On This Day in History - January 3rd - Almanac

Today is Saturday, Jan. 3, the third day of 2015 with 362 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter and Saturn. Evening stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Uranus and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include Roman philosopher Cicero in 106 B.C.; feminist and abolitionist Lucretia Mott in 1793; St. Damien of Molokai, a missionary to lepers in Hawaii, in 1840; British Prime Minister Clement Attlee in 1883; J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "The Lord of the Rings," in 1892; actors ZaSu Pitts in 1894, Ray Milland in 1907 and Betty Furness in 1916; entertainer Victor Borge in 1909; Maxene Andrews, of the Andrews Sisters singing trio, in 1916; football Hall of Fame Coach Hank Stram in 1923; Beatles record producer George Martin in 1926 (age 89); Italian film director Sergio Leone and Brazilian composer Ernst Mahle (age 86), both in 1929; actors Robert Loggia in 1930 (age 85) and Dabney Coleman in 1932 (age 83); hockey Hall of Fame member Bobby Hull in 1939 (age 76); musician Van Dyke Parks in 1943 (age 72); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Stephen Stills (Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills and Nash in 1945 (age 70) and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) in 1946 (age 69); actor Victoria Principal in 1950 (age 65) and actor/director Mel Gibson in 1956 (age 59); German racing champion Michael Schumacher in 1969 (age 46); actor Danica McKellar in 1975 (age 40); and pro football quarterback Eli Manning in 1981 (age 34).

On this date in history:

In 1777, the Continental Army commanded by Gen. George Washington defeated the British at Princeton, N.J.

In 1938, the March of Dimes was established by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1959, Alaska became the 49th state of the United States.

In 1961, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba after Fidel Castro announced he was a communist.

In 1967, Jack Ruby, who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the assumed assassin of President John F. Kennedy, died of cancer in Dallas.

In 1969, police in Newark, N.J., confiscated a shipment of the John Lennon-Yoko Ono album "Two Virgins" because the cover photo, featuring full frontal nudity, violated pornography laws.

In 1990, deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega left his refuge in the Vatican Embassy in Panama City and surrendered to U.S. troops. (He was taken to Florida to face narcotics trafficking charges.)

In 1991, AIDS was removed from the list of diseases that would automatically bar an infected person from entering the United States.

In 1993, U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed the START II treaty reducing strategic nuclear arsenals by two-thirds.

In 2004, a Flash Airline Boeing 737 crashed shortly after takeoff in Egypt, killing 148 people.

In 2006, Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist, agreed to plead guilty to fraud, public corruption and tax evasion charges, and to testify against politicians and former colleagues.

In 2009, after more than a week of intense airstrikes, Israeli troops crossed into Gaza, launching a ground assault against the militant Palestinian group Hamas. More than 430 Palestinians and four Israelis had been killed.

In 2012, the Taliban in Afghanistan announced they would open a political office in Qatar. Observers saw the move as a positive sign that could lead to peace talks between the insurgents and the U.S.-led Afghan coalition.

In 2014, Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers ("Bye Bye Love," "Wake up Little Susie," "All I Have to do is Dream") died at age 74 in Burbank, Calif. Everly and his brother, Don, were among the first performers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

A thought for the day: Henry David Thoreau said, "Be true to your work, your word and your friend."