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!"