Today in History

Today is Friday, Jan. 15, the 15th day of 2016. There are 351 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 15, 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.)

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 1862, the U.S. Senate confirmed President Abraham Lincoln's choice of Edwin M. Stanton to be the new Secretary of War, replacing Simon Cameron.

In 1865, as the Civil War neared its end, Union forces captured Fort Fisher near Wilmington, North Carolina, depriving the Confederates of their last major seaport.

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

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 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, known retroactively as Super Bowl I.

In 1981, the police drama series "Hill Street Blues" premiered on NBC.

In 1993, a historic disarmament ceremony ended in Paris with the last of 125 countries signing a treaty banning chemical weapons.

In 2001, President-elect George W. Bush marked the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday at an elementary school in Houston, where he promised black Americans: "My job will be to listen not only to the successful, but also to the suffering." Wikipedia, a web-based encyclopedia, made its debut.

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: After a seven-year journey, a NASA space capsule, Stardust, returned safely to Earth with the first dust ever fetched from a comet. Michelle Bachelet was elected Chile's first woman president. Kuwait's longtime ruler, Sheik Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah, died; he was succeeded by the crown prince, Sheik Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah.

Five years ago: Several international envoys -- but crucially none from the world powers -- got a look inside an Iranian nuclear site at the invitation of the Tehran government before a new round of talks on Iran's disputed atomic activities. Miss Nebraska Teresa Scanlan won the Miss America pageant in Las Vegas. Actress Susannah York, 72, died in London.

One year ago: In its first lethal injection since a botched one the previous spring, Oklahoma executed a convicted killer with a three-drug method. Police in Belgium conducted raids across the country, killing two suspected Islamist militants. Pope Francis arrived in the Philippines, Asia's most populous Catholic nation, where ecstatic crowds awaited the first papal visit in 20 years.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Margaret O'Brien is 78. Actress Andrea Martin is 69. Actor-director Mario Van Peebles is 59. Rock musician Adam Jones (Tool) is 51. Actor James Nesbitt is 51. Singer Lisa Lisa (Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam) is 49. Actor Chad Lowe is 48. Alt-country singer Will Oldham (aka "Bonnie Prince Billy") is 46. Actress Regina King is 45. Actor Eddie Cahill is 38. NFL quarterback Drew Brees is 37. Rapper/reggaeton artist Pitbull is 35. Actor Victor Rasuk is 31. Electronic dance musician Skrillex is 28.

Thought for Today: "A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan." -- Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968).

Copyright 2016, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.