January 8
1815 - The last major engagement of the War of 1812 came to an end as U.S. forces defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans, not having received word of the signing of a peace treaty.
1867 - The U.S. House of Representatives joined the Senate in overriding President Andrew Johnson's veto of the District of Columbia Suffrage Bill, giving Black men in the nation's capital the right to vote.
1912 - The African National Congress was founded in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
1918 - President Woodrow Wilson outlined his Fourteen Points for lasting peace after World War I.
1918 - Mississippi became the first state to ratify the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which established Prohibition.
1935 - Rock and roll icon pioneer Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi.
1958 - Bobby Fischer won the United States Chess Championship at age 14.
1959 - Charles de Gaulle became the first president of France's Fifth Republic.
1964 - President Lyndon B. Johnson announced his "War on Poverty" during his State of the Union address.
1982 - The AT&T Bell System telephone monopoly agreed to divest itself of 22 Bell System companies and split itself into seven "Baby Bells."
1998 - The mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Ramzi Yousef, was sentenced to life in prison.
2011 - Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is among 17 people shot by a gunman at a meeting outside a grocery store. Six people were fatally wounded, including U.S. District Judge John Roll, and a young girl. (Gunman Jared Lee Loughner was sentenced in Nov. 2012 to seven consecutive life sentences, plus 140 years.)
2016 - Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the world's most-wanted drug lord, was captured for a third time in a daring raid by Mexican marines, six months after walking through a tunnel to freedom from a maximum security prison.
2020 - Iran struck back at the United States for killing Iran's top military commander, firing missiles at two Iraqi military bases housing American troops; more than 100 U.S. service members were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries after the attack. As Iran braced for a counterattack, the country's Revolutionary Guard shot down a Ukrainian jetliner after apparently mistaking it for a missile; all 176 people on board were killed, including 82 Iranians and more than 50 Canadians.
2022 - NASA's new James Webb Space Telescope opened its huge mirror, the final step in the unfurling of the observatory, which had already traveled more than 660,000 miles since its Christmas Day launch.
Birthdays
28 - Isabel Bedoya (model)
29 - Ryan Destiny (singer)
37 - Freddie Stroma (actor)
37 - Cynthia Erivo (actress)
42 - Gaby Hoffman (actress)
43 - Genevieve Padalecki (actress)
45 - Sarah Polley (actress)
45 - Erin McCarley (singer)
46 - Scott Whyte (actor)
47 - Amber Benson (actress)
48 - Jenny Lewis (actress/singer)
51 - Donnell Turner (actor)
51 - Sean Paul (singer)
53 - Brook Lee (pageant contestant)
55 - Ami Dolenz (actress)
58 - Maria Pitillo (actress)
59 - Michelle Forbes (actress)
67 - Ron Cephas Jones (actor)
69 - Harriet Sansom Harris (actress)
79 - Kathleen Noone (actres)
84 - Cristy Lane (singer)
86 - Bob Eubanks (game show host)
87 - Shirley Bassey (singer)
91 - Charles Osgood (news anchor)
============================================
Today in Sports History - January 8
1955 - After 130 home basketball wins, Georgia Tech defeated Kentucky 59-58. It was the first Kentucky loss at home since January 2, 1943.
1955 - Furman sets an NCAA single game men's basketball scoring record with 155 points.
1972 - The NCAA announces freshmen will be eligible to play in the fall of 1972.
1980 - The NCAA announces it will sanction championships in women's sports (five of them) for the first time.
1984 - The NCAA announces the expansion of the Division I men's basketball tournament to 64 teams.
1984 - ABC purchased the remaining 85% of ESPN.
1986 - Willie McCovey is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1991 - Gaylord Perry, Ferguson Jenkins and Rod Carew are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1993 - Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls) became the 18th player in NBA history to reach 20,000 points.
1994 - Dino Ciccarelli (Detroit Red Wings) became the 19th player in NHL history to score 500 career goals.
1994 - Tonya Harding won the ladies' U.S. Figure Skating Championship in Detroit, a day after Nancy Kerrigan dropped out because of the clubbing attack that had injured her right knee. (The U.S. Figure Skating Association later stripped Harding of the title.)
1995 - Mike Schmidt is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1996 - For the first time in 25 years, no one is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
2000 - "Music City Miracle", in AFC Wild Card Playoff, Tennessee Titans defeat Buffalo Bills 22-16 in last 16 seconds with Kevin Dyson, running length of the field for a game-winning touchdown
2007 - Florida defeats Ohio State 41-14 to win the BCS National Championship Game.
2009 - Florida defeats Oklahoma 24-14 to win the BCS National Championship Game.
2012 - "The 3:16 Game" AFC Wild Card Playof, underdogs Denver Broncos defeat Pittsburgh Steelers 29–23 with Tim Tebow connecting with Demaryius Thomas on an 80-yard touchdown pass on first scrimmage play of overtime.
2013 - Steve Nash becomes the fifth player in NBA history to record 10,000 career assists.
2018 - Freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa came off the bench to spark Alabama to a 26-23 overtime victory over Georgia to win the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
1815 - The last major engagement of the War of 1812 came to an end as U.S. forces defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans, not having received word of the signing of a peace treaty.
1867 - The U.S. House of Representatives joined the Senate in overriding President Andrew Johnson's veto of the District of Columbia Suffrage Bill, giving Black men in the nation's capital the right to vote.
1912 - The African National Congress was founded in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
1918 - President Woodrow Wilson outlined his Fourteen Points for lasting peace after World War I.
1918 - Mississippi became the first state to ratify the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which established Prohibition.
1935 - Rock and roll icon pioneer Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi.
1958 - Bobby Fischer won the United States Chess Championship at age 14.
1959 - Charles de Gaulle became the first president of France's Fifth Republic.
1964 - President Lyndon B. Johnson announced his "War on Poverty" during his State of the Union address.
1982 - The AT&T Bell System telephone monopoly agreed to divest itself of 22 Bell System companies and split itself into seven "Baby Bells."
1998 - The mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Ramzi Yousef, was sentenced to life in prison.
2011 - Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is among 17 people shot by a gunman at a meeting outside a grocery store. Six people were fatally wounded, including U.S. District Judge John Roll, and a young girl. (Gunman Jared Lee Loughner was sentenced in Nov. 2012 to seven consecutive life sentences, plus 140 years.)
2016 - Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the world's most-wanted drug lord, was captured for a third time in a daring raid by Mexican marines, six months after walking through a tunnel to freedom from a maximum security prison.
2020 - Iran struck back at the United States for killing Iran's top military commander, firing missiles at two Iraqi military bases housing American troops; more than 100 U.S. service members were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries after the attack. As Iran braced for a counterattack, the country's Revolutionary Guard shot down a Ukrainian jetliner after apparently mistaking it for a missile; all 176 people on board were killed, including 82 Iranians and more than 50 Canadians.
2022 - NASA's new James Webb Space Telescope opened its huge mirror, the final step in the unfurling of the observatory, which had already traveled more than 660,000 miles since its Christmas Day launch.
Birthdays
28 - Isabel Bedoya (model)
29 - Ryan Destiny (singer)
37 - Freddie Stroma (actor)
37 - Cynthia Erivo (actress)
42 - Gaby Hoffman (actress)
43 - Genevieve Padalecki (actress)
45 - Sarah Polley (actress)
45 - Erin McCarley (singer)
46 - Scott Whyte (actor)
47 - Amber Benson (actress)
48 - Jenny Lewis (actress/singer)
51 - Donnell Turner (actor)
51 - Sean Paul (singer)
53 - Brook Lee (pageant contestant)
55 - Ami Dolenz (actress)
58 - Maria Pitillo (actress)
59 - Michelle Forbes (actress)
67 - Ron Cephas Jones (actor)
69 - Harriet Sansom Harris (actress)
79 - Kathleen Noone (actres)
84 - Cristy Lane (singer)
86 - Bob Eubanks (game show host)
87 - Shirley Bassey (singer)
91 - Charles Osgood (news anchor)
============================================
Today in Sports History - January 8
1955 - After 130 home basketball wins, Georgia Tech defeated Kentucky 59-58. It was the first Kentucky loss at home since January 2, 1943.
1955 - Furman sets an NCAA single game men's basketball scoring record with 155 points.
1972 - The NCAA announces freshmen will be eligible to play in the fall of 1972.
1980 - The NCAA announces it will sanction championships in women's sports (five of them) for the first time.
1984 - The NCAA announces the expansion of the Division I men's basketball tournament to 64 teams.
1984 - ABC purchased the remaining 85% of ESPN.
1986 - Willie McCovey is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1991 - Gaylord Perry, Ferguson Jenkins and Rod Carew are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1993 - Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls) became the 18th player in NBA history to reach 20,000 points.
1994 - Dino Ciccarelli (Detroit Red Wings) became the 19th player in NHL history to score 500 career goals.
1994 - Tonya Harding won the ladies' U.S. Figure Skating Championship in Detroit, a day after Nancy Kerrigan dropped out because of the clubbing attack that had injured her right knee. (The U.S. Figure Skating Association later stripped Harding of the title.)
1995 - Mike Schmidt is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1996 - For the first time in 25 years, no one is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
2000 - "Music City Miracle", in AFC Wild Card Playoff, Tennessee Titans defeat Buffalo Bills 22-16 in last 16 seconds with Kevin Dyson, running length of the field for a game-winning touchdown
2007 - Florida defeats Ohio State 41-14 to win the BCS National Championship Game.
2009 - Florida defeats Oklahoma 24-14 to win the BCS National Championship Game.
2012 - "The 3:16 Game" AFC Wild Card Playof, underdogs Denver Broncos defeat Pittsburgh Steelers 29–23 with Tim Tebow connecting with Demaryius Thomas on an 80-yard touchdown pass on first scrimmage play of overtime.
2013 - Steve Nash becomes the fifth player in NBA history to record 10,000 career assists.
2018 - Freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa came off the bench to spark Alabama to a 26-23 overtime victory over Georgia to win the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
