Today's Highlight in History:
On Jan. 3, 1959, Alaska became the 49th state as President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation.
In 1521, Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Leo X.
In 1777, Gen. George Washington's army routed the British in the Battle of Princeton, N.J.
In 1868, the Meiji Restoration re-established the authority of Japan's emperor and heralded the fall of the military rulers known as shoguns.
In 1870, groundbreaking took place for the Brooklyn Bridge.
In 1892, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
In 1938, the March of Dimes campaign to fight polio was organized.
In 1947, Congressional proceedings were televised for the first time as viewers in Washington, Philadelphia and New York City saw some of the opening ceremonies of the 80th Congress.
In 1949, in a pair of rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court said that states had the right to ban closed shops.
In 1961, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba.
In 1967, Jack Ruby, the man who fatally shot accused presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, died in a Dallas hospital.
In 1980, conservationist Joy Adamson, author of "Born Free," was killed in northern Kenya by a former employee.
In 1990, ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces, 10 days after taking refuge in the Vatican's diplomatic mission.
President George H.W. Bush announces the surrender.In 1993, President George H.W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a historic nuclear missile-reduction treaty in Moscow.
In 1999, Chicagoans dug out from their biggest snowstorm in more than 30 years. Israeli authorities detained, and later expelled, 14 members of Concerned Christians, a Denver-based cult which Israeli officials feared was plotting violence in Jerusalem to bring about the Second Coming of Christ. [Cult? Sounds mainstream Xian to us. — Ed.]
In 2000, acting Russian President Vladimir Putin fired Boris Yeltsin's daughter (Tatyana Dyachenko) from her Kremlin post in one of his first official acts, moving quickly to distance himself from Yeltsin's scandal-tinged administration. The last new daily "Peanuts" strip by Charles Schulz ran in 2,600 newspapers.
In 2004, NASA's Mars rover, Spirit, touched down on the red planet. A Boeing 737 owned by Egyptian charter tour operator Flash Airlines crashed into the Red Sea, killing all 148 people aboard, most of them French tourists.
In 2005, President George W. Bush tapped his father, former President George H.W. Bush, and former President Bill Clinton to help raise tsunami relief funds. The third-ranked Auburn Tigers limped to a 16-13 victory over No. 9 Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. Will Eisner, the artist who revolutionized comic books and helped pioneer the graphic novel, died in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. at age 87.
In 2006, lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion and agreed to cooperate in investigations of corruption in Congress.
In 2008, Barack Obama won the Democratic caucuses in Iowa, while Mike Huckabee won Republican caucuses. [Where are those two now? — Ed.] After nearly 27 years in prison, Texas inmate Charles Chatman was set free by a judge because of new DNA evidence showing he'd been wrongly convicted of rape. The Kansas Jayhawks won the Orange Bowl, defeating Virginia Tech 24-21.
In 2009, After seven days of pummeling the Gaza Strip from the air, Israel launched a ground offensive; Hamas vowed that Gaza would be a "graveyard" for the Israelis.
Today's Birthdays: Record producer Sir George Martin is 84. Actor Robert Loggia is 80. Actor Dabney Coleman is 78. Journalist-author Betty Rollin is 74. Hockey Hall-of-Famer Bobby Hull is 71. Singer-songwriter-producer Van Dyke Parks is 67. Musician Stephen Stills is 65. Rock musician John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) is 64. Actress Victoria Principal is 60. Actor-director Mel Gibson is 54. Actress Shannon Sturges is 42. Jazz musician James Carter is 41. Contemporary Christian singer Nichole Nordeman is 38. Actor Jason Marsden is 35. Actress Danica McKellar is 35. Actor Nicholas Gonzalez is 34. Singer Kimberley Locke ("American Idol") is 32. NFL quarterback Eli Manning is 29.
Today In Entertainment History January 3
In 1909, Danish-American comedian Victor Borge was born in Copenhagen.
In 1967, Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys refused to be sworn in after receiving a US Army draft notice. Wilson said he was a conscientious objector.
In 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Two Virgins" record sleeve, which showed them posing nude, was declared pornographic in New Jersey. Police seized copies of the album.
In 1970, members of The Beatles recorded their last song together, "I Me Mine." George Harrison later used that title for his autobiography. Also in 1970, singer Davy Jones announced he was leaving The Monkees, a year after Peter Tork quit the group.
In 1974, Bob Dylan and The Band opened a brief tour. Several dates were recorded for a live album.
In 1989, country legend Johnny Cash was released from a Nashville hospital two weeks after undergoing double-bypass heart surgery. At the time, he said he had no plans to cancel any of his tour dates that year. Also in 1989, "The Arsenio Hall Show" made its premiere on Fox.
In 1991, the sit-com "Blossom" premiered on NBC.
In 1992, singer Jim Kerr of Simple Minds married actress Patsy Kensit in London. They have since split up.
In 1997, Bryant Gumbel signed off for the last time as host of NBC's "Today" show.
In 2004, Britney Spears married childhood friend Jason Alexander in a spur-of-the-moment wedding in Las Vegas. The marriage lasted 55 hours before they got it annulled.
In 2005, Craig Ferguson took over as the new host of "The Late Late Show" on CBS-TV.
In 2008, pop tart Britney Spears was hospitalized after a child custody dispute with ex-husband Kevin Federline resulted in an hours-long standoff with police.
In 2009, veteran actor Pat Hingle died in Carolina Beach, N.C. at age 84.
Thought for Today: "To have reason to get up in the morning, it is necessary to possess a guiding principle. A belief of some kind. A bumper sticker, if you will." — Judith Guest, American author. ['K, Judy, what if one's "bumper sticker" is along the lines of "Everything's made of shit & we're all dying?" Then what? — Ed.]
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