Today in History

Today is Thursday, Jan. 14, the 14th day of 2016. There are 352 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 14, 1966, Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue in Manhattan were converted from two-way to one-way streets to improve traffic flow. (To this day, vehicles head south on Fifth, while traveling north on Madison.)

On this date:

In 1784, the United States ratified the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War; Britain followed suit in April 1784.

In 1814, the Treaty of Kiel ended hostilities between Denmark and Sweden, with Denmark agreeing to cede Norway to Sweden, something Norway refused to accept.

In 1900, Puccini's opera "Tosca" had its world premiere in Rome.

In 1914, Ford Motor Co. greatly improved its assembly-line operation by employing an endless chain to pull each chassis along at its Highland Park plant.

In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and French General Charles de Gaulle opened a wartime conference in Casablanca.

In 1952, NBC's "Today" show premiered, with Dave Garroway as the host, or "communicator."

In 1954, Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio were married at San Francisco City Hall. (The marriage lasted about nine months.)

In 1963, George C. Wallace was sworn in as governor of Alabama with the pledge, "Segregation forever!" -- a view Wallace later repudiated. Sylvia Plath's novel "The Bell Jar" was published in London under a pseudonym less than a month before Plath committed suicide.

In 1969, 27 people aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, off Hawaii, were killed when a rocket warhead exploded, setting off a fire and additional explosions.

In 1975, the House Internal Security Committee (formerly the House Un-American Activities Committee) was disbanded.

In 1989, President Ronald Reagan delivered his 331st and final weekly White House radio address, telling listeners, "Believe me, Saturdays will never seem the same. I'll miss you."

In 1994, President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed an accord to stop aiming missiles at any nation; the leaders joined Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk in signing an accord to dismantle the nuclear arsenal of Ukraine.

Ten years ago: The chief judge in Saddam Hussein's trial (Rizgar Mohammed Amin) submitted his resignation (he was succeeded by Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman). Johnny Weir won his third straight title at the U.S. Figure Skating championships in St. Louis; Sasha Cohen won the women's division; Michelle Kwan was given a berth on the U.S. Olympic figure skating team. Academy Award-winning actress Shelley Winters died in Beverly Hills, California, at age 85.

Five years ago: In an unprecedented popular uprising, Tunisian protesters enraged over soaring unemployment and corruption drove President Zine El Abdine Ben Ali from power after 23 years of iron-fisted rule. A funeral was held for U.S. District Judge John Roll, who was killed in the Tucson, Arizona, shooting rampage. The national Republican Party ousted chairman Michael Steele and chose Wisconsin party chief Reince Priebus to lead in the run-up to the 2012 presidential race.

One year ago: The al-Qaida branch in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack on the satirical Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris. Eight inmates and two corrections officers died when a prison bus skidded off an icy West Texas highway, slid down an embankment and collided with a passing freight train. A pair of Americans, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson, completed what had long been considered the world's most difficult rock climb, using only their hands and feet to scale the 3,000-foot Dawn Wall on El Capitan, the forbidding granite pedestal in Yosemite National Park.

Today's Birthdays: Blues singer Clarence Carter is 80. Singer Jack Jones is 78. Actress Faye Dunaway is 75. Actress Holland Taylor is 73. Actor Carl Weathers is 68. Singer-producer T-Bone Burnett is 68. Movie writer-director Lawrence Kasdan is 67. Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd is 64. Rock singer Geoff Tate (Queensryche) is 57. Movie writer-director Steven Soderbergh is 53. Actor Mark Addy is 52. Fox News Channel anchorman Shepard Smith is 52. Rapper Slick Rick is 51. Actor Dan Schneider is 50. Actress Emily Watson is 49. Actor-comedian Tom Rhodes is 49. Rock musician Zakk Wylde is 49. Rapper-actor LL Cool J is 48. Actor Jason Bateman is 47. Rock singer-musician Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) is 47. Actor Kevin Durand is 42. Actress Jordan Ladd is 41. Retro-soul singer-songwriter Marc Broussard is 34. Rock singer-musician Caleb Followill (Kings of Leon) is 34. Actor Zach Gilford is 34. Rock musician Joe Guese (The Click Five) is 33. Actor Jonathan Osser is 27. Actor-singer Grant Gustin is 26.

Thought for Today: "If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind." -- John Stuart Mill, English philosopher (1806-1873).

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