Almanac
Today is Thursday, the 23rd day of 2025 with 342 to follow.
Today is Thursday, Jan. 23, the 23rd day of 2025 with 342 to follow.
The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.
Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include American patriot John Hancock in 1737; writer Stendhal, a pseudonym for Marie-Henri Beyle, in 1783; artist Edouard Manet in 1832; filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein in 1898; actor Dan Duryea in 1907; comedian Ernie Kovacs in 1919; actor Jeanne Moreau in 1928; actor/musician Chita Rivera in 1933; actor Gil Gerard in 1943 (age 82); actor Rutger Hauer in 1944; actor Richard Dean Anderson in 1950 (age 75); airline pilot Chesley Sullenberger in 1951 (age 74); musician Robin Zander (Cheap Trick) in 1953 (age 72); musician Earl Falconer (UB40) in 1957 (age 68); Princess Caroline of Monaco in 1957 (age 68); actor Peter Mackenzie in 1961 (age 64); actor Boris McGiver in 1962 (age 63); actor Gail O'Grady in 1963 (age 62); actor Mariska Hargitay in 1964 (age 61); actor Tiffani Thiessen in 1974 (age 51); broadcast journalist Norah O'Donnell in 1974 (age 51); musician Nick Harmer (Death Cab for Cutie) in 1975 (age 50); actor Julia Jones in 1981 (age 44).
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 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.
In 2024, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists kept the symbolic Doomsday Clock set at 90 seconds to midnight, signaling a dangerous potential risk of global catastrophe. The group cited the Russian invasion of Ukraine, diplomatic tensions between China and the United States, climate change and artificial intelligence as causes for concern.
A thought for the day: Norwegian painter Edvard Munch said: "Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye ... it also includes the inner pictures of the soul."
