Today is Friday, Jan. 22, the 22nd day of 2016. There are 344 days left in the year.
Highlights in history on this date:
1517 – Ottoman troops take Cairo, Egypt.
1528 – England and France declare war on Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
1655 – Oliver Cromwell dissolves Britain’s Parliament.
1760 – French are defeated by British under Eyre Coote at Wandiwash near Pondicherry, ending French presence in India.
1771 – Spain agrees to cede Falkland Islands to Britain.
1808 – King Joao VI and the Portuguese royal family flee from Napoleon’s troops and move the court from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
1811 – France’s Napoleon Bonaparte annexes Oldenburg, now in northern Germany, and alienates Russia’s Czar Alexander.
1879 – King Cetewayo and 20,000 heavily armed Zulu warriors assault British troops and win the battle of Isandlwana in South Africa, where 139 soldiers repel attacks for almost 12 hours.
1905 – In what is called the “Bloody Sunday” incident, the Russian Czar’s troops massacre more than 100 peaceful protesters in front of the St. Petersburg palace.
1917 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson pleads for an end to war in Europe, calling for “peace without victory.”
1922 – Pope Benedict XV dies; he is succeeded by Pius XI.
1944 – Allied forces begin landings at Anzio in Italy, but fail to exploit the surprise gained to take Rome, just 53 kilometers (33 miles) away.
1953 – The Arthur Miller drama “The Crucible” about the Salem, Massachusetts, witch trials opens on Broadway in New York.
1957 – Israeli forces complete withdrawal from Sinai Peninsula, but remain in Gaza Strip.
1970 – The first regularly scheduled commercial flight of the Boeing 747 begins in New York City and ends in London some 6 1/2 hours later.
1973 – In its Roe vs. Wade decision, the U.S. Supreme Court legalizes abortions.
1986 – Three Sikhs convicted of 1984 assassination of India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi are sentenced to death.
1992 – The acting leader of the Islamic Salvation Front, Abdelkadar Hachani, is arrested in Algeria and detained without trial until 1997.
1995 – A suicide mission by Islamic militants kills 19 Israelis and wounds about 60 at Beit Lid Junction, Israel.
1996 – The Galileo probe plunges into Jupiter’s atmosphere and finds it windier and drier than expected, with less helium and less lightning.
1997— The U.S. Senate confirms Madeleine Albright as America’s first female secretary of state.
2000 – An International Atomic Energy Agency team begins searching Iraqi nuclear sites in the first inspection by a world body in more than a year. Their job is to make sure Iraq’s nuclear stocks are not used for military purposes.
2002 – China moves 17,000 mostly Chinese and Muslim settlers to a traditionally Tibetan region in its remote west, reviving a plan abandoned after protests by critics of China’s Tibetan policies.
2003 – The French and German governments issue a joint statement expressing their opposition to immediate military action against Iraq.
2005 – Iran’s hard-line leadership rules out allowing women to run for president in June elections, denying reports in the state-run media that it had decided to allow female candidates for the first time.
2012 – Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh leaves his battered nation on his way to the U.S. for medical treatment after passing power to his deputy and asking for forgiveness for any “shortcomings” during his 33-year reign.
2013 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party emerges as the largest faction in a hotly contested parliamentary election, positioning the hard-liner to serve a new term as prime minister.
2014 – Syrian peace talks begin in Switzerland with a bitter clash over President Bashar Assad’s future.
2015 — The U.S.-led coalition claims it has killed thousands of Islamic State fighters and half of its leadership even as the Iraqi prime minister asks for more help.
Today’s Birthdays:
Francis Bacon, English statesman-essayist (1561-1626); Andre Ampere, French physicist (1775-1836); George Lord Byron, English poet (1788-1824); August Strindberg, Swedish author (1849-1912); Piper Laurie, U.S. actress (1932–); John Hurt, English actor (1940–); Jazzy Jeff, U.S. rap DJ/actor/producer (1965–); Diane Lane, U.S. actress (1965–); Gabriel Macht, U.S. actor (1972–).
Thought For Today:
Praise undeserved is satire in disguise — Henry Broadhurst, English politician (1840-1911).
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