January 4
1821 - The first native-born American saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, died in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
1885 - Dr. William W. Grant of Davenport, Cockeye performed what is believed to be the world's first appendectomy.
1896 - Utah became the 45th state.
1904 - In Gonzales v. Williams, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that citizens of Puerto Rico are not aliens and can enter the U.S. freely; however, the court stopped short of declaring them full citizens. (Puerto Ricans received U.S. citizenship in March 1917.)
1935 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his State of the Union address, called for legislation to provide assistance for the jobless, elderly, impoverished children and the handicapped.
1944 - Ralph Bunche became the first African-American officer at the State Department as he was appointed to a post in the Near East and African Section.
1948 - Burma (Myanmar) gained independence from Great Britain.
1951 - During the Korean War, North Korean and Communist Chinese forces captured the city of Seoul, South Korea.
1964 - Pope Paul VI began a visit to the Holy Land, the first papal pilgrimage of its kind.
1965 - President Lyndon B. Johnson outlined the goals of his "Great Society" in his State of the Union address.
1965 - Poet T.S. Eliot died at age 76.
1974 - President Richard Nixon refused to hand over tape recordings and documents subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
1987 - Sixteen people were killed when an Amtrak train bound from Washington, D.C. to Boston collided with Conrail locomotives that had crossed into its path from a side track in Chase, Maryland.
1995 - The 104th Congress convened, the first entirely under Republican control since the Eisenhower era; Newt Gingrich was elected Speaker of the House.
1999 - Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura was sworn in as governor of Minnesota.
1999 - Europe's new currency, the euro, got off to a strong start on its first trading day, rising against the dollar on world currency markets.
2002 - Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Ross Chapman, a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier, was killed by small-arms fire during an ambush in eastern Afghanistan; he was the first American military death from enemy fire in the war against terrorism.
2004 - Afghan voters approved a new constitution.
2006 - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke and his powers were transferred to his deputy, Ehud Olmert. (Sharon remained in a coma until his death in January 2014.)
2007 - California Democrat Nancy Pelosi became the first female U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives.
2010 - Dubai opened the world's tallest skyscraper, the 2,717-foot gleaming glass-and-metal tower Burj Khalifa.
2011 - President Barack Obama signed a $1.4 billion overhaul of the nation’s food safety system.
2011 - The Navy fired the commander of the USS Enterprise, Capt. Owen Honors, more than three years after he’d made lewd videos to boost morale for his crew. (Honors was later reprimanded but allowed to remain in the Navy; he retired in 2012.)
2016 - The Justice Department sued Volkswagen over emissions-cheating software found in nearly 600,000 vehicles sold in the United States.
2020 - Thousands of militiamen and other supporters marched across Iraq’s capital in a funeral procession for Iran’s top general, Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike. President Donald Trump threatened to hit dozens of targets in Iran “very fast and very hard,” including sites “important to Iran & the Iranian culture,” if Iran retaliated for the killing.
Birthdays
23 - Coco Jones (singer/singer)
23 - Liza Soberano (actress)
25 - Emma Mackey (actress)
27 - Derrick Henry (football player)
29 - Kris Bryant (baseball player)
35 - Charlyne Yi (comedian)
36 - Lenora Chrichlow (actress)
41 - D'Arcy Carden (actress)
42 - Jeannie Mai (reality star)
46 - Jill Marie Jones (actress/singer)
48 - Damon Gupton (actor)
51 - Josh Stamberg (actor)
55 - Deana Carter (country singer)
56 - Julia Ormond (actress)
56 - Rick Hearst (actor)
57 - Dot Jones (actress)
58 - Dave Foley (actor)
59 - Patrick Cassidy (actor)
61 - Michael Stipe (singer)
63 - Julian Sands (actor)
64 - Patty Loveless (country singer)
65 - Ann Magnuson (actress)
66 - Kathy Forester (country singer)
82 - Dyan Cannon (actor)
94 - Barbara Rush (actress)
========================================
Today in Sports History - January 4
1883 - The Ontario Rugby Football Union was formed. The organization was the forerunner of the CFL.
1920 - The National Negro Baseball League was organized.
1942 - Rogers Horsby is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1957 - The Dodgers bought a 44-passenger twin-engine airplane for $775,000. They were the first team to own their own plane.
1970 - The Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Oakland Raiders 17-7 in the AFL championship game while the Minnesota Vikings defeat the Cleveland Browns 27-7 in the NFL title game.
1974 - NBC-TV presented hockey in prime time. The Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers were the teams in the National Hockey League (NHL) game.
1975 - The New Orleans Jazz set an NBA record (shot clock era) by scoring on only 20 points in the first half of a 111-89 loss to the Seattle SuperSonics.
1976 - The Dallas Cowboys became the first wild-card team to make it to the Super Bowl. They beat the Los Angeles Ram 37-7 in the NFC title game.
1983 - The United States Football League (USFL) held its first player draft.
1984 - Wayne Gretzky scored eight points (four goals and four assists) for the second time in his National Hockey League (NHL) career. His Edmonton Oilers defeated the Minnesota North Stars, 12-8. The game was the highest-scoring NHL game to date.
1986 - David Robinson of the United States Naval Academy sets an NCAA record with 14 blocked shots in a game.
1986 - Los Angeles Rams running back Eric Dickerson sets an NFL playoff record with 246 rushing yards in a 20-0 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
1992 - Robert Parish of the Boston Celtics becomes the fifth player in NBA history to record 2,000 career blocks.
1996 - Don Shula announced his retirement from coaching the Miami Dolphins after 26 seasons.
1999 - In the first BCS National Championship Game, #1 Tennessee defeats #2 Florida State 23-16 in the Fiesta Bowl.
2000 - A day after accepting the head coaching position for the New York Jets, Bill Belichick resigns and takes the same position with the New England Patriots.
2000 - #1 Florida State defeats #2 Virginia Tech 46-29 in the Sugar Bowl to win the BCS National Championship.
2000 - American businessman and investor Mark Cuban purchases a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks for $285 million.
2001 - Washington Wizards forward Michael Jordan becomes the fourth player in NBA history to score 30,000 career points.
2003 - The Green Bay Packers lost 27-7 to the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC wild card game. It was the first time that the Packers had ever lost a playoff game at home.
2004 - #2 LSU defeats #1 Oklahoma 21-14 in the Sugar Bowl to win the BCS National Championship.
2005 - #1 USC defeats #2 Oklahoma 55-19 in the Orange Bowl to win the BCS National Championship. (USC would later be forced to vacate this championship.)
2006 - #2 Texas defeats #1 USC 41-38 in the Rose Bowl to win the BCS National Championship.
1821 - The first native-born American saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, died in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
1885 - Dr. William W. Grant of Davenport, Cockeye performed what is believed to be the world's first appendectomy.
1896 - Utah became the 45th state.
1904 - In Gonzales v. Williams, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that citizens of Puerto Rico are not aliens and can enter the U.S. freely; however, the court stopped short of declaring them full citizens. (Puerto Ricans received U.S. citizenship in March 1917.)
1935 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his State of the Union address, called for legislation to provide assistance for the jobless, elderly, impoverished children and the handicapped.
1944 - Ralph Bunche became the first African-American officer at the State Department as he was appointed to a post in the Near East and African Section.
1948 - Burma (Myanmar) gained independence from Great Britain.
1951 - During the Korean War, North Korean and Communist Chinese forces captured the city of Seoul, South Korea.
1964 - Pope Paul VI began a visit to the Holy Land, the first papal pilgrimage of its kind.
1965 - President Lyndon B. Johnson outlined the goals of his "Great Society" in his State of the Union address.
1965 - Poet T.S. Eliot died at age 76.
1974 - President Richard Nixon refused to hand over tape recordings and documents subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
1987 - Sixteen people were killed when an Amtrak train bound from Washington, D.C. to Boston collided with Conrail locomotives that had crossed into its path from a side track in Chase, Maryland.
1995 - The 104th Congress convened, the first entirely under Republican control since the Eisenhower era; Newt Gingrich was elected Speaker of the House.
1999 - Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura was sworn in as governor of Minnesota.
1999 - Europe's new currency, the euro, got off to a strong start on its first trading day, rising against the dollar on world currency markets.
2002 - Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Ross Chapman, a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier, was killed by small-arms fire during an ambush in eastern Afghanistan; he was the first American military death from enemy fire in the war against terrorism.
2004 - Afghan voters approved a new constitution.
2006 - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke and his powers were transferred to his deputy, Ehud Olmert. (Sharon remained in a coma until his death in January 2014.)
2007 - California Democrat Nancy Pelosi became the first female U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives.
2010 - Dubai opened the world's tallest skyscraper, the 2,717-foot gleaming glass-and-metal tower Burj Khalifa.
2011 - President Barack Obama signed a $1.4 billion overhaul of the nation’s food safety system.
2011 - The Navy fired the commander of the USS Enterprise, Capt. Owen Honors, more than three years after he’d made lewd videos to boost morale for his crew. (Honors was later reprimanded but allowed to remain in the Navy; he retired in 2012.)
2016 - The Justice Department sued Volkswagen over emissions-cheating software found in nearly 600,000 vehicles sold in the United States.
2020 - Thousands of militiamen and other supporters marched across Iraq’s capital in a funeral procession for Iran’s top general, Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike. President Donald Trump threatened to hit dozens of targets in Iran “very fast and very hard,” including sites “important to Iran & the Iranian culture,” if Iran retaliated for the killing.
Birthdays
23 - Coco Jones (singer/singer)
23 - Liza Soberano (actress)
25 - Emma Mackey (actress)
27 - Derrick Henry (football player)
29 - Kris Bryant (baseball player)
35 - Charlyne Yi (comedian)
36 - Lenora Chrichlow (actress)
41 - D'Arcy Carden (actress)
42 - Jeannie Mai (reality star)
46 - Jill Marie Jones (actress/singer)
48 - Damon Gupton (actor)
51 - Josh Stamberg (actor)
55 - Deana Carter (country singer)
56 - Julia Ormond (actress)
56 - Rick Hearst (actor)
57 - Dot Jones (actress)
58 - Dave Foley (actor)
59 - Patrick Cassidy (actor)
61 - Michael Stipe (singer)
63 - Julian Sands (actor)
64 - Patty Loveless (country singer)
65 - Ann Magnuson (actress)
66 - Kathy Forester (country singer)
82 - Dyan Cannon (actor)
94 - Barbara Rush (actress)
========================================
Today in Sports History - January 4
1883 - The Ontario Rugby Football Union was formed. The organization was the forerunner of the CFL.
1920 - The National Negro Baseball League was organized.
1942 - Rogers Horsby is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1957 - The Dodgers bought a 44-passenger twin-engine airplane for $775,000. They were the first team to own their own plane.
1970 - The Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Oakland Raiders 17-7 in the AFL championship game while the Minnesota Vikings defeat the Cleveland Browns 27-7 in the NFL title game.
1974 - NBC-TV presented hockey in prime time. The Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers were the teams in the National Hockey League (NHL) game.
1975 - The New Orleans Jazz set an NBA record (shot clock era) by scoring on only 20 points in the first half of a 111-89 loss to the Seattle SuperSonics.
1976 - The Dallas Cowboys became the first wild-card team to make it to the Super Bowl. They beat the Los Angeles Ram 37-7 in the NFC title game.
1983 - The United States Football League (USFL) held its first player draft.
1984 - Wayne Gretzky scored eight points (four goals and four assists) for the second time in his National Hockey League (NHL) career. His Edmonton Oilers defeated the Minnesota North Stars, 12-8. The game was the highest-scoring NHL game to date.
1986 - David Robinson of the United States Naval Academy sets an NCAA record with 14 blocked shots in a game.
1986 - Los Angeles Rams running back Eric Dickerson sets an NFL playoff record with 246 rushing yards in a 20-0 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
1992 - Robert Parish of the Boston Celtics becomes the fifth player in NBA history to record 2,000 career blocks.
1996 - Don Shula announced his retirement from coaching the Miami Dolphins after 26 seasons.
1999 - In the first BCS National Championship Game, #1 Tennessee defeats #2 Florida State 23-16 in the Fiesta Bowl.
2000 - A day after accepting the head coaching position for the New York Jets, Bill Belichick resigns and takes the same position with the New England Patriots.
2000 - #1 Florida State defeats #2 Virginia Tech 46-29 in the Sugar Bowl to win the BCS National Championship.
2000 - American businessman and investor Mark Cuban purchases a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks for $285 million.
2001 - Washington Wizards forward Michael Jordan becomes the fourth player in NBA history to score 30,000 career points.
2003 - The Green Bay Packers lost 27-7 to the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC wild card game. It was the first time that the Packers had ever lost a playoff game at home.
2004 - #2 LSU defeats #1 Oklahoma 21-14 in the Sugar Bowl to win the BCS National Championship.
2005 - #1 USC defeats #2 Oklahoma 55-19 in the Orange Bowl to win the BCS National Championship. (USC would later be forced to vacate this championship.)
2006 - #2 Texas defeats #1 USC 41-38 in the Rose Bowl to win the BCS National Championship.