They were returning from a war-bond promotion tour.
In 1957, the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England, opened. It became famous as the place where The Beatles were a house band.
In 1964, the musical "Hello, Dolly!" starring Carol Channing, opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 2,844 performances.
In 1970, The Who began a tour of European opera houses, performing excerpts from the rock opera "Tommy." [Saw that tour. — Ed.]
In 1973, the last episode of "Bonanza" aired on NBC.
In 1976, the live album "Frampton Comes Alive!" was released.
In 1980, Paul McCartney was jailed in Tokyo after customs agents found marijuana in his luggage. Exactly four years later, he was arrested for marijuana possession in Barbados.
In 1990, actors Tom Cruise and Mimi Rogers released a statement that said they were ending their three-year marriage. [Not even L. Ron Hitler could keep that one going. — Ed.]
In 1991, The Byrds and Wilson Pickett were among those inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 1996, Jamaican authorities opened fire on Jimmy Buffett's seaplane, mistaking it for a drug trafficker's plane. U2 singer Bono was with Buffett, but neither one was hurt. Also in 1996, Wayne Newton performed his 25,000th Las Vegas show. Newton has performed more shows as a headliner in Las Vegas than any other entertainer.
In 2004, pop star Michael Jackson pleaded innocent to child molestation charges in Santa Maria, Calif.; the judge scolded Jackson for being 21 minutes late. (Charges were later re-filed and Jackson was acquitted.)
In 2005, Golden Globes were awarded to "The Aviator" as best movie drama and "Sideways" as best movie musical or comedy.
Thought for Today: "Goodwill is the only asset that competition cannot undersell or destroy." — Marshall Field, department store founder (1834-1906).
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