On This Day in History - January 17th - Almanac

Today is Tuesday, Jan. 17, the 17th day of 2023 with 348 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include Pope Pius V in 1504; American statesman/scientist/author Benjamin Franklin in 1706; author Anne Bronte in 1820; British statesman David Lloyd George in 1863; U.S. gangster Al Capone in 1899; English novelist Nevil Shute in 1899; actor Betty White in 1922; singer Eartha Kitt in 1927; beauty specialist Vidal Sassoon in 1928; actor James Earl Jones in 1931 (age 92); Douglas Wilder, first black governor elected in U.S., in 1931 (age 92); puppeteer Shari Lewis in 1933; talk show host Maury Povich in 1939 (age 84); Olympic gold medal-winning runner Kipchoge Keino in 1940 (age 83); heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali in 1942; comedian Andy Kaufman in 1949; former Rolling Stones member Mick Taylor in 1949 (age 74); musician Steve Earle in 1955 (age 68); comedian Steve Harvey in 1957 (age 66); comic actor Jim Carrey in 1962 (age 61); writer Sebastian Junger in 1962 (age 61); former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama in 1964 (age 59); rapper Lil Jon, born Jonathan Smith, in 1971 (age 52); singer Kid Rock, born Robert James Ritchie, in 1971 (age 52); dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy in 1980 (age 43); actor Zooey Deschanel in 1980 (age 43); rapper Ray J, born William Ray Norwood, in 1981 (age 42); former pro basketball star Dwyane Wade in 1982 (age 41); DJ Calvin Harris in 1984 (age 39); actor Kelly Marie Tran in 1989 (age 34); actor Willa Fitzgerald in 1991 (age 32); actor Lucy Boynton in 1994 (age 29).

On this date in history:

In 1605, Don Quixote was published.

In 1806, the first baby, James Madison Randolph, was born in the White House. He was the grandson of President Thomas Jefferson.

In 1871, Andrew Hallikie received a patent for a cable car system that went into service in San Francisco in 1873.

In 1893, Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii was deposed in a bloodless revolution and a provisional government was established, with annexation by the United States as its aim.

In 1912, one month late to the party, Captain Robert Falcon Scott arrives at the South Pole. Ronald Amundsen got there first.

In 1917, the United States bought 50 of the Virgin Islands in the West Indies from Denmark for $25 million.

In 1920, Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman, having been deported from the United States, announced that they intend to organize a great society in Soviet Russia, its prime objective would be the promotion of "social revolution in the United States."

In 1929, Popeye, his spinach, and his "guns" debut in the comic strip, Thimble Theatre.

In 1946, the U.N. Security Council met for the first time.

In 1950, an 11-member gang staged a $1.5 million robbery of a Brink's armored car in Boston.

In 1966, a U.S. B-52 bomber carrying four hydrogen bombs collided with its refueling plane over Palomares, Spain, scattering radioactive plutonium over the area.

In 1977, convicted killer Gary Gilmore was executed by firing squad in Utah. It was the first execution since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty the previous year.

In 1991, Harald V became king of Norway after the death of his father, King Olav V.

In 1994, a pre-dawn earthquake struck the Los Angeles area, claiming 61 lives and causing widespread damage.

In 1995, a powerful earthquake rocked Kobe, Japan, and the surrounding area, killing about 5,500 people.

In 1996, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman was sentenced to life in prison and 16 others were also sentenced for plotting to bomb the United Nations.

In 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton denied in a sworn deposition that he had an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Oregon's assisted-suicide law by a 6-3 vote. It allowed doctors to help mentally competent terminally ill patients end their lives.

In 2013, U.S. cyclist Lance Armstrong, in an interview broadcast on OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network), said he used banned substances and blood transfusions in all of his Tour de France wins.

In 2017, President Barack Obama commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence whistleblower who leaked classified information to WikiLeaks in 2010.

In 2022, the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee announced that tickets for the sporting event would not be sold to the public but would be distributed exclusively to residents of the country who meet strict COVID-19 requirements.

A thought for the day: "Keep the other person's well-being in mind when you feel an attack of soul-purging truth coming on." -- American actor Betty White