Today is Thursday, Jan. 30, the 30th day of 2020. There are 336 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Jan. 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany.
On this date:
In 1649, England’s King Charles I was executed for high treason.
In 1931, the Charles Chaplin feature “City Lights” had its world premiere in Los Angeles.
In 1945, during World War II, a Soviet submarine torpedoed the German ship MV Wilhelm Gustloff in the Baltic Sea with the loss of more than 9,000 lives, most of them war refugees; roughly 1,000 people survived. Adolf Hitler marked the 12th anniversary of his appointment as Germany’s chancellor with his last public speech in which he called on Germans to keep resisting until victory.
In 1948, Indian political and spiritual leader Mohandas K. Gandhi, 78, was shot and killed in New Delhi by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist. (Godse and a co-conspirator were later executed.)
In 1962, two members of “The Flying Wallendas” high-wire act were killed when their seven-person pyramid collapsed during a performance at the State Fair Coliseum in Detroit.
In 1968, the Tet Offensive began during the Vietnam War as Communist forces launched surprise attacks against South Vietnamese towns and cities; although the Communists were beaten back, the offensive was seen as a major setback for the U.S. and its allies.
In 1969, The Beatles staged an impromptu concert atop Apple headquarters in London; it was the group’s last public performance.
In 1972, 13 Roman Catholic civil rights marchers were shot to death by British soldiers in Northern Ireland on what became known as “Bloody Sunday.”
In 1974, President Richard Nixon delivered what would be his last State of the Union address; Nixon pledged to rein in rising prices without the “harsh medicine of recession” and establish a national health care plan that every American could afford.
In 1981, an estimated 2 million New Yorkers turned out for a ticker-tape parade honoring the American hostages freed from Iran.
In 1993, Los Angeles inaugurated its Metro Red Line, the city’s first modern subway.
In 2005, Iraqis voted in their country’s first free election in a half-century; President George W. Bush called the balloting a resounding success.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Gene Hackman is 90. Actress Vanessa Redgrave is 83. Country singer Jeanne Pruett is 83. Chess grandmaster Boris Spassky is 83. Country singer Norma Jean is 82. Former Vice President Dick Cheney is 79. Rhythm-and-blues musician William King (The Commodores) is 71. Singer Phil Collins is 69. Actor Charles S. Dutton is 69. World Golf Hall of Famer Curtis Strange is 65. Actress Ann Dowd is 64. Actress-comedian Brett Butler is 62. Singer Jody Watley is 61. Actor-filmmaker Dexter Scott King is 59. The King of Jordan, Abdullah II, is 58. Actor Wayne Wilderson (TV: “Veep”) is 54. Actor Norbert Leo Butz is 53. The King of Spain, Felipe VI, is 52. Country singer Tammy Cochran is 48. Actor Christian Bale is 46. Rock musician Carl Broemel (My Morning Jacket) is 46. Actress Olivia Colman is 46. Actress-singer Lena Hall is 40. Pop-country singer-songwriter Josh Kelley is 40. Actor Wilmer Valderrama is 40. Actress Mary Hollis Inboden is 34. Actress Kylie Bunbury is 31. Actor Jake Thomas is 30. Actress Danielle Campbell is 25.
Thought for Today: “Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you’re scared to death.” — Harold Wilson, British prime minister (1916-1995).
