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UPI Almanac for Friday, Jan. 17, 2025

On Jan. 17, 1995, a powerful earthquake rocked Kobe, Japan, and the surrounding area, killing about 5,500 people.

By United Press International
The Hanshin Expressway is partially collapsed in Kobe, Japan, due to a 6.9-magnitude earthquake on January 17, 1995. File Photo by Kobe/Wikimedia
1 of 6 | The Hanshin Expressway is partially collapsed in Kobe, Japan, due to a 6.9-magnitude earthquake on January 17, 1995. File Photo by Kobe/Wikimedia

Today is Friday, Jan. 17, the 17th day of 2025 with 348 to follow.

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

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include Pope Pius V in 1504; American statesman/scientist/writer Benjamin Franklin in 1706; writer Anne Bronte in 1820; gangster Al Capone in 1899; writer Nevil Shute in 1899; actor Betty White in 1922; musician Eartha Kitt in 1927; entrepreneur Vidal Sassoon in 1928; actor James Earl Jones in 1931; Douglas Wilder, first Black governor elected in U.S., in 1931 (age 94); puppeteer Shari Lewis in 1933; TV personality Maury Povich in 1939 (age 86); Olympic gold medal-winning runner Kipchoge Keino in 1940 (age 85); International Boxing Hall of Fame member Muhammad Ali in 1942; comedian Andy Kaufman in 1949; Barbadian President Sandra Mason in 1949 (age 76); musician Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones) in 1949 (age 76); musician Steve Earle in 1955 (age 70); comedian/TV personality Steve Harvey in 1957 (age 68); musician Susanna Hoffs (Bangles) in 1959 (age 66); actor Jim Carrey in 1962 (age 63); writer Sebastian Junger in 1962 (age 63); actor Denis O'Hare in 1962 (age 63); former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama in 1964 (age 61); actor Joshua Malina in 1966 (age 59); actor Naveen Andrews in 1969 (age 56); DJ Tiƫsto in 1969 (age 56); musician Lil Jon in 1971 (age 54); musician Kid Rock in 1971 (age 54); actor Freddy Rodriguez in 1975 (age 50); actor/filmmaker Leigh Whannell in 1977 (age 48); dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy in 1980 (age 45); actor/musician Zooey Deschanel (She & Him) in 1980 (age 45); musician Ray J in 1981 (age 44); Basketball hall of fame member Dwyane Wade in 1982 (age 43); DJ Calvin Harris in 1984 (age 41); musician Jeremiah Fraites (Lumineers) in 1986 (age 39); actor Kelly Marie Tran in 1989 (age 36); actor Willa Fitzgerald in 1991 (age 34); actor Lucy Boynton in 1994 (age 31).

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On this date in history:

In 1871, Andrew Hallidie 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. Roald 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 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.

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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.

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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 2024, the United States launched its fourth attack in a week against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, striking more than a dozen missiles and launchers that U.S. officials said presented "an imminent threat" to vessels transiting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.


A thought for the day: "No persons are more frequently wrong than those who will not admit they are wrong." -- French writer Francois de La Rochefoucauld

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