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 1782, lawyer and statesman Daniel Webster was born in Salisbury, N.H.
In 1788, the first English settlers arrived in Australia's Botany Bay to establish a penal colony.
In 1862, the 10th president of the United States, John Tyler, died in Richmond, Va., at age 71.
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 1936, author Rudyard Kipling died in Burwash, England, at age 70.
In 1919, the Paris Peace Conference, held to negotiate peace treaties ending World War I, opened in Versailles, France.
In 1943, 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 1966, Indira Gandhi, daughter of the late Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, became prime minister of India.
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 1968, the United States and Soviet Union agreed on a draft of a nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
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 1983, the International Olympic Committee restored Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals to his family. They had been rescinded for Thorpe's having played professional baseball. He won gold medals in 1912 in the pentathlon and decathlon.
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).
In 1991, financially strapped Eastern Airlines shut down after 62 years in business.
In 1993, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was observed in all 50 states for the first time. Seven people were killed and nearly 70 more injured when two commuter trains collided on a bridge in Gary, Ind.
In 1994, Iran-Contra independent counsel Lawrence Walsh issued his final report on the scandal. He blasted former U.S. President George H.W. Bush for his Christmas Eve 1992 pardons of six Iran-Contra defendants.
In 1995, officials in Paris announced the discovery of a magnificent display of Paleolithic cave art in southern France.
In 1997, Norwegian Borge Ousland completed a 1,675-mile trek across Antarctica, the first time anyone traversed the continent alone.
In 1999, defying global outrage over the massacre of 45 ethnic Albanian civilians in Kosovo, Serb forces pounded villages with artillery. The Yugoslav government also ordered the American head of the Kosovo peace mission to leave the country and barred a U.N. investigator who was looking into the massacre.
In 2000, 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.
In 2004, at least 23 people were reported killed when a car bomb exploded in Baghdad.(AP) A suicide truck bombing outside the headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition in Baghdad killed at least 31 people.(UPI) A 15-day hostage drama began at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis near Buckeye, where two inmates attempting to escape took two correctional officers hostage. (One guard was released midway through the ordeal; the other, Lois Fraley, was held the entire time, during which she was raped and beaten.) The New England Patriots earned their second trip to the Super Bowl in three seasons by defeating the Indianapolis Colts 24-14 in the AFC championship game; the Carolina Panthers defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, 14-3, in the NFC championship game.
In 2005, 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.
In 2006, bodies of 36 Iraqis were found in mass graves in two towns north of Baghdad. Officials said many of the victims were police recruits.
In 2007, Venezuelan lawmakers voted to allow President Hugo Chavez to rule by decree for 18 months.
In 2008, U.S. President George W. Bush urged passage of a $145 billion stimulus package to provide tax relief for individuals and businesses to boost a sagging U.S. economy. Also in 2008, after major presidential primary tests in Iowa and New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton led Barack Obama in the Democratic race and Mike Huckbee and John McCain shared wins among the Republicans. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon designated George Clooney a U.N. "messenger of peace" to promote the world body's activities.
In 2009, 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: Audio engineer Ray Dolby is 77. 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.
Those Born On This Date Include: English physician Peter Roget, who compiled "Roget's Thesaurus" (1779); English author A.A. (Alan Alexander) Milne, who wrote "Winnie the Pooh" ( 1882); actor Danny Kaye (1913); baseball player Curt Flood (1938); Temptations singer David Ruffin (1941).
Today In Entertainment History January 18
In 1892, Oliver Hardy of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy was born Norvell Hardy in Harlem, Ga.
In 1904, actor Cary Grant was born Archibald Leach in Bristol, England.
In 1969, former Beatles drummer Pete Best won his defamation suit against the Beatles. He had sought $8 million, but was awarded considerably less.
In 1973, The Rolling Stones held a benefit concert in Los Angeles for victims of an earthquake in Nicaragua. Mick Jagger's wife Bianca had relatives in Nicaragua. The concert raised more than $400,000. Also in 1973, Pink Floyd began recording "Dark Side of the Moon."
In 1974, the band Bad Company was formed.
In 1987, musician Steve Winwood married Eugenia Grafton.
In 1989, The Rolling Stones, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder and the late Otis Redding were among those inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. One of the highlights of the ceremony was a tribute to Roy Orbison, who had died the previous month.
In 1991, three people were crushed to death at an AC/DC concert in Salt Lake City. The victims had been pinned by people who rushed the stage.
In 1995, Grateful Dead singer Jerry Garcia crashed a rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California. Garcia wasn't even scratched. [He'd still be dead in eight mos. or so. — Ed.]
In 1996, Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, filed for divorce from Michael Jackson after 20 months of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.
In 2008, actress Lois Nettleton died in Woodland Hills, Calif., at age 80.
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).
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