JANUARY 15TH

Today is Thursday, Jan. 15, the 15th day of 2009.
There are 350 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Jan. 15, 1929, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta.

On this date:

• In 1559, England's Queen Elizabeth I was crowned in Westminster Abbey.
• In 1777, the people of New Connecticut declared their independence. (The tiny republic later became the state of Vermont.)
• In 1844, the University of Notre Dame received its charter from the state of Indiana.
• In 1909, jazz drummer and composer Gene Krupa was born in Chicago.
• In 1942, Jawaharlal Nehru was named to succeed Mohandas K. Gandhi as head of India's Congress Party.
• In 1943, work was completed on the Pentagon, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense.
• In 1947, the mutilated remains of Elizabeth Short, the 22-year-old aspiring actress nicknamed the "Black Dahlia," were found in a vacant Los Angeles lot; her slaying remains unsolved.
• In 1967, the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League 35-10 in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, retroactively known as Super Bowl I.
• In 1973, President Richard M. Nixon announced the suspension of all U.S. offensive action in North Vietnam, citing progress in peace negotiations.
• In 1989, NATO, the Warsaw Pact and 12 other European countries adopted a human rights and security agreement in Vienna, Austria.

Ten years ago:

• House prosecutors prodded senators at President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial to summon Monica Lewinsky and others for testimony and "invite the president" to appear as well.

Five years ago:

• The NASA Spirit rover rolled onto the surface of Mars for the first time since the vehicle bounced to a landing nearly two weeks earlier.
• Fourteen-year-old golfer Michelle Wie shot a 2-over 72 in the first round at the PGA Sony Open in Honolulu.
• "First Wives Club" novelist Olivia Goldsmith died in New York at age 54.

One year ago:

• Mitt Romney scored his first major primary victory in his native Michigan.
• During a visit to Saudi Arabia, President George W. Bush warned that surging oil prices threatened the U.S. economy and he urged OPEC nations to boost their output.
• Actor Brad Renfro, who as a youngster had played the title role in "The Client," was found dead in his Los Angeles home; he was 25.

Today's Birthdays:

• Actress Margaret O'Brien is 72.
• Singer Don Van Vliet (aka "Captain Beefheart") is 68.
• Actress Andrea Martin is 62.
• Actor-director Mario Van Peebles is 52.
• Actor James Nesbitt is 44.
• Singer Lisa Lisa (Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam) is 42.
• Actor Chad Lowe is 41.
• Actress Regina King is 38.
• Actor Eddie Cahill is 31.
• Rapper/reggaeton artist Pitbull is 28.

Thought for Today:

"One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means."
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968).

"Let's all be careful out there!"