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UPI Almanac for Monday, Jan. 21, 2019

On Jan. 21, 2009, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., won near-unanimous Senate confirmation as U.S. secretary of state. She took the oath of office later that day.

By United Press International
On January 21, 2009, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., won near-unanimous Senate confirmation as U.S. secretary of state. She took the oath of office later that day. File Photo by Matthew Cavanaugh/UPI
1 of 2 | On January 21, 2009, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., won near-unanimous Senate confirmation as U.S. secretary of state. She took the oath of office later that day. File Photo by Matthew Cavanaugh/UPI | License Photo

Today is Monday, Jan. 21, the 21st day of 2019 with 344 to follow.

This is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States.

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


Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include soldier/Vermont folk hero Ethan Allen in 1738; explorer/historian John Fremont in 1813; Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in 1824; Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin in 1869; Roger Nash Baldwin, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, in 1884; French fashion designer Christian Dior in 1905; German high-wire walker Karl Wallenda in 1905; actor Telly Savalas in 1922; actor Paul Scofield in 1922; British comedian Benny Hill in 1924; disc jockey Robert "Wolfman Jack" Smith in 1938; golfer Jack Nicklaus in 1940 (age 79); opera star Placido Domingo in 1941 (age 78); folk musician Richie Havens in 1941; singer Mac Davis in 1942 (age 77); singer Edwin Starr in 1942; actor Jill Eikenberry in 1947 (age 72); singer Billy Ocean in 1950 (age 69); former U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke in 1950 (age 69); former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in 1951 (age 68); Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 1953; artist Jeffrey Koons in 1955 (age 64); actor Robby Benson in 1956 (age 63); actor Geena Davis in 1956 (age 63); basketball Hall of Fame member Hakeem Olajuwon in 1963 (age 56); singer Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton in 1976 (age 43); actor Booboo Stewart, born Nils Allen Stewart Jr., in 1994 (age 25).

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On this date in history:

In 1793, French King Louis XVI was executed in Paris, ending more than a thousand years of continuous French monarchy.

In 1861, Mississippi Sen. Jefferson Davis resigned from the U.S. Senate 12 days before Mississippi seceded from the Union. He later became president of the Confederate States of America.

In 1915, the English steamer Durward, traveling from Leith to Rotterdam, was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine near the mouth of the Meuse. The crew was rescued by a Dutch pilot boat and landed at the Hook.

In 1924, Vladimir Lenin, architect of the Bolshevik Revolution and the first leader of the Soviet Union, died of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 54.

In 1949, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek headed for exile, resigned his position as president of Nationalist China to clear the way for negotiations with the Chinese Communists to end China's three-year civil war.

In 1954, in odd news, a Connecticut man obtained a divorce on grounds of desertion after concluding his wife wasn't coming back. She left 45 years before.

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In 1954, the world's first atomic-powered submarine, the Nautilus, was launched at Groton, Conn.

In 1976, the supersonic Concorde airplane was put into service by Britain and France.

In 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter pardoned American Vietnam War-era draft evaders and ordered a case-by-case study of deserters.

In 1990, U.S. tennis star John McEnroe became the first player to be disqualified from the Australian Open after an outburst in which he broke his racquet, yelled at a linesman and erupted into a string of curses.

In 1996, an overloaded ferry, the Gurita, capsized during a storm off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, killing 340 people.

In 1997, the full U.S. House of Representatives voted 395-28 to reprimand Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., for violating House rules and misleading congressional investigators looking into his possible misuse of tax-exempt donations for political purposes.

In 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau said Hispanics had moved past African Americans as the largest minority group in the United States.

In 2009, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., won near-unanimous Senate confirmation as U.S. secretary of state. She took the oath of office later that day.

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In 2009, Toyota overtook General Motors in annual sales to become the largest automaker on the planet.

In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a far-reaching and controversial 5-4 decision, ruled that the government cannot restrict the spending of corporations and unions for political campaigns.

In 2012, signaling what observers believed to be a new political era in Egypt, Islamist parties won 47 percent of the seats in parliamentary elections.

In 2014, a report from three former war-crimes prosecutors said they found evidence of widespread killings and torture by forces of the government of Syria. The report, which included thousands of photographs apparently smuggled out of the war-torn country, told of killings that were "systematic, ordered and directed from above."

In 2017, millions of people gathered worldwide for the Women's March protesting the election of President Donald Trump, who was inaugurated the day before. Up to 500,000 attended the Washington, D.C., event.

In 2018, the New England Patriots beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-20 to win the AFC Championship and the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings 38-7 to win the NFC Championship. The Eagles would go on to defeat the Patriots 41-33 to win Super Bowl LII.

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A thought for the day: "The American character is both idealistic and realistic: why can't our government reflect both?" -- Hillary Clinton

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