Today in History for Jan. 14, 2013

Today is Monday, Jan. 14, the 14th day of 2013. There are 351 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight:

On Jan. 14, 1963, George C. Wallace was sworn in as governor of Alabama; his inaugural address included the ringing declaration, “Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!” – a view Wallace came to repudiate in later years.

On this date:

In 1784, the United States ratified a peace treaty with England, ending the Revolutionary War.

In 1858, Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, and his wife, Empress Eugenie, escaped an assassination attempt led by Italian revolutionary Felice Orsini, who was later captured and executed.

In 1900, Puccini’s opera “Tosca” had its world premiere in Rome.

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 1953, Josip Broz Tito was elected president of Yugoslavia by the country’s Parliament.

In 1963, Sylvia Plath’s semi-autobiographical novel “The Bell Jar” was published in London under the pen name “Victoria Lucas,” less than a month before Plath committed suicide.

In 1968, the Green Bay Packers of the NFL defeated the AFL’s Oakland Raiders, 33-14, in Super Bowl II.

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 1973, the Miami Dolphins of the AFC defeated the Washington Redskins of the NFC 14-7 to win Super Bowl VII. (This game featured the notorious “Garo’s Gaffe” by Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian that resulted in a Redskins touchdown.)

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 1993, TV talk show host David Letterman announced he was moving from NBC to CBS.

Ten years ago: Kmart Corp. announced its biggest round of cutbacks yet, saying it would close 326 more stores and eliminate 37,000 more jobs in hopes of getting out of bankruptcy by the end of April 2003. (Kmart emerged from Chapter 11 protection in May 2003.) Thousands of General Electric Co. employees across the country began a two-day strike to protest higher health insurance costs.

Five years ago: Republican Bobby Jindal, the first elected Indian-American governor in the United States, took office in Louisiana. Alvaro Colom was sworn in as Guatemala’s first leftist president in more than 50 years.

One year ago: Rescue workers scrambled aboard the stricken Costa Concordia cruise liner, seeking to help some 4,200 passengers the day after the ship ran aground and tipped over off Italy’s Tuscan coast; the death toll from the tragedy eventually reached 25 with seven missing and presumed dead. Miss Wisconsin Laura Kaeppeler won the Miss America pageant in Las Vegas.

Today’s birthdays: Blues singer Clarence Carter is 77. Singer Jack Jones is 75. Singer-songwriter Allen Toussaint is 75. Former NAACP Chairman Julian Bond is 73. Actress Faye Dunaway is 72. Actress Holland Taylor is 70. Actor Carl Weathers is 65. Singer-producer T-Bone Burnett is 65. Movie writer-director Lawrence Kasdan is 64. Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd is 61. Rock singer Geoff Tate (Queensryche) is 54. Movie writer-director Steven Soderbergh is 50. Actor Mark Addy is 49. Fox News Channel anchorman Shepard Smith is 49. Rapper Slick Rick is 48. Actor Dan Schneider is 47. Actress Emily Watson is 46. Actor-comedian Tom Rhodes is 46. Rock musician Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne Band) is 46. Rapper-actor LL Cool J is 45. Actor Jason Bateman is 44. Rock singer-musician Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) is 44. Actress Jordan Ladd is 38. Retro-soul singer-songwriter Marc Broussard is 31. Rock singer-musician Caleb Followill (Kings of Leon) is 31. Actor Zach Gilford is 31. Rock musician Joe Guese (The Click Five) is 30. Actor Jonathan Osser is 24.

Thought for today: “Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” – Robert A. Heinlein, American science-fiction author (1907-1988).