JANUARY 30TH

Today is Friday, Jan. 30, the 30th day of 2009.
There are 335 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Jan. 30, 1968, the Tet Offensive began during the Vietnam War as Communist forces launched surprise attacks against South Vietnamese provincial capitals; although the Communists were beaten back, the offensive was seen as a major setback for the U.S. and its allies.

On this date:

• In 1649, England's King Charles I was beheaded.
• In 1882, the 32nd president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was born in Hyde Park, N.Y.
• In 1909, community organizer and social activist Saul Alinsky was born in Chicago.
• In 1933, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. The first episode of the "Lone Ranger" radio program was broadcast on station WXYZ in Detroit.
• In 1939, the Supreme Court, in Tennessee Electric Power Co. v. Tennessee Valley Authority, upheld the right of the federally owned TVA to compete with private utilities.
• In 1948, Indian political and spiritual leader Mohandas K. Gandhi was shot and killed by a Hindu extremist.
• In 1962, two members of "The Flying Wallendas" high-wire act were killed when their seven-person pyramid collapsed during a performance in Detroit.
• In 1972, 13 Roman Catholic civil rights marchers were shot to death by British soldiers in Northern Ireland on what became known as "Bloody Sunday."
• In 1979, the civilian government of Iran announced it had decided to allow Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who'd been living in exile in France, to return.
• In 2003, Richard Reid, the British citizen and al-Qaida follower who'd tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic jetliner with explosives hidden in his shoes, was sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge in Boston.

Ten years ago:

• NATO authorized its secretary-general to launch military action in Yugoslavia if the warring parties failed to negotiate an agreement for autonomy in Kosovo.

Five years ago:

• Former French Prime Minister Alain Juppe was found guilty in connection with a party financing scandal and declared ineligible for public office for 10 years.
• NASA's Mars rover Opportunity spied hints of a mineral that typically forms in water — a finding that could mean the dry and dusty Red Planet was once wetter and more hospitable to life.

One year ago:

• John Edwards bowed out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
• Rudy Giuliani dropped out of the Republican presidential contest and endorsed front-runner and longtime friend John McCain.
• The Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate for the second time in just over a week, reducing the federal funds rate by a half point to 3 percent.

Today's Birthdays:

• Actress Dorothy Malone is 84.
• Producer-director Harold Prince is 81.
• Actor Gene Hackman is 79.
• Actress Tammy Grimes is 75.
• Actress Vanessa Redgrave is 72.
• Country singer Jeanne Pruett is 72.
• Country singer Norma Jean is 71.
• Vice President Dick Cheney is 68.
• Rock singer Marty Balin is 67.
• Rhythm-and-blues musician William King (The Commodores) is 60.
• Singer Phil Collins is 58.
• Actor Charles S. Dutton is 58.
• Actress-comedian Brett Butler is 51.
• Singer Jody Watley is 50.
• Actor Norbert Leo Butz is 42.
• Country singer Tammy Cochran is 37.
• Actor Christian Bale is 35.
• Pop-rock singer-songwriter Josh Kelley is 29.
• Actor Wilmer Valderrama is 29.
• Actor Jake Thomas is 19.

Thought for Today:

"The excellent becomes the permanent."
Jane Addams, social worker and Nobel Peace laureate (1860-1935).

"Let's all be careful out there!"