JANUARY 28TH

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 28, the 28th day of 2009.
There are 337 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Jan. 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Fla., killing all seven of its crew members: flight commander Francis R. "Dick" Scobee; pilot Michael Smith; Ronald McNair; Ellison Onizuka; Judith Resnik; Gregory Jarvis; and schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.

On this date:

• In 1547, England's King Henry VIII died; he was succeeded by his 9-year-old son, Edward VI.
• In 1853, Cuban revolutionary Jose Marti was born in Havana.
• In 1878, the first daily college newspaper, Yale News (now Yale Daily News), began publication in New Haven, Conn.
• In 1909, the United States withdrew its forces from Cuba as Jose Miguel Gomez became president.
• In 1915, the United States Coast Guard was created as President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill merging the Life-Saving Service and Revenue Cutter Service.
• In 1916, Louis D. Brandeis was nominated by President Woodrow Wilson to the Supreme Court; Brandeis became the court's first Jewish member.
• In 1945, during World War II, Allied supplies began reaching China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
• In 1969, a major oil spill off Santa Barbara, Calif., occurred as a Union Oil well blew out, sending oil and natural gas into the Santa Barbara Channel.
• In 1973, a cease-fire officially went into effect in the Vietnam War.
• In 1978, fire swept through the historic downtown Coates House hotel in Kansas City, Mo., killing 20 people.

Ten years ago:

• Ford Motor Company announced it was buying the Volvo car division in a $6.45 billion deal.
• Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan honored a personal request for mercy from Pope John Paul II, sparing triple murderer Darrell Mease from being executed.

Five years ago:

• British Prime Minister Tony Blair won vindication when a judge said the BBC was wrong to report the government had "sexed up" intelligence to justify war in Iraq.
• Former U.S. Navy commander Lloyd "Pete" Bucher, who'd helped his USS Pueblo crew survive brutal captivity in North Korea, then faced criticism back home, died in Poway, Calif., at age 76.

One year ago:

• President George W. Bush, in his last State of the Union address, urged passage of an economic stimulus package and asked Americans to remain patient with the long, grinding war in Iraq.
• In a daring ambush, Iraqi insurgents blasted a U.S. patrol with a roadside bomb and showered survivors with gunfire from a mosque in Mosul; five American soldiers were killed in the explosion.
• A U.S. missile attack in Pakistan killed veteran al-Qaida leader Abu Laith al-Libi.
• Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama for the White House.

Today's Birthdays:

• Musician-composer Acker Bilk is 80.
• Actor Nicholas Pryor is 74.
• Actor Alan Alda is 73.
• Actress Susan Howard is 67.
• Actress Marthe Keller is 64.
• Actress-singer Barbi Benton is 59.
• French President Nicolas Sarkozy is 54.
• Actress Harley Jane Kozak is 52.
• Movie director Frank Darabont is 50.
• Rock musician Dave Sharp is 50.
• Rock singer Sam Phillips is 47.
• Rock musician Dan Spitz (Anthrax) is 46.
• Country musician Greg Cook (Ricochet) is 44.
• Gospel singer Marvin Sapp is 42.
• Singer Sarah McLachlan is 41.
• Rapper Rakim is 41.
• DJ Muggs (Cypress Hill) is 41.
• Actress Kathryn Morris ("Cold Case") is 40.
• Rhythm-and-blues singer Anthony Hamilton is 38.
• Rock musician Brandon Bush (Train) is 36.
• Singer Joey Fatone, Jr. ('N Sync) is 32.
• Rapper Rick Ross is 32.
• Actress Rosamund Pike is 30.
• Singer Nick Carter (Backstreet Boys) is 29.
• Actor Elijah Wood is 28.

Thought for Today:

"Since when do we have to agree with people to defend them from injustice?"
Lillian Hellman, American author and playwright (1905-1984).

"Let's all be careful out there!"