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January 31, 2005

Today’s Highlights in History

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On Jan. 30, 1948, Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi was murdered by a Hindu extremist. (Go to article.)

On Jan. 30 , 1882, Franklin Delano Roosevelt , the 32nd president of the United States , was born. Following his death on April 12 , 1945, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. | Other Birthdays)

On January 30, 1858, Harper’s Weekly featured a cartoon about law and order. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)

On this date in:
1649	England’s King Charles I was beheaded.
1798	A brawl broke out in the House of Representatives in Philadelphia, as Matthew Lyon of Vermont spat in the face of Roger Griswold of Connecticut.
1882	Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, was born in Hyde Park, N.Y.
1933	Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany.
1933	The first episode of the ”Lone Ranger” radio program was broadcast on station WXYZ in Detroit.
1962	Two members of the ”Flying Wallendas” high-wire act were killed when their seven-person pyramid collapsed during a performance in Detroit.
1964	The United States launched Ranger 6, an unmanned spacecraft carrying TV cameras that was to crash-land on the moon.
1968	The Tet offensive began as Communist forces launched surprise attacks against South Vietnamese provincial capitals.
1972	Thirteen Roman Catholic civil rights marchers were shot to death by British soldiers in Northern Ireland on what became known as ”Bloody Sunday.”
1979	The civilian government of Iran announced it had decided to allow Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to return from exile in France.
1991	The first major ground battle of the Gulf War was fought at the frontier port of Khafji in Saudi Arabia; 11 U.S. Marines were killed, seven of them by ”friendly fire.”
2000	A Kenya Airways jet bound for Lagos, Nigeria, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, killing all but 10 of the 179 people on board.
2003	Richard Reid, the British citizen and al-Qaida follower who had tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic jetliner with explosives hidden in his shoes, was sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge in Boston.

Current Birthdays

Dick Cheney turns 64 years old today.

AP Photo/Tom Uhlman Vice President Dick Cheney turns 64 years old today.

83	Dick Martin Comedian (”Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In”)
80	Dorothy Malone Actress
77	Harold Prince Producer-director
75	Gene Hackman Actor
71	Tammy Grimes Actress
68	Jeanne Pruett Country singer
67	Norma Jean Country singer
63	Marty Balin Rock singer (Jefferson Airplane/Starship)
56	William King R&B musician (The Commodores)
54	Phil Collins Songwriter-musician
54	Charles S. Dutton Actor
47	Brett Butler Actress-comedian (”Grace Under Fire”)
46	Jody Watley Singer
33	Tammy Cochran Singer
31	Christian Bale Actor
25	Wilmer Valderrama Actor (”That ’70s Show”)
15	Jake Thomas Actor (”Lizzie McGuire”)

Historic Birthdays
Franklin Roosevelt
1/30/1882 – 4/12/1945 America’s 32nd President (Go to obit.)

59	George Villiers Buckingham 1/30/1628 – 4/16/1687 English politician
60	Bernardo Bellotto 1/30/1720 – 10/17/1780 Italian “Vedute” painter
70	Philip Henry Stanhope 1/30/1805 – 12/24/1875 English politician/historian
54	Samuel Armstrong 1/30/1839 – 5/11/1893 American founder of Hampton Institute
58	Felix Faure 1/30/1841 – 2/16/1899 6th President of French Republic
64	Edward Martyn 1/30/1859 – 12/5/1923 Irish dramatist
88	Walter Damrosch 1/30/1862 – 12/22/1950 Prussian-bn.American conductor
78	Roy Eldridge 1/30/1911 – 2/26/1989 American musician
77	Barbara Tuchman 1/30/1912 – 2/6/1989 American author/historian
87	Livia Drusilla 1/30/58BC – //AD 29 Political wife of Emperor Augustus