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UPI Almanac for Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017

On Jan. 18, 1996, Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, filed for divorce from singer Michael Jackson after 20 months of marriage.

By United Press International
Lisa Marie Presley Jackson filed for divorce January 18, 1996, from the so-called King of Pop Michael Jackson, marking the end of what has been widely seen as one of entertainment's most bizarre marriages. The couple are pictured walking hand-in-hand last April as they hosted youngsters at Jackson's Neverland Ranch in Santa Ynez, California. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
Lisa Marie Presley Jackson filed for divorce January 18, 1996, from the so-called King of Pop Michael Jackson, marking the end of what has been widely seen as one of entertainment's most bizarre marriages. The couple are pictured walking hand-in-hand last April as they hosted youngsters at Jackson's Neverland Ranch in Santa Ynez, California. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 18, the 18th day of 2017 with 347 to follow.

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

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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 84); former Northern Ireland politician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate John Hume in 1937 (age 80); former baseball star Curt Flood in 1938; singer David Ruffin in 1941 (age 76); singer Bobby Goldsboro in 1941 (age 75), actor Kevin Costner in 1955 (age 62) ; actor Jesse L. Martin in 1969 (age 48).

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On this date in history:

In 1778, James Cook became the first European to reach the Hawaiian Islands. He called them the "Sandwich Islands."

In 1871, William of Prussia was declared the first German emperor.

In 1935, an additional 98 individuals were sentenced, 19 to prison and 79 to exile, for playing a role in the assassination of Sergei Kirov as Josef Stalin ruled unchallenged throughout Soviet Russia.

In 1943, Moscow announced the 16-month Nazi siege of Leningrad had been lifted.

In 1969, as he prepared for the peaceful transfer of power, President Lyndon Johnson put his faith in history that his record of public service and accomplishments would serve as a fitting legacy.

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.

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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.


A thought for the day: "Don't compare yourself with anyone in this world. If you do so, you are insulting yourself." -- Bill Gates

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