Today is Sunday, Jan. 18, the 18th day of 2015 with 347 to follow.
The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter and Saturn. Evening stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Uranus and Venus.
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1 of 8 | Pope John Paul II arrives at a hospital in Rome June 21, 1981, to be treated for complications from gunshot wounds he suffered in an assassination attempt less than six weeks earlier. The gunman, who was forgiven by the pope, was released from prison Jan. 18, 2010.UPI /Luciano Mellace/File | License Photo
Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include French philosopher Montesquieu in 1689; English physician Peter Roget, who compiled "Roget's Thesaurus," in 1779; American orator and statesman Daniel Webster in 1782; English author A.A. Milne, who wrote "Winnie the Pooh," in 1882; comedian Oliver Hardy of the Laurel and Hardy movie team, in 1892; actor Cary Grant in 1904; actor Danny Kaye in 1913; American inventor Ray Dolby in 1933; filmmaker John Boorman in 1933 (age 82); former Northern Ireland politician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate John Hume in 1937 (age 78); former baseball star Curt Flood in 1938; singer David Ruffin in 1941 (age 74); singer Bobby Goldsboro in 1941 ((age 74), actor Kevin Costner in 1955 (age 60) ; actor Jesse L. Martin in 1969 (age 46).
On this date in history:
In 1778, James Cook became the first European to reach the Hawaiian Islands. He called them the "Sandwich Islands."
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In 1871, William of Prussia was declared the first German emperor.
In 1943, Moscow announced the 16-month Nazi siege of Leningrad had been lifted.
In 1983, the International Olympic Committee restored Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals to his family. They had been rescinded for Thorpe's having played professional baseball. He won gold medals in 1912 in the pentathlon and decathlon.
In 1996, Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, filed for divorce from singer Michael Jackson after 20 months of marriage.
In 1997, Norwegian Borge Ousland completed a 1,675-mile trek across Antarctica. It was the first time anyone traversed the continent alone.
In 2007, Venezuelan lawmakers voted to allow President Hugo Chavez to rule by decree for 18 months.
In 2010, Mehmet Ali Agca, who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981 and was later forgiven by the pontiff, was released from a Turkish prison.
In 2011, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vest among a group of police recruits in Tikrit, Iraq, killing at least 60 people and wounding 150 others.
In 2013, Algerian forces freed more than 600 hostages held by Islamic militants at a gas plant in In Amenas.
In 2014, a stampede killed 18 people and injured about 40 in a section of Mumbai where tens of thousands of people gathered to mourn the death of a Muslim spiritual leader.
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A thought for the day: "Don't compare yourself with anyone in this world. If you do so, you are insulting yourself." -- Bill Gates.
