Today is Monday, Jan. 17, the 17th day of 2022. There are 348 days left in the year. This is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Jan. 17, 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his farewell address in which he warned against “the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.”

On this date:

In 1917, Denmark ceded the Virgin Islands to the United States for $25 million.

In 1944, during World War II, Allied forces launched the first of four battles for Monte Cassino in Italy; the Allies were ultimately successful.In 1950, the Great Brink’s Robbery took place as seven masked men held up a Brink’s garage in Boston, stealing $1.2 million in cash and $1.5 million in checks and money orders. (Although the entire gang was caught, only part of the loot was recovered.)

In 1955, the submarine USS Nautilus made its first nuclear-powered test run from its berth in Groton, Connecticut.

In 1966, the Simon & Garfunkel album “Sounds of Silence” was released by Columbia Records.

In 2020, U.S. health officials announced that they would begin screening airline passengers from central China for the new coronavirus; people traveling from Wuhan, China, would have their temperature checked and be asked about symptoms. President Donald Trump added to his legal team for his impeachment trial retired law professor Alan Dershowitz and Ken Starr, the independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor James Earl Jones is 91. Talk show host Maury Povich is 83. Rock musician Mick Taylor is 74. R&B singer Sheila Hutchinson (The Emotions) is 69. Singer Steve Earle is 67. Singer Paul Young is 66. Actor-comedian Steve Harvey is 65. Singer Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles) is 63. Actor-comedian Jim Carrey is 60. Former first lady Michelle Obama is 58. Rapper Kid Rock is 51. Actor-singer Zooey Deschanel is 42. Dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy (TV: “Dancing with the Stars”) is 42. Former NBA player Dwyane Wade is 40.