Today in History: January 5th

Lead Story

• 1933 Golden Gate Bridge is born

American Revolution

• 1781 Benedict Arnold captures and destroys Richmond

Automotive

• 1933 Construction begins on Golden Gate Bridge

Civil War

• 1861 “Star of the West” leaves for Fort Sumter

Cold War

• 1957 Eisenhower proposes new Middle East policy

Crime

• 1970 The United Mine Workers Killings

Disaster

• 1982 Landslides kill 33 in California

General Interest

• 1643 First divorce in the colonies
• 1895 Dreyfus Affair in France
• 1945 Kamikaze pilots get first order
• 1968 Prague Spring begins in Czechoslovakia
• 1976 Pol Pot renames Cambodia
• 1994 Former Speaker Thomas P. Tip O’Neill dies

Hollywood

• 1998 Sonny Bono killed in skiing accident

Literary

• 1825 Alexandre Dumas pere fights a duel

Music

• 1980 The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” becomes hip-hop’s first Top 40 hit

Old West

• 1846 House resolves to stop sharing Oregon

Presidential

• 1949 Truman delivers his Fair Deal speech
• 1972 Nixon launches the space shuttle program

Sports

• 1920 New York Yankees announce purchase of Babe Ruth

Vietnam War

• 1967 Amphibious operations conducted in the Mekong Delta
• 1969 Lodge succeeds Harriman as chief negotiator

World War I

• 1916 First conscription bill is introduced in British parliament

World War II

• 1945 Soviets recognize pro-Soviet Polish Provisional Government