Today in History

Today in History

Today is Sunday, Jan. 15, the 15th day of 2017. There are 350 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 15, 1967, the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League 35-10 in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, retroactively known as Super Bowl I.

On this date:

In 1559, England's Queen Elizabeth I was crowned in Westminster Abbey.

In 1777, the people of New Connecticut declared their independence. (The republic later became the state of Vermont.)

In 1892, the original rules of basketball, devised by James Naismith, were published for the first time in Springfield, Massachusetts, where the game originated.

In 1929, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta.

In 1942, Jawaharlal Nehru was named to succeed Mohandas K. Gandhi as head of India's Congress Party.

In 1943, work was completed on the Pentagon, headquarters of the U.S. Department of War (now Defense).

In 1947, the mutilated remains of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short, who came to be known as the "Black Dahlia," were found in a vacant Los Angeles lot; her slaying remains unsolved.

In 1961, a U.S. Air Force radar tower off the New Jersey coast collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean during a severe storm, killing all 28 men aboard.

In 1976, Sara Jane Moore was sentenced to life in prison for her attempt on the life of President Gerald R. Ford in San Francisco. (Moore was released on the last day of 2007.)

In 1987, entertainer Ray Bolger, perhaps best known for playing the Scarecrow in the 1939 MGM musical "The Wizard of Oz," died in Los Angeles at age 83.

In 1992, the Yugoslav federation, founded in 1918, effectively collapsed as the European Community recognized Croatia and Slovenia as independent countries.

In 2009, US Airways Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger ditched his Airbus 320 in the Hudson River after a flock of birds disabled both engines; all 155 people aboard survived.

Ten years ago: The Iraqi government hanged two of Saddam Hussein's henchmen, including a half-brother, Barzan Ibrahim, who was decapitated by the noose. "Babel" won best movie drama and "Dreamgirls" was named best musical or comedy at the Golden Globes; "Grey's Anatomy" was named best TV drama series and "Ugly Betty" best TV comedy.

Five years ago: Addressing a conference in Beirut on democracy in the Arab world, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded that Syria's president, Bashar Assad, stop killing his own people, and said the "old order" of one-man rule and family dynasties was over in the Middle East. At the Golden Globes, "The Artist" won best movie musical or comedy, while "The Descendants" won best drama; on the TV side, "Homeland" won best drama series while "Modern Family" was recognized as best musical or comedy series.

One year ago: Al-Qaida fighters attacked a hotel and cafe in Burkina Faso's capital, killing 30 people. A search began for two Marine helicopters carrying 12 crew members that collided off the Hawaiian island of Oahu during a nighttime training mission; there were no survivors. A federal judge rejected Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's bid for a new trial and ordered him to pay victims of the deadly attack more than $101 million in restitution. Actor Dan Haggerty, 74, died in Burbank, California.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Margaret O'Brien is 79. Actress Andrea Martin is 70. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy White is 64. Actor-director Mario Van Peebles is 60. Rock musician Adam Jones (Tool) is 52. Actor James Nesbitt is 52. Singer Lisa Lisa (Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam) is 50. Actor Chad Lowe is 49. Alt-country singer Will Oldham (aka Bonnie Prince Billy) is 47. Actress Regina King is 46. Actor Eddie Cahill is 39. NFL quarterback Drew Brees is 38. Rapper/reggaeton artist Pitbull is 36. Actor Victor Rasuk is 32. Actress Jessy Schram is 31. Electronic dance musician Skrillex is 29. Singer-songwriter Grace VanderWaal (TV: "America's Got Talent") is 13.

Thought for Today: "One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means." -- Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968).