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SATURDAY
Associated Press
Jan. 9 is the ninth day of 2021. There are 356 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Jan. 9, 2020, Chinese state media said a preliminary investigation into recent cases of viral pneumonia had identified the probable cause as a new type of coronavirus.
On this date:
In 1788, Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
In 1793, Frenchman Jean Pierre Blanchard, using a hot-air balloon, flew from Philadelphia to Woodbury, N.J.
In 1861, Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union, the same day the Star of the West, a merchant vessel bringing reinforcements and supplies to Federal troops at Fort Sumter, S.C., retreated because of artillery fire.
In 1913, Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th president of the United States, was born in Yorba Linda, Calif.
In 1916, the World War I Battle of Gallipoli ended after eight months with an Ottoman Empire victory as Allied forces withdrew.
In 1945, during World War II, American forces began landing on the shores of Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines as the Battle of Luzon got underway, resulting in an Allied victory over Imperial Japanese forces.
In 1951, the United Nations headquarters in New York officially opened.
In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in his State of the Union address to Congress, warned of the threat of Communist imperialism.
In 1987, the White House released a January 1986 memorandum prepared for President Ronald Reagan by Lt. Col. Oliver L. North showing a link between U.S. arms sales to Iran and the release of American hostages in Lebanon.
In 2003, U.N. weapons inspectors said there was no "smoking gun" to prove Iraq had nuclear, chemical or biological weapons but they demanded that Baghdad provide private access to scientists and fresh evidence to back its claim that it had destroyed its weapons of mass destruction.
In 2009, the Illinois House voted 114-1 to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who defiantly insisted again that he had committed no crime. (The Illinois Senate unanimously voted to remove Blagojevich from office 20 days later.)
In 2015, French security forces shot and killed two al-Qaida-linked brothers suspected of carrying the rampage at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo that had claimed 12 lives, the same day a gunman killed four people at a Paris kosher grocery store before being killed by police.
Ten years ago: Federal prosecutors brought charges against Jared Loughner, the man accused of attempting to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and killing six people at a political event in Tucson the day before. British movie director Peter Yates, who sent actor Steve McQueen screeching through the streets of San Francisco in a Ford Mustang in "Bullitt," died in London at age 81.
Five years ago: French Jewish leaders and the nation's prime minister, Manuel Valls, held a memorial ceremony for four people killed in a kosher market a year earlier by an attacker claiming ties to the Islamic State group. Actor Angus Scrimm, 89, the "Tall Man" in the "Phantasm" horror films, died in Tarzana, Calif.
One year ago: The Democratic-controlled House approved a resolution asserting that President Donald Trump must seek approval from Congress before engaging in further military action against Iran. At his first campaign rally of 2020, Trump told an Ohio crowd that he had served up "American justice" by ordering a drone strike to take out Iran's top general.
Today's Birthdays: Actor K. Callan is 85. Folk singer Joan Baez is 80. Rock musician Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) is 77. Actor John Doman is 76. Singer David Johansen (aka Buster Poindexter) is 71. Singer Crystal Gayle is 70. Actor J.K. Simmons is 66. Actor Imelda Staunton is 65. Nobel Peace laureate Rigoberta Menchu is 62. Rock musician Eric Erlandson is 58. Actor Joely Richardson is 56. Rock musician Carl Bell (Fuel) is 54. Actor David Costabile is 54. Rock singer Steve Harwell (Smash Mouth) is 54. Rock singer-musician Dave Matthews is 54. Actor-director Joey Lauren Adams is 53. Comedian/actor Deon Cole is 50. Actor Angela Bettis is 48. Actor Omari Hardwick is 47. Roots singer-songwriter Hayes Carll is 45. Singer A.J. McLean (Backstreet Boys) is 43. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, is 39. Pop-rock musician Drew Brown (OneRepublic) is 37. Rock-soul singer Paolo Nutini is 34. Actor Nina Dobrev is 32. Actor Basil Eidenbenz is 28. Actor Kerris Dorsey is 23. Actor Tyree Brown is 17.
SUNDAY
Associated Press
Jan. 10 is the 10th day of 2021. There are 355 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Jan. 10, 1776, Thomas Paine anonymously published his influential pamphlet, "Common Sense," which argued for American independence from British rule.
On this date:
In 1860, the Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Mass., collapsed and caught fire, killing up to 145 people, mostly female workers from Scotland and Ireland.
In 1861, Florida became the third state to secede from the Union.
In 1863, the London Underground had its beginnings as the Metropolitan, the world's first underground passenger railway, opened to the public with service between Paddington and Farringdon Street.
In 1901, the Spindletop oil field in Beaumont, Texas, produced the Lucas Gusher, heralding the start of the Texas oil boom.
In 1917, legendary Western frontiersman and showman William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody died at his sister's home in Denver at age 70.
In 1920, the League of Nations was established as the Treaty of Versailles went into effect.
In 1948, future country music star Loretta Lynn (nee Webb) married Oliver "Mooney" Lynn; she was 15 at the time, he was 21 (the marriage lasted until Oliver Lynn's death in 1996).
In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson, in his State of the Union address, asked Congress to impose a surcharge on both corporate and individual income taxes to help pay for his "Great Society" programs as well as the war in Vietnam. That same day, Massachusetts Republican Edward W. Brooke, the first Black person elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote, took his seat.
In 1984, the United States and the Vatican established full diplomatic relations for the first time in more than a century.
In 2002, Marines began flying hundreds of al-Qaida prisoners in Afghanistan to a U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In 2007, President George W. Bush said he took responsibility for any mistakes in Iraq and announced an increase in U.S. troops there to quell violence. The Democratic-controlled House voted 315-116 to increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour.
In 2016, David Bowie, the chameleon-like star who transformed the sound -- and the look -- of rock with his audacious creativity and his sexually ambiguous makeup and costumes, died in New York.
Ten years ago: The nation got its first look at Jared Loughner, the accused assailant of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, as a federal judge in Phoenix ordered the 22-year-old suspect held without bail. A judge in Austin, Texas, ordered former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to serve three years in prison for his money laundering conviction. (DeLay's conviction was ultimately overturned.) No. 1 Auburn beat No. 2 Oregon 22-19 on a last-second field goal to win the BCS national title. Singer Margaret Whiting, 86, died in Englewood, N.J.
Five years ago: French President Francois Hollande and other dignitaries held a special ceremony to honor those killed in Islamic extremist attacks around Paris in 2015. At the Golden Globes, "The Revenant" won best motion picture drama while "The Martian" was recognized as best comedy film.
One year ago: The Trump administration announced a new wave of sanctions on Iran following the missile strikes earlier in the week from Iran against U.S. bases in Iraq. In the first of a series of contentious votes on gun legislation, state lawmakers in Virginia voted to ban guns at the state Capitol; Democrats held a full majority at the state house for the first time in a generation. Outfielder Mookie Betts agreed to a $27 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, the largest-ever one-year salary for a player eligible for arbitration; he would end up being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of the coronavirus-shortened season.
Today's Birthdays: Opera singer Sherrill Milnes is 86. Rock singer-musician Ronnie Hawkins is 86. Movie director Walter Hill is 81. Actor William Sanderson is 77. Singer Rod Stewart is 76. Rock singer-musician Donald Fagen (Steely Dan) is 73. Boxing Hall of Famer and entrepreneur George Foreman is 72. Roots rock singer Alejandro Escovedo is 70. Rock musician Scott Thurston (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) is 69. Singer Pat Benatar is 68. Hall of Fame race car driver and team owner Bobby Rahal is 68. Rock musician Michael Schenker is 66. Singer Shawn Colvin is 65. Rock singer-musician Curt Kirkwood (Meat Puppets) is 62. Actor Evan Handler is 60. Rock singer Brad Roberts (Crash Test Dummies) is 57. Actor Trini Alvarado is 54. Rock singer Brent Smith (Shinedown) is 43. Rapper Chris Smith (Kris Kross) is 42. Actor Sarah Shahi is 41. American roots singer Valerie June is 39.