Tag: today in history

Today in History: February 18, Veteran FBI agent accused of spying for Russia
Today is Wednesday, Feb. 18, the 49th day of 2026. There are 316 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Feb. 18, 2001, veteran FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssen was arrested, accused of spying for Russia. (Hanssen later pleaded guilty to espionage and attempted espionage and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole; he died in prison in 2023.)

Also on this date:

In 1885, Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was published in the U.S.
In 1930, the dwarf planet Pluto was discovered by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh.

In 1970, the “Chicago Seven” defendants were found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention; five were convicted of violating the Anti-Riot Act of 1968 (those convictions were later reversed).

In 1983, 13 people were shot to death at a gambling club in Seattle’s Chinatown in what became known as the Wah Mee Massacre. (Two men were convicted of the killings and were sentenced to life in prison; a third was found guilty of robbery and assault and served 28 years in prison before being deported to Hong Kong in 2014.)

In 1994, in the final race of his Olympic career at the Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, U.S. speedskater Dan Jansen broke the world record in the 1,000 meters, winning the gold medal.

In 2001, auto racing star Dale Earnhardt Sr. died in a crash in the final lap of the Daytona 500; he was 49.

In 2003, an arson attack involving two South Korean subway trains in the city of Daegu claimed nearly 200 lives.

In 2013, some $42 million (40 million euros) worth of diamonds and other gems were stolen at Brussels’ international airport by eight gunmen who cut through a perimeter fence, drove onto the tarmac and took the gemstones as they were being transferred from an armored car to a plane bound for Switzerland.

In 2021, the NASA rover Perseverance successfully landed on Mars, where it continues to explore the planet’s surface.

Today’s Birthdays:

Artist-singer Yoko Ono is 93.

Restaurateur-TV host Prue Leith (TV: “The Great British Baking Show”) is 86.

Singer Irma Thomas is 85.

Musician Dennis DeYoung is 79.

Actor Cybill Shepherd is 76.

Actor John Travolta is 72.

TV personality Vanna White is 69.

Actor Matt Dillon is 62.

Rapper-music executive Dr. Dre is 61.

Actor Molly Ringwald is 58.

Actor Ike Barinholtz is 49.

Football Hall of Famer Dwight Freeney is 46.

Musician Regina Spektor is 46.

Actor Kylie Rogers is 22.
The Associated Press

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February 18, 2026
Today in History: February 16, Tutankhamen’s tomb unsealed
Today is Monday, Feb. 16, the 47th day of 2026. There are 318 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Feb. 16, 1923, the burial chamber of King Tutankhamen’s recently unearthed tomb was unsealed in Egypt by English archaeologist Howard Carter.

Also on this date:

In 1862, the Civil War Battle of Fort Donelson in Tennessee ended with the surrender of some 12,000 Confederate soldiers; Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s victory earned him the moniker “Unconditional Surrender Grant.”
In 1959, Fidel Castro was sworn in as premier of Cuba, six weeks after dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown and fled the country into exile. Castro’s rise to power marked the start of Cuba’s transformation into a communist nation.

In 1960, the nuclear submarine USS Triton departed New London, Connecticut, on the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe by a vessel.

In 1996, 11 people were killed in a fiery collision between an Amtrak passenger train and a Maryland commuter train in Silver Spring, Maryland.

In 2018, special counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russians and three Russian companies on charges of staging an elaborate plot to disrupt the 2016 U.S. presidential election via a social media trolling campaign, aimed in part at helping Donald Trump win the presidency.

In 2024, Russia’s prison agency announced that Alexei Navalny, activist and Russian opposition leader, had died in the Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism; Navalny’s death brought outrage and criticism from world leaders toward Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Today’s birthdays:

Businessman Carl Icahn is 90.

Author Eckhart Tolle is 78.

Actor William Katt is 75.

Actor LeVar Burton is 69.

Actor-rapper Ice-T is 68.

Tennis Hall of Famer John McEnroe is 67.

Football Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis is 54.

Olympic track and field gold medalist Cathy Freeman is 53.

Actor Mahershala Ali is 52.

Rapper Lupe Fiasco is 44.

Democratic Sen. John Ossoff of Georgia is 39.

Actor Elizabeth Olsen is 37.

Singer-actor The Weeknd is 36.

Actor Chloe East is 25.
The Associated Press

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February 16, 2026
Today in History: February 15, USS Maine explodes in Havana Harbor
Today is Sunday, Feb. 15, the 46th day of 2026. There are 319 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Feb. 15, 1898, the battleship USS Maine mysteriously exploded in Havana Harbor, killing more than 260 crew members and bringing the United States closer to war with Spain.

Also on this date:

In 1879, President Rutherford B. Hayes signed a law allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1933, President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt escaped an assassination attempt in Miami that mortally wounded Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak; gunman Giuseppe Zangara was executed by electric chair the following month.

In 1950, Walt Disney’s animated film “Cinderella” premiered in Boston.

In 1961, 73 people, including all 18 members of the U.S. figure skating team en route to the World Championships in Czechoslovakia, were killed in the crash of a Sabena Airlines Boeing 707 in Belgium.

In 1978, boxer Leon Spinks scored a massive upset as he defeated Muhammad Ali by split decision to become the world heavyweight champion.

In 1989, the Soviet Union announced that the last of its troops had left Afghanistan, after more than nine years of military intervention.

In 2001, the first draft sequence of the complete human genome was published in the scientific journal Nature.

In 2013, with a blinding flash and a booming shock wave, a meteor blazed across Russia’s western Siberian sky and exploded, injuring nearly 1,500 people as it blasted out windows.

In 2022, the families of nine victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting agreed to a $73 million settlement of a lawsuit against Remington Arms, the maker of the rifle used by a gunman to kill 20 first graders and six educators in 2012.

In 2023, Payton Gendron, the white gunman who massacred 10 Black shoppers and workers at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket in May of the previous year, was sentenced to life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to murder and hate-motivated terrorism charges.

Today’s birthdays:

Actor Claire Bloom is 95.

Songwriter Brian Holland is 85.

Jazz musician Henry Threadgill is 82.

Composer John Adams is 79.

Cartoonist Art Spiegelman is 78.

Actor Jane Seymour is 75.

Singer Melissa Manchester is 75.

Actor Lynn Whitfield is 73.

“The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening is 72.

Actor Christopher McDonald is 71.

Football Hall of Famer Darrell Green is 66.

Actor Alex Borstein is 55.

Hockey great Jaromir Jagr is 54.

Olympic swimming gold medalist Amy Van Dyken-Rouen is 53.

Actor-singer Amber Riley is 40.

Rapper Megan Thee Stallion is 31.

Race car driver George Russell is 28.

Actor Zachary Gordon is 28.
The Associated Press

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February 15, 2026
Today in History: February 5, White separatist convicted of murdering civil rights leader 31 years later
Today is Thursday, Feb. 5, the 36th day of 2026. There are 329 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Feb. 5, 1994, white separatist Byron De La Beckwith was convicted in Jackson, Mississippi, of murdering civil rights leader Medgar Evers in 1963 and was sentenced to life in prison.

Also on this date:

In 1917, the U.S. Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1917 over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto, an act that severely curtailed Asian immigration and mandated immigrant literacy testing.
In 1918, more than 200 people were killed during World War I when the Cunard liner SS Tuscania, which was transporting over 2,000 American troops to Europe, was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland.

In 1971, Apollo 14 astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell stepped onto the moon’s surface in the first of two lunar excursions.

In 1973, services were held at Arlington National Cemetery for U.S. Army Col. William B. Nolde, the last official American combat casualty in the Vietnam War before a ceasefire took effect.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act, granting workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family emergencies.

In 2008, an outbreak of 87 tornadoes fired up across nine states, killing 57 people in Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama during a span of 12 hours. One Arkansas twister left a 122-mile path of damage along the ground.

In 2017, Tom Brady led one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history, highlighted by a spectacular Julian Edelman catch that helped lift New England from a 25-point deficit against the Atlanta Falcons to the Patriots’ fifth Super Bowl victory, 34-28; it was the first Super Bowl to end in overtime.

In 2020, the Senate voted to acquit President Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial. Most senators expressed unease with Trump’s pressure campaign on Ukraine that prompted the impeachment, but just one Republican, Mitt Romney of Utah, broke party ranks and voted to convict. In 2021, the Senate acquitted Trump in a second trial for allegedly inciting the violent Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol.

In 2023, Beyoncé won her 32nd Grammy to become the most decorated artist in the history of the award.

Today’s birthdays:

Tony-winning playwright John Guare is 88.

Football Hall of Famer Roger Staubach is 84.

Film director Michael Mann is 83.

Racing Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip is 79.

Actor Barbara Hershey is 78.

Actor-comedian Tim Meadows is 65.

Actor Jennifer Jason Leigh is 64.

Rock musician Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses) is 62.

Golf Hall of Famer Jose Maria Olazabal is 60.

Actor-comedian Chris Parnell is 59.

Actor Michael Sheen is 57.

Country singer Sara Evans is 55.

Actor-singer Darren Criss is 39.

Actor Henry Golding is 39.

Soccer star Neymar is 34.
The Associated Press

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February 5, 2026
Today in History: February 3, Commuter train slams into SUV near New York City, killing 5
Today is Tuesday, Feb. 3, the 34th day of 2026. There are 331 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Feb. 3, 2015, a Metro-North Railroad commuter train slammed into an SUV stuck on the tracks at a suburban rail crossing 20 miles north of New York City, killing five train passengers and the SUV driver and injuring about 30 others.

Also on this date:

In 1870, the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting Black American men the right to vote, was ratified.
In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing for a federal income tax, was ratified.

In 1917, the United States broke off diplomatic relations with Germany, the same day an American cargo ship, the SS Housatonic, was sunk by a U-boat off Britain (after the crew was allowed to board lifeboats).

In 1943, during World War II, the U.S. transport ship SS Dorchester, which was carrying troops to Greenland, sank after being hit by a German torpedo in the Labrador Sea; only some 230 of the 900 aboard survived.

In 1959, which would become known as “the day the music died,” rock ‘n roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson died in a small plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.

In 1966, the Soviet probe Luna 9 became the first man-made object to make a soft landing on the moon.

In 1998, a U.S. Marine jet sliced through the cable of a ski gondola near Cavalese, Italy, causing the car to plunge hundreds of feet, killing all 20 people inside.

In 2006, an Egyptian passenger ferry sank in the Red Sea during bad weather, killing more than 1,000 people.

In 2007, a truck bomb exploded in a busy street market in Baghdad, killing more than 100 people in one of the deadliest single attacks in the Iraqi capital.

In 2023, more than three dozen freight cars of a train carrying hazardous materials derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, close to the Pennsylvania line. The derailment prompted an immediate evacuation and the intentional burning of toxic vinyl chloride three days later that sent flames and acrid smoke in the air.

Today’s birthdays:

Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 86.

Actor Blythe Danner is 83.

Football Hall of Famer Bob Griese is 81.

Singer-guitarist Dave Davies (The Kinks) is 79.

Actor Morgan Fairchild is 76.

Actor Nathan Lane is 70.

Actor Maura Tierney is 61.

Basketball Hall of Famer Vlade Divac is 58.

Golf Hall of Famer Retief Goosen is 57.

Actor Warwick Davis is 56.

Actor Isla Fisher is 50.

Reggaeton singer Daddy Yankee is 49.

Actor Aimee Lou Wood is 32.
The Associated Press

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February 3, 2026
Today in History: January 31, first Black quarterback plays and wins the Super Bowl
Today is Saturday, Jan. 31, the 31st day of 2026. There are 334 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 31, 1988, Doug Williams, the first Black quarterback to play in the Super Bowl, led the Washington Redskins (now Washington Commanders) to a 42-10 victory over the Denver Broncos and was named Super Bowl MVP.

Also on this date:

In 1863, during the Civil War, the First South Carolina Volunteers, an all-Black Union regiment composed of many who escaped from slavery, was mustered into federal service at Beaufort, South Carolina.
In 1945, Pvt. Eddie Slovik, 24, became the first U.S. soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion as he was shot by an American firing squad in France.

In 1958, the United States entered the Space Age with its first successful launch of a satellite, Explorer 1, from Cape Canaveral.

In 1971, astronauts Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa blasted off aboard Apollo 14 on a mission to the moon.

In 2000, an Alaska Airlines MD-83 jet crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Port Hueneme (wy-NEE’-mee), California, killing all 88 people aboard.

In 2001, a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands convicted one Libyan and acquitted a second in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. (Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi was given a life sentence but was released after eight years on compassionate grounds by Scotland’s government. He died in 2012.)

In 2020, the United States declared a public health emergency over the new coronavirus, and President Donald Trump signed an order to temporarily bar entry to foreign nationals, other than immediate family of U.S. citizens, who traveled in China in the preceding 14 days.

In 2023, Boeing Co. delivered its last 747 wide-body jet to a customer, capping more than a half-century of production of the iconic jumbo jet.

Today’s birthdays:

Composer Philip Glass is 89.

Blues singer-musician Charlie Musselwhite is 82.

Actor Glynn Turman is 79.

Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan is 79.

Actor Jonathan Banks is 79.

Rock singer John Lydon is 70.

Actor Anthony LaPaglia is 67.

Actor Minnie Driver is 56.

Actor Portia de Rossi is 53.

Actor-comedian Bobby Moynihan is 49.

Actor Kerry Washington is 49.

Singer Justin Timberlake is 45.

Country singer Tyler Hubbard (Florida Georgia Line) is 39.

Musician Marcus Mumford (Mumford and Sons) is 39.
Associated Press

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January 31, 2026
Today in History: January 28, protesters opposed to Mubarak’s rule seize Cairo
Today is Wednesday, Jan. 28, the 28th day of 2026. There are 337 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 28, 2011, protesters opposed to Hosni Mubarak’s nearly 30-year rule of Egypt seized the streets of Cairo, battling police, burning down ruling party headquarters and defying a military curfew. Hundreds of protesters would be killed in ensuing days in attempts to crush the uprising before Mubarak stepped down as president that February.

Also on this date:

In 1547, England’s King Henry VIII died at age 55; he was succeeded by his 9-year-old son, Edward VI.
In 1813, the novel “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen was first published, anonymously, in London.

In 1922, 98 people were killed when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre in Washington, D.C., collapsed under the weight of nearly 2 feet of snow.

In 1956, Elvis Presley made his first national TV appearance on “Stage Show,” a CBS program hosted by Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey.

In 1980, six U.S. diplomats who had avoided being taken hostage at their embassy in Tehran flew out of Iran with the help of Canadian diplomats; the events were later dramatized in the film “Argo.”

In 1985, to raise funds in support of famine relief in Ethiopia, the supergroup USA For Africa recorded the song “We Are the World.”

In 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, killing all seven crew members including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.

In 2017, Serena Williams won her record 23rd Open Era Grand Slam singles title, defeating her sister Venus at the Australian Open for what would be her final major championship.

In 2024, three American troops were killed and 25 were injured in a drone strike in Jordan near the border with Syria. President Joe Biden blamed Iran-backed militias for the first U.S. fatalities after months of strikes by the groups against American forces across the Middle East amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Today’s birthdays:

Actor Alan Alda is 90.

Former NBA coach Gregg Popovich is 77.

Golf Hall of Famer Nick Price is 69.

Film director Frank Darabont is 67.

Singer Sarah McLachlan is 58.

Rapper Rakim is 58.

Humorist Mo Rocca is 57.

R&B singer Anthony Hamilton is 55.

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is 54.

Rapper Rick Ross is 50.

Singer Joey Fatone Jr. (’N Sync) is 49.

Singer Nick Carter (Backstreet Boys) is 46.

Actor Elijah Wood is 45.

Rapper J. Cole is 41.

Actor Ariel Winter is 28.
The Associated Press

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January 28, 2026
Today in History: January 24, suicide bomber kills 37 at Moscow airport
Today is Saturday, Jan. 24, the 24th day of 2026. There are 341 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 24, 2011, a suicide bomber attacked Moscow’s busiest airport, killing 37 people; Chechen separatists claimed responsibility.

Also on this date:

In 1835, a major slave rebellion began in Bahia, Brazil, leading to the deaths of dozens of enslaved people in clashes with troops, police and armed civilians in the provincial capital of Salvador. The uprising was seen as influential in helping to bring about an end to slavery in the country decades later.
In 1848, James W. Marshall found a gold nugget at Sutter’s Mill in northern California, a discovery that sparked the California gold rush.

In 1945, Associated Press war correspondent Joseph Morton was among a group of captives executed by German soldiers at the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in Austria.

In 1965, Winston Churchill died in London at age 90.

In 1978, a nuclear-powered Soviet satellite, Kosmos 954, plunged through Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated, scattering radioactive debris over parts of northern Canada.

In 1984, Apple Computer began selling its first Macintosh model, which boasted a built-in 9-inch monochrome display, a clock rate of 8 megahertz and 128k of RAM.

In 1989, confessed serial killer Ted Bundy was executed in Florida’s electric chair.

In 2003, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge was sworn as the first secretary of the new Department of Homeland Security.

In 2013, President Barack Obama’s Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the lifting of a ban on women serving in direct ground combat roles.

In 2018, former sports doctor Larry Nassar, who had admitted to molesting some of the United States’ top gymnasts for years under the guise of medical treatment, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison.

In 2023, a farmworker killed seven people in back-to-back shootings in a case of “workplace violence” at two Northern California mushroom farms. It marked the state’s third mass killing in just over a week.

Today’s birthdays:

Cajun musician Doug Kershaw is 90.

Singer-songwriter Ray Stevens is 87.

Singer-songwriter Neil Diamond is 85.

Singer Aaron Neville is 85.

Physicist Michio Kaku is 79.

Actor Daniel Auteuil is 76.

Comedian Yakov Smirnoff is 75.

Actor William Allen Young is 72.

Musician Jools Holland is 68.

Actor Nastassja Kinski is 65.

Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Mary Lou Retton is 58.

Actor Matthew Lillard is 56.

Musician Beth Hart is 54.

Actor Ed Helms is 52.

Actor-comedian Kristen Schaal is 48.

Actor Tatyana Ali is 47.

Actor Carrie Coon is 45.

Actor and rapper Daveed Diggs is 44.

Actor Mischa Barton is 40.

NFL coach Sean McVay is 40.

Soccer player Luis Suárez is 39.

Actor Callan McAuliffe is 31.

Singer Johnny Orlando is 23.
The Associated Press

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January 24, 2026
Today in History: January 23, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts first members
Today is Friday, Jan. 23, the 23rd day of 2026. There are 342 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 23, 1986, the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame inducted its first members, including Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Elvis Presley.

Also on this date:

In 1368, China’s Ming dynasty, which lasted nearly three centuries, began as Zhu Yuanzhang (zhoo whan-zhahng) was formally acclaimed Hongwu Emperor, following the collapse of the Yuan dynasty.
In 1789, Georgetown University was established in present-day Washington, D.C.

In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States.

In 1870, approximately 200 Piegan Blackfoot tribe members, mostly women, children and older adults, were killed by U.S. Army troops under the command of Major Eugene Mortimer Baker in Montana, in what became known as the Baker Massacre.

In 1964, the 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, prohibiting poll taxes in federal elections.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon announced an accord had been reached to end the Vietnam War, and would be formally signed four days later in Paris.

In 1997, Madeleine Albright was sworn in as the United States’ first female secretary of state.

In 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped by extremists in Pakistan while researching Islamic militant groups, leading to the beheading of the American journalist weeks later in captivity.

In 2018, at age 33, LeBron James became the youngest NBA player to reach the 30,000 career-point milestone.

In 2020, Democratic House prosecutors presented arguments before skeptical Senate jurors at Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial over his dealings with Ukraine, accusing him of abuse of power. (The Republican-led Senate would later vote to acquit Trump, and he would also be acquitted at another impeachment trial in 2021 following the U.S. Capitol riot).

Today’s birthdays:

Football Hall of Famer Jerry Kramer is 90.

Jazz musician Gary Burton is 83.

Actor Richard Dean Anderson is 76.

Retired airline pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger (‘Miracle on the Hudson’ landing) is 75.

Rock singer Robin Zander (Cheap Trick) is 73.

Princess Caroline of Monaco is 69.

Singer Anita Baker is 68.

Actor Mariska Hargitay is 62.

Hockey Hall of Famer Brendan Shanahan is 57.

CBS News senior correspondent Norah O’Donnell is 52.

Actor Tiffani Thiessen is 52.

Actor Jack Reynor is 34.

Singer and actress Rachel Crow is 28.
The Associated Press

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January 23, 2026
Today in History: January 23, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts first members
Today is Friday, Jan. 23, the 23rd day of 2026. There are 342 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 23, 1986, the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame inducted its first members, including Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Elvis Presley.

Also on this date:

In 1368, China’s Ming dynasty, which lasted nearly three centuries, began as Zhu Yuanzhang (zhoo whan-zhahng) was formally acclaimed Hongwu Emperor, following the collapse of the Yuan dynasty.
In 1789, Georgetown University was established in present-day Washington, D.C.

In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States.

In 1870, approximately 200 Piegan Blackfoot tribe members, mostly women, children and older adults, were killed by U.S. Army troops under the command of Major Eugene Mortimer Baker in Montana, in what became known as the Baker Massacre.

In 1964, the 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, prohibiting poll taxes in federal elections.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon announced an accord had been reached to end the Vietnam War, and would be formally signed four days later in Paris.

In 1997, Madeleine Albright was sworn in as the United States’ first female secretary of state.

In 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped by extremists in Pakistan while researching Islamic militant groups, leading to the beheading of the American journalist weeks later in captivity.

In 2018, at age 33, LeBron James became the youngest NBA player to reach the 30,000 career-point milestone.

In 2020, Democratic House prosecutors presented arguments before skeptical Senate jurors at Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial over his dealings with Ukraine, accusing him of abuse of power. (The Republican-led Senate would later vote to acquit Trump, and he would also be acquitted at another impeachment trial in 2021 following the U.S. Capitol riot).

Today’s birthdays:

Football Hall of Famer Jerry Kramer is 90.

Jazz musician Gary Burton is 83.

Actor Richard Dean Anderson is 76.

Retired airline pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger (‘Miracle on the Hudson’ landing) is 75.

Rock singer Robin Zander (Cheap Trick) is 73.

Princess Caroline of Monaco is 69.

Singer Anita Baker is 68.

Actor Mariska Hargitay is 62.

Hockey Hall of Famer Brendan Shanahan is 57.

CBS News senior correspondent Norah O’Donnell is 52.

Actor Tiffani Thiessen is 52.

Actor Jack Reynor is 34.

Singer and actress Rachel Crow is 28.
Associated Press

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January 23, 2026
Today in History: January 19, Indira Gandhi becomes first prime minister of an independent India
Today is Monday, Jan. 19, the 19th day of 2026. There are 346 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 19, 1966, Indira Gandhi was elected to her first term as prime minister of India.

Also on this date:

In 1853, Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Il trovatore” premiered in Rome.
In 1861, Georgia became the fifth state to secede from the Union; it would join the Confederacy the following month.

In 1937, Howard Hughes set a new transcontinental speed record in his H-1 Racer aircraft, flying from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, in seven hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.

In 1942, a German submarine sank the Canadian liner RMS Lady Hawkins off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, killing 251 people; 71 survived.

In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower held the first televised presidential press conference.

In 1987, H. Guy Hunt became Alabama’s first Republican governor since 1874 as he was sworn into office, succeeding Democrat George C. Wallace.

In 2012, Rupert Murdoch’s media empire apologized and agreed to cash payouts to 37 people whose telephones had been hacked by its tabloid press.

In 2024, Japan became the fifth country to reach the moon when its unmanned spacecraft touched down on the lunar surface with a pinpoint landing. The milestone put Japan in a club previously occupied by the United States, the Soviet Union, India and China.

Today’s birthdays:

Actor Tippi Hedren is 96.

Actor-singer Michael Crawford is 84.

Actor Shelley Fabares (fab-RAY’) is 82.

Country musician Dolly Parton is 80.

Actor Katey Sagal is 72.

Comedian Paul Rodriguez is 71.

Basketball coach and commentator Jeff Van Gundy is 64.

Tennis Hall of Famer Stefan Edberg is 60.

Actor Shawn Wayans is 55.

Actor Drea (DRAY-uh’) de Matteo is 54.

Football Hall of Famer Walter Jones is 52.

Comedian-impressionist Frank Caliendo is 52.

Actor Jodie Sweetin is 44.

Film director Damien Chazelle is 41.

Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Shawn Johnson is 34.

Race car driver Bianca Bustamante is 21.

Actor Jackson Dollinger is 19.
The Associated Press

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January 19, 2026
Today in History: January 8, Lyndon Johnson declares ‘war on poverty’
Today is Thursday, Jan. 8, the eighth day of 2026. There are 357 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 8, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson, in his State of the Union address, declared an “unconditional war on poverty in America.”

Also on this date:

In 1790, President George Washington delivered the first State of the Union address in New York City.
In 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 December signing of a peace treaty.

In 1867, the U.S. House of Representatives joined the Senate in overriding President Andrew Johnson’s veto of the District of Columbia Suffrage Act, giving Black men in the nation’s capital the right to vote.

In 1998, Ramzi Yousef (RAHM’-zee YOO’-sef), the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was sentenced in New York to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In 2011, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was shot and critically wounded when a gunman opened fire as the congresswoman met with constituents in Tucson; six people were killed and 12 others were injured. (Gunman Jared Lee Loughner was sentenced in 2012 to seven consecutive life sentences, plus 140 years.)

In 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.

In 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 later. As Iran braced for a counterattack the same day, the country’s Revolutionary Guard shot down a Ukrainian jetliner departing Tehran after apparently mistaking it for a missile, killing all 176 people on board.

In 2023, supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who refused to accept his election defeat, stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace in the capital of Brasilia, a week after the inauguration of his leftist rival, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Today’s birthdays:

Singer Shirley Bassey is 89.

Fashion designer Carolina Herrera is 87.

Country-gospel singer Cristy Lane is 86.

Rock musician Robby Krieger (The Doors) is 80.

Singer Jenny Lewis is 50.

Filmmaker and actor Sarah Polley is 47.

Actor Gaby Hoffman is 44.

Actor Cynthia Erivo is 39.

Actor Drew Scheid is 28.
The Associated Press

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January 8, 2026
Today in History: January 5, ‘Rapper’s Delight’ hits Billboard Top 40
Today is Monday, Jan. 5, the fifth day of 2026. There are 360 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 5, 1980, “Rapper’s Delight,” by The Sugarhill Gang, became the first hip-hop song to reach the Billboard Top 40, helping to popularize the emerging musical genre.

Also on this date:

In 1896, an Austrian newspaper reported the discovery by German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen (RENT’-gun) of a new type of radiation that came to be called “X-ray.”
In 1925, Democrat Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming took office as America’s first female governor.

In 1933, construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge; the bridge was completed in May 1937.

In 1953, Samuel Beckett’s two-act tragicomedy “Waiting for Godot,” considered a classic of the Theater of the Absurd, premiered in Paris.

In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed assistance to countries to help them resist communist aggression in what became known as the Eisenhower Doctrine.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon announced the Space Shuttle program, directing NASA to produce a reusable vehicle that would boost manned space exploration while bringing down its costs. (The first shuttle launched in 1981 and the last in 2011.)

In 2022, Australia denied entry to tennis star Novak Djokovic, who was seeking to play for a 10th Australian Open title later in the month; authorities canceled his visa upon his arrival in Melbourne because he failed to meet the requirements for an exemption to COVID-19 vaccination rules.

In 2024, a door plug on Alaska Airlines jetliner blew out shortly after takeoff from Portland, Oregon, forcing the 171 passengers and six crew to don oxygen masks before the pilots made an emergency landing. No one was seriously hurt, but the sudden depressurization left a gaping hole in the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft.

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor Robert Duvall is 95.

Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki is 85.

Actor Vinnie Jones is 61.

TV personality Carrie Ann Inaba is 58.

Rock singer Marilyn Manson is 57.

Actor-filmmaker Bradley Cooper is 51.

Actor January Jones is 48.

Actor Brooklyn Sudano is 45.

Actor Mike Faist is 34.

Actor and model Suki Waterhouse is 34.

Actor Walker Scobell is 17.
The Associated Press

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January 5, 2026
Today in History: January 4, Burj Khalifa, the tallest structure in the world, opens in Dubai
Today is Sunday, Jan. 4, the fourth day of 2026. There are 361 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 4,2010, the Burj Khalifa, the tallest structure in the world at 2,717 feet tall, opened in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Also on this date:

In 1853, New Yorker Solomon Northup regained his freedom after being kidnapped in Washington, D.C., and forced into slavery in 1841; he would later tell his story in his memoir, “Twelve Years a Slave.”
In 1896, Utah was admitted as the 45th U.S. state after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially ended the practice of polygamy.

In 1948, Burma (now known as Myanmar) marked its independence from Great Britain.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered his State of the Union address in which he outlined the goals of his “Great Society” initiative.

In 1974, President Richard Nixon refused to hand over tape recordings and documents subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.

In 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.

In 2006, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a significant stroke; his official powers were transferred to his deputy, Ehud Olmert (EH’-hood OHL’-murt). (Sharon remained in a coma until his death in January 2014.)

In 2007, Nancy Pelosi was elected the first female speaker of the House as Democrats took control of Congress.

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor Dyan Cannon is 89.

Guitarist John McLaughlin is 84.

Author-historian Doris Kearns Goodwin is 83.

Country singer Patty Loveless is 69.

Singer Michael Stipe (R.E.M.) is 66.

Actor Julia Ormond is 61.

NFL running back Derrick Henry is 32.

Singer-actor Coco Jones is 28.

NBA center Victor Wembanyama is 22.
The Associated Press

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January 4, 2026
Today In History, January 1: Ellis Island opens
Today is Thursday, Jan. 1, the first day of 2026. There are 364 days left in the year. This is New Year’s Day.

Today in history:

On Jan. 1, 1892, the Ellis Island Immigration Station in New York formally opened, processing nearly 700 immigrants on its first day; nearly 12 million immigrants would ultimately pass through the station before its closure in 1954.

Also on this date:

In 1804, Haiti declared itself independent from France, becoming the world’s first Black-majority republic.
In 1808, the federal law prohibiting the importation of enslaved people to the United States took effect.

In 1818, Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus” was first published in London, when Shelley was 20 years old.

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War, declaring that all enslaved people in rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.”

In 1959, Fulgencio Batista resigned as Cuban president and fled the country, marking victory for Fidel Castro’s rebel troops and the Cuban Revolution.

In 2000, an anxious world held its breath as computers silently switched to the year 2000, but the dreaded “Y2K bug” caused few serious issues.

In 2013, thousands were trampled leaving a New Year’s fireworks display at a stadium in Ivory Coast, leaving at least 64 people dead amid the chaos.

In 2024, an earthquake rocked the west coast of Japan, collapsing homes, killing at least 260 people and forcing the evacuation of more than 3,000 others.

In 2025, a man driving a pickup truck that bore the flag of the Islamic State group slammed into revelers during New Orleans’ raucous New Year’s celebration, killing 15 people. The man was shot dead by police and the attack was subsequently investigated by the FBI as an act of terrorism.

Today’s Birthdays:

Filmmaker Frederick Wiseman is 96.

Actor Frank Langella is 88.

Musician Country Joe McDonald is 84.

Actor-comedian Don Novello is 83.

DJ Grandmaster Flash is 68.

Actor Dedee Pfeiffer is 62.

Actor Morris Chestnut is 57.

Olympic gold medalist ice dancer Meryl Davis is 39.

Rapper Ice Spice is 26.
The Associated Press

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January 1, 2026
Today in History: December 29, Ghislaine Maxwell convicted
Today is Monday, Dec. 29, the 363rd day of 2025. There are two days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Dec. 29,2021, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted in New York of helping lure teenage girls to be sexually abused by the late Jeffrey Epstein; the verdict capped a monthlong trial featuring accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14. (Maxwell would be sentenced to 20 years in prison.)

Also on this date:

In 1170, Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury, was killed in Canterbury Cathedral by knights loyal to King Henry II.
In 1890, the Wounded Knee massacre took place in South Dakota as more than 250 Lakota people were killed by U.S. troops sent to disarm them.

In 1940, during World War II, the German Luftwaffe dropped incendiary bombs on London, setting off what came to be known as “The Second Great Fire of London.”

In 1978, during the Gator Bowl, Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes punched Clemson player Charlie Bauman, who had intercepted an Ohio State pass. (Hayes was fired the next day.)

In 1989, dissident and playwright Vaclav Havel (VAHTS’-lahv HAH’-vel) assumed the presidency of Czechoslovakia. In 1993, he would become the first president of the newly independent Czech Republic after Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved.

In 2024, Jimmy Carter, a Georgia peanut farmer who was elected president in the years after the Watergate scandal and served one tumultuous term starting in 1977, died at age 100. After his presidency, Carter worked tirelessly as a global humanitarian, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor Jon Voight is 87.

Actor Ted Danson is 78.

Actor Patricia Clarkson is 66.

Filmmaker Lilly Wachowski is 58.

Actor Jennifer Ehle is 56.

Actor Jude Law is 53.

Actor Mekhi Phifer (mih-KY’ FY’-fuhr) is 51.

Actor Diego Luna is 46.

Actor and producer Alison Brie is 43.

Actor Jane Levy is 36.

Actor Dylan Minnette is 29.
Associated Press

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December 29, 2025
Today in History: December 27, Charles Darwin sets out on world voyage
Today is Saturday, Dec. 27, the 361st day of 2025. There are four days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Dec. 27, 1831, naturalist Charles Darwin set out on a round-the-world voyage from Plymouth, England, aboard the HMS Beagle.

Also on this date:

In 1904, James Barrie’s play “Peter Pan: The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up” opened at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London.
In 1932, New York City’s Radio City Music Hall opened to the public.

In 1945, the International Monetary Fund was formally established as its first 29 member countries ratified its Articles of Agreement; the IMF began operations in 1947.

In 1968, the Apollo 8 capsule splashed down safely in the Pacific, completing the first crewed mission to orbit the moon.

In 1979, Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. President Hafizullah Amin (hah-FEE’-zoo-lah ah-MEEN’) was overthrown and executed and was replaced by Babrak Karmal.

In 1985, American naturalist and conservationist Dian Fossey, 53, who had studied mountain gorillas in Africa for nearly 20 years, was found murdered in her cabin in Rwanda. No one was arrested for the crime.

In 2007, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a shooting and bomb attack that killed at least 20 people in the city of Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

In 2022, Adam Fox, co-leader of a plot to kidnap Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, was sentenced to 16 years in prison after being convicted of conspiracy charges. Barry Croft Jr. would be sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison in the plot.

In 2022, state and military police were sent to keep people off Buffalo’s snow-choked roads after western New York’s deadliest storm in at least two generations; more than 30 people were reported to have died in the region.

Today’s Birthdays:

Basketball Hall of Fame coach Nolan Richardson is 84.

Rock musician Mick Jones (Foreigner) is 81.

Actor Gérard Depardieu is 77.

Rock musician David Knopfler (Dire Straits) is 73.

Basketball Hall of Fame coach Bill Self is 63.

TV journalist Savannah Guthrie is 54.

Actor Masi Oka is 51.

Actor Aaron Stanford is 49.

Actor Jay Ellis is 44.

Olympic sprint gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is 39.

Rock singer Hayley Williams (Paramore) is 37.

Country singer Shay Mooney (Dan + Shay) is 34.

Actor Timothée Chalamet is 30.

NFL quarterback Brock Purdy is 26.
Associated Press

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December 27, 2025
Today in History: December 24, Alan Turing granted posthumous pardon
Today is Wednesday, Dec. 24, the 358th day of 2025. There are seven days left in the year. This is Christmas Eve.

Today in history:

On Dec. 24, 2013, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II granted a posthumous pardon to code-breaker Alan Turing, who was criminally convicted of homosexual behavior in the 1950s.

Also on this date:

In 1814, the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent, which would end the War of 1812 following ratification by both the British Parliament and the U.S. Senate.
In 1851, fire devastated the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., destroying about 35,000 volumes (about two-thirds of the library’s collection).

In 1865, several veterans of the Confederate Army formed a private social club in Pulaski, Tennessee, that was the original version of the Ku Klux Klan.

In 1913, 73 people, most of them children, died in a crush of panic after a false cry of “Fire!” during a Christmas party for striking miners and their families at the Italian Hall in Calumet, Michigan.

In 1914, during World War I, impromptu Christmas truces began to take hold along parts of the Western Front, principally between British and German soldiers but also involving French troops.

In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe.

In 1992, President George H.W. Bush pardoned former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and five others in the Iran-Contra scandal.

In 2018, a series of explosions ripped through fireworks workshops in Tultepec, a town just north of Mexico City, leaving at least 24 people dead and dozens injured.

In 2024, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe survived its record-breaking closest approach to the sun, hurtling 3.8 million miles above its fiery surface. Since its 2018 launch, the probe has completed numerous other close fly-bys to observe solar wind and other events.

Today’s Birthdays:

Immunologist Dr. Anthony Fauci is 85.

Filmmaker Lee Daniels is 66.

Basketball Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright is 64.

Singer Ricky Martin is 54.

Novelist and film producer Stephenie Meyer is 52.

TV host Ryan Seacrest is 51.

Rock singer Louis Tomlinson (One Direction) is 34.

NFL wide receiver Davante Adams is 33.
Associated Press

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December 24, 2025
Today in History: December 18, U.S. troops leave Iraq
Today is Thursday, Dec. 18, the 352nd day of 2025. There are 13 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Dec. 18, 2011, the last convoy of heavily armored U.S. troops left Iraq in the final moments of a nearly nine-year war.

Also on this date:

In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery was declared in effect by Secretary of State William H. Seward.
In 1892, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker” publicly premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia; although now considered a classic, it received a generally negative reception from critics.

In 1916, the Battle of Verdun, World War I’s longest at 10 months, ended between French and German forces; it led to nearly 1 million casualties.

In 1917, Congress proposed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibiting alcohol; the 18th Amendment was declared ratified in 1919 (Prohibition was repealed in 1933 by the 21st Amendment).

In 1957, the world’s first commercial nuclear power plant, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, began supplying electricity to customers. (It was taken out of service in 1982.)

In 1972, with peace talks stalled, the U.S. launched Operation Linebacker II, its heaviest bombing of North Vietnam in the Vietnam War. The operation lasted 11 days (an agreement known as the Paris Peace Accords was signed in January 1973.

In 2019, the U.S. House impeached President Donald Trump on two charges, sending his case to the Senate for trial (It was the first of two Trump impeachment trials that would end in acquittal). The articles of impeachment accused him of abuse of power to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden before the 2020 election and obstructing Congress’ investigation of the matter.

In 2022, Argentina beat France 4-2 in a penalty shootout to claim a third World Cup, the first for star Lionel Messi.

In 2023, Pope Francis approved letting Catholic priests bless same-sex couples under certain conditions, a radical shift in policy that aimed to make the church more inclusive while maintaining its strict ban on gay marriage.

Today’s Birthdays:

Chef Jacques Pépin is 90.

Rock musician Keith Richards is 82.

Filmmaker Alan Rudolph is 82.

Filmmaker Steven Spielberg is 79.

Filmmaker Gillian Armstrong is 75.

Actor Brad Pitt is 62.

Singer Alejandro Sanz is 57.

Tennis Hall of Famer Arantxa Sanchez Vicario is 54.

Pop singer Sia is 50.

Country singer-songwriter Randy Houser is 50.

Actor Katie Holmes is 47.

Singer Christina Aguilera is 45.

MLB outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. is 28.

NFL quarterback Jayden Daniels is 25.

Singer Billie Eilish is 24.
The Associated Press

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December 18, 2025
Today in History: December 11, ‘Lufthansa Heist’ later immortalized in ‘Goodfellas’
Today is Thursday, Dec. 11, the 345th day of 2025. There are 20 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Dec. 11, 1978, nearly $6 million in cash and jewelry were stolen from the Lufthansa cargo terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport; the ‘Lufthansa Heist,’ the largest cash robbery in history at the time, was immortalized in the film “Goodfellas.”

Also on this date:

In 1816, Indiana was admitted to the Union as the 19th U.S. state.
In 1936, Britain’s King Edward VIII abdicated the throne so he could marry American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson; his brother, Prince Albert, became King George VI.

In 1946, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was established.

In 1972, Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan guided lander Challenger to a touchdown on the moon, where he and Harrison “Jack” Schmitt would become the last two Apollo astronauts to walk on the lunar surface. They returned to Earth three days later with astronaut Ronald Evans, who remained aloft in the command module.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed legislation creating a $1.6 billion environmental “Superfund” to pay for cleaning up hazardous chemical spills and toxic waste dumps.

In 1997, more than 150 countries agreed at a global warming conference in Kyoto, Japan, to control the Earth’s greenhouse gases.

In 1998, majority Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee pushed through three articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, over Democratic objections.

In 2008, former Nasdaq chairman Bernie Madoff was arrested, accused of running a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that wiped out the life savings of thousands of people and wrecked charities. (Madoff died in April 2021 while serving a 150-year federal prison sentence.)

In 2020, the Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit backed by President Donald Trump to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory, ending an attempt to get legal issues that were rejected by state and federal judges before the nation’s highest court.

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor Rita Moreno is 94.

Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is 82.

Singer Brenda Lee is 81.

Singer Jermaine Jackson is 71.

Rock musician Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue) is 67.

Actor-comedian Mo’Nique is 58.

Hockey Hall of Famer Daniel Alfredsson is 53.

Rapper-actor Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) is 52.

Author Colleen Hoover is 46.

Actor Rider Strong is 46.

Actor Alexa Demie is 35.

Actor Hailee Steinfeld is 29.
The Associated Press

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December 11, 2025