Today in History: Jan. 18

Today is Saturday, Jan. 18, the 18th day of 2025. There are 347 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 18, 1958, Canadian Willie O’Ree became the first Black player in the National Hockey League as he made his debut with the Boston Bruins.

Also on this date:

In 1778, English navigator Captain James Cook reached the present-day Hawaiian Islands, which he dubbed the “Sandwich Islands.”

In 1911, the first landing of an aircraft on a ship took place as pilot Eugene B. Ely brought his Curtiss biplane in for a safe landing on the deck of the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Harbor.

In 1973, Pink Floyd began recording “Dark Side of the Moon.”

In 1977, scientists identified the bacteria responsible for the deadly form of atypical pneumonia known as Legionnaires’ disease.

In 1990, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was arrested after FBI agents caught him smoking crack cocaine in a D.C. hotel room in a videotaped sting operation.

In 1993, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was observed in all 50 states for the first time.

In 1996, Lisa Marie Presley filed for divorce from Michael Jackson after less than two years of marriage.

In 2013, former Democratic New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was indicted on charges that he’d used his office for personal gain, accepting payoffs, free trips and gratuities from contractors while the city was struggling to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. (Nagin was later convicted and released from prison in 2020.)

In 2019, Jason Van Dyke, the white Chicago police officer who gunned down Black teenager Laquan McDonald in 2014, was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison.

Today’s birthdays: Actor-filmmaker Kevin Costner is 70. Actor Mark Rylance is 65. Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Messier is 64. Actor Dave Bautista is 56. Actor Jesse L. Martin is 56. Rock singer Jonathan Davis (Korn) is 54. Football Hall of Famer Julius Peppers is 45. Actor Jason Segel is 45. Tennis player Angelique Kerber is 37.