Today's Highlight in History:
On Jan. 23, 1960, the Swiss-Italian-made bathyscaphe (BATH'-ih-skahf) Trieste, owned and operated by the U.S. Navy, carried two men to the deepest known point in the Pacific Ocean, reaching a depth of more than 35,000 feet inside the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench.
On this date:
In 1542, King Henry VIII took the title of King of Ireland.
In 1579, The Union of Utrecht is signed by the provinces of the Netherlands committed to carrying on resistance to Spain. It becomes in fact the foundation of the state of the Netherlands.
In 1789, Georgetown University was established in present-day Washington, D.C.
In 1799, French troops capture Italian city of Naples.
In 1845, Congress decided all national elections would be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
In 1849, English-born Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in America to receive a Doctor of Medicine degree, from the Medical Institution of Geneva, N.Y. Prussia suggested a German union without Austria.
In 1918, the Soviet government officially severed relations with the church.
In 1920, Holland refused to surrender Germany's former Kaiser Wilhelm II to Allies for punishment as a World War I criminal.
In 1922, at Toronto General Hospital, 14-year-old Canadian Leonard Thompson became the first person to receive an insulin injection as treatment for diabetes.
In 1932, New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.
In 1948, U.S. Army Gen. Dwight Eisenhower said he couldn't accept a presidential nomination from either party. Four years later, he ran as a Republican and was elected 34th president of the United States.
In 1950, the Israeli Knesset approved a resolution affirming Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
In 1964, the 24th amendment to the Constitution, eliminating the poll tax in federal elections, was ratified.
In 1968, North Korea seized the Navy intelligence ship USS Pueblo, charging its crew with being on a spying mission. (The crew was released 11 months later.)
In 1971, the temperature at Prospect Creek, Alaska, dropped to 80 degrees below zero, the lowest temperature recorded in the United States.
In 1973, President Richard M. Nixon announced an accord had been reached to end the Vietnam War.
Nixon: "peace with honor"In 1980, U.S. President Jimmy Carter reinstated the Selective Service System.
In 1985, debate in Britain's House of Lords was carried live on TV for the first time.
In 1988, Sandinista missiles downed a cargo plane that was dropping U.S.-financed supplies to Contra rebels in southeastern Nicaragua. Four crewmen were killed.
In 1989, surrealist painter Salvador Dali died in his native Spain at age 84.
AP sez: In 1991, allied forces in the Persian Gulf War announced that they had achieved air superiority after some 12,000 sorties.
UPI sez: In 1991, U.S. Army Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said heavy bombing had destroyed Iraq's two operating nuclear reactors and damaged chemical facilities. The Angolan government accepted a peace plan that ended a 15-year-old civil war with UNITA rebels. Also in 1991, U.S. Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady asked Congress for another $80 billion toward the bailout of the nation's savings and loan industry.
In 1992, the Salvadoran legislature issued an amnesty for guerrilla fighters of a 12-year civil war, allowing them to return to society.
In 1996, Yigal Amir confessed in court to killing Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
In 1997, a judge in Fairfax, Va., sentenced a Pakistani man to death for an assault rifle attack outside CIA headquarters in 1993 that killed two people and wounded three. France's highest court rejected a final appeal and ordered Maurice Papon, a former Vichy official, to stand trial for deporting Jews to death camps during World War II.
In 1999, a federal judge ordered Monica Lewinsky to submit to an interview sought by House prosecutors in President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial. During his visit to Mexico, Pope John Paul II urged his flock in the Americas to make the region a "continent of life."
In 2000, the Tennessee Titans advanced to the Super Bowl by beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 33-14 in the AFC Championship game. The St. Louis Rams defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 11-6 to win the NFC Championship. NFL star Derrick Thomas was injured when the sport utility vehicle he was driving overturned on an icy road in Missouri; Thomas died more than two weeks later. (The crash also claimed the life of Thomas' friend, Michael Tellis.) Over a million people marched through downtown Madrid to call for peace after a car-bomb attack was seen as a resurgence of Basque separatists' 32-year-old campaign of violence which had killed nearly 800 people.
In 2001, a new administration in the Philippines moves to freeze the bank accounts of ousted President Joseph Estrada and begins a criminal investigation against him.
In 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was abducted in Karachi, Pakistan, by a group demanding the return of prisoners from the Afghan campaign; he was later slain.
In 2004, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld former Gov. George Ryan's powers to commute sentences, keeping 32 spared inmates off death row.
In 2005, Viktor Yushchenko was sworn in as president of Ukraine. The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Atlanta Falcons 27-10 to win the NFC championship game; the New England Patriots won the AFC championship by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers, 41-27.
In 2006, Ford Motor Co., reflecting the downsizing of the U.S. auto industry, said it would close 14 factories and eliminate 30,000 jobs over six years. Also in 2006, Canadian voters chose Stephen Harper's Conservation Party over outgoing Prime Minister Paul Martin's Labor Party in a close parliamentary election. Ugandan rebels ambush UN peacekeepers in Congo, killing eight of them in a gunbattle that also leaves 15 attackers dead near the Sudanese border.
In 2007, more than 100,000 mourners choke the streets of Istanbul for the funeral of Hrant Dink, the Armenian journalist who was gunned down in broad daylight on January 19 because of public statements made about the mass killings of Armenians by Turks in the early 20th century.
In 2008, tens of thousands of Palestinians poured into Egypt from Gaza after Palestinian militants used land mines to breach a barrier dividing the border town of Rafah. Also in 2008, Thailand returned to civilian rule after a military council that had ruled the country for 16 months disbanded. French Open winner Michael Chang was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and IMG creator Mark McCormack and Tennis Week magazine founder Eugene Scott were selected posthumously.
In 2009, President Barack Obama quietly ended the Bush administration's ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide information on the option. New York Gov. David Paterson chose Democratic Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (KEHR'-sten JIL'-uh-brand) to fill the Senate seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Today's Birthdays: Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) is 86. Actress Jeanne Moreau is 82. Actress Chita Rivera is 77. Actor-director Lou Antonio is 76. Actor Gil Gerard is 67. Actor Rutger Hauer is 66. Rhythm-and-blues singer Jerry Lawson (The Persuasions) is 66. Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) is 63. Singer Anita Pointer is 62. Actor Richard Dean Anderson is 60. Rock musician Bill Cunningham is 60. Rock singer Robin Zander (Cheap Trick) is 57. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (vee-yah-ry-GOH'-sah) is 57. Princess Caroline of Monaco is 53. Singer Anita Baker is 52. Reggae musician Earl Falconer (UB40) is 51. Actress Gail O'Grady is 47. Actress Mariska Hargitay is 46. Rhythm-and-blues singer Marc Nelson is 39. Actress Tiffani Thiessen is 36. Rock musician Nick Harmer (Death Cab for Cutie) is 35.
Those Born On This Date But Now Dead Include: American patriot John Hancock (1737); French author Stendhal, a pseudonym for Marie-Henri Beyle (1783-1842); French Impressionist painter Edouard Manet (1832-1883); Russian film director Sergei Eisenstein (1898); actors Randolph Scott (1898) & Dan Duryea (1907) & comedian Ernie Kovacs (1919).
This Date In Entertainment History
In 1943, critic Alexander Woollcott suffered a fatal heart attack during a live broadcast of the CBS radio program "People's Platform."
In 1958, Brunswick Records released "Maybe Baby" backed with "Tell Me How" by The Crickets.
In 1970, singer Judy Collins was denied permission to sing her testimony at the Chicago Seven trial.
In 1976, "Donny and Marie" premiered on ABC. It was the first variety show hosted by a brother and sister team, Donny and Marie Osmond.
In 1977, the TV mini-series "Roots," based on the Alex Haley novel, began on ABC.
In 1978, Terry Kath, a vocalist and guitarist with the band Chicago, accidentally shot himself to death. He was 32.
In 1982, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley recorded their first demos as Wham! in Ridgeley's parents' house. They used a portable studio that cost them $32.
In 1986, the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were honored. They included Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Elvis Presley.
In 1989, James Brown was sentenced in Georgia to another six years in jail in connection with a police chase through two states. At the time, Brown was serving a sentence in South Carolina.
In 1990, former Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Allen Collins died in Florida of complications from pneumonia. He was 37.
In 1996, the city council in Johnson City, Tenn., withdrew permission for White Zombie to hold a show there. Several town residents had complained that the band advocated devil worship.
In 1997, "Louie, Louie" composer Richard Berry died in his sleep at his home in South Central Los Angeles.
In 2000, the dark satire "American Beauty" won the Golden Globe for best film drama, while "The Sopranos" won best television drama.
In 2002, Virgin Records and Mariah Carey terminated their record deal after barely nine months. Virgin paid Carey $28 million to break the contract, on top of the $21 million Carey got for signing with Virgin.
In 2004, the enduring situation comedy "Friends" filmed its final episode in front of an invitation-only audience. Bob Keeshan, TV's "Captain Kangaroo," died in Windsor, Vt., at age 76.
In 2005, former "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson died from complications from emphysema in Malibu, Calif. at age 79.
Thought for Today: "Never continue in a job you don't enjoy. If you're happy in what you're doing, you'll like yourself, you'll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you could possibly have imagined." — Johnny Carson, American talk show host (1925-2005).
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