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On This Day: LBJ calls for 'War on Poverty'

On Jan. 8, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a "War on Poverty" in the United States during his first State of the Union address.

By UPI Staff
On January 8, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson, pictured giving his inaugural address in 1965, declared a "War on Poverty" in the United States during his first State of the Union address. UPI File Photo
1 of 4 | On January 8, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson, pictured giving his inaugural address in 1965, declared a "War on Poverty" in the United States during his first State of the Union address. UPI File Photo | License Photo

Jan. 8 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1790, U.S. President George Washington gave the first State of the Union address.

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In 1815, the forces of U.S. Gen. Andrew Jackson decisively defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans, the closing engagement of the War of 1812.

In 1867, the U.S. Congress approved legislation that allowed black African Americans to vote in the District of Columbia.

In 1889, US patent #395,791 is issued to Herman Hollerith for his "Art of Compiling Statistics," a punched card calculator. In 1896, Hollerith founded The Tabulating Machine Company, one of four companies consolidated to form International Business Machines Corporation, or IBM.

In 1918, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson delivered his Fourteen Points during a speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress.

File Photo by Library of Congress/UPI

In 1961, Algerians voted in favor of the French referendum on Algerian self-determination, part of French President Charles de Gaulle's peace proposals, sweeping aside opposition and delivering him the vote of confidence he had demanded.

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In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a "War on Poverty" in the United States during his first State of the Union address.

In 1976, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai died in Beijing at the age of 78.

In 1987, Kay Orr was inaugurated in Lincoln, Neb., as the nation's first woman Republican governor.

In 1991, Pan American World Airways filed for bankruptcy. The company, founded in 1927, would cease operations 11 months later.

In 1992, President George H.W. Bush, during a state visit to Tokyo, vomited on the lap of Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa after coming down with the flu.

In 1993, thousands of people gathered at Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion in Memphis to purchase the first issue of a stamp honoring the "King of Rock 'n' Roll" on what would have been his 58th birthday.

In 1997, a report by University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center scientists concluded that exposure to a combination of chemicals was linked to Gulf War Syndrome, responsible for the various ailments reported by veterans of the 1991 conflict.

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In 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law.

File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

In 2007, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced he would nationalize the nation's telecommunications and electric power industries controlled by U.S. companies.

In 2011, six people were killed and 13 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., were injured when a gunman armed with a semiautomatic pistol opened fire at a political meeting in Tucson. The shooter, Jared Loughner, 22, was sentenced to life in prison.

In 2014, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

In 2016, Mexican authorities capture Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the Sinaloa drug cartel kingpin who led police on a monthslong manhunt after escaping from prison.

File Photo by Jose Mendez/EPA
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