On This Day in History - January 23rd - Almanac

Today is Saturday, Jan. 23, the 23rd day of 2021 with 342 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include American patriot John Hancock in 1737; French author Stendhal, a pseudonym for Marie-Henri Beyle, in 1783; French Impressionist painter Edouard Manet in 1832; Russian film director Sergei Eisenstein in 1898; actor Dan Duryea in 1907; comedian Ernie Kovacs in 1919; actor Jeanne Moreau in 1928; actor/singer Chita Rivera in 1933 (age 88); actor Gil Gerard in 1943 (age 78); actor Rutger Hauer in 1944; actor Richard Dean Anderson in 1950 (age 71); airline pilot Chesley Sullenberger in 1951 (age 70); former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in 1953 (age 68); Princess Caroline of Monaco in 1957 (age 64); actor Gail O'Grady in 1963 (age 58); actor Mariska Hargitay in 1964 (age 57); actor Tiffani Thiessen in 1974 (age 47); actor Julia Jones in 1981 (age 40).

On this date in history:

In 1789, Georgetown College was founded in Georgetown, Md., which later would be part of the District of Columbia.

In 1845, the U.S. Congress decided that all national elections would take place on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November.

In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in U.S. history to receive a medical degree.

In 1912, the Standard Oil Company of New York was fined $55,000 for violating the Elkins Act in accepting rebates from the New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads during 1904 and 1905.

In 1922, at Toronto General Hospital, 14-year-old Canadian Leonard Thompson became the first person to receive an insulin injection as treatment for diabetes.

In 1948, U.S. Army Gen. Dwight Eisenhower said he couldn't accept a presidential nomination from either party. Four years later, he ran as a Republican and was elected as the 34th president.

In 1968, the USS Pueblo was seized in the Sea of Japan by North Korea, which alleged the ship was on a spy mission. The crew was held for 11 months before being released.

In 1973, U.S. President Richard Nixon announced that U.S. troops would cease fighting in Vietnam at midnight Jan. 27.

In 1980, U.S. President Jimmy Carter reinstated the Selective Service System. President Richard Nixon had ended the draft at the conclusion of the Vietnam War in 1973.

In 1986, the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.

In 1997, Madeleine Albright was sworn into office as the first female U.S. secretary of state.

In 2005, Johnny Carson, host of TV's Tonight Show for 30 years and a powerful presence in American entertainment, died of emphysema at age 79.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia's King Salman was crowned one day after the death of his half-brother, King Abdullah.

In 2020, the Chinese government issued a travel ban for all residents of Wuhan, the epicenter of a novel coronavirus outbreak that would come to cause a pandemic. As of this day, the disease -- later called COVID-19 -- had killed about 17 people.

A thought for the day: "There is always light, if only we're brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it." -- U.S. national youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman, at the inauguration of President Joe Biden