January 3, 2012 – Smriti "Simmi" D. Isaac

Updated January 2, 2012, 1:28 pm

On Jan. 3, 1959, President Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Alaska to the Union as the 49th state.

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On Jan. 3, 1793, Lucretia Mott, an early proponent of the women’s rights movement in America, was born. Following her death on Nov. 11, 1880, her obituary appeared in The Times.

Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »

On This Date

By The Associated Press

1521 Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.

1777 Gen. George Washington’s army routed the British in the Battle of Princeton, N.J.

1868 The Meiji Restoration re-established the authority of Japan’s emperor and heralded the fall of the military rulers known as shoguns.

1892 J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

1938 The March of Dimes campaign to fight polio was organized.

1961 The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba.

1967 Jack Ruby, the man who fatally shot accused presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, died in a Dallas hospital.

1990 Ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces, 10 days after taking refuge in the Vatican’s diplomatic mission in Panama City.

2000 The last new daily “Peanuts” comic strip by Charles Schulz ran in 2,600 newspapers.

2004 NASA’s Mars rover, Spirit, touched down on the red planet.

2006 Lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion and agreed to cooperate in investigations of corruption in Congress.

2009 After seven days of pummeling the Gaza Strip from the air, Israel launched a ground offensive.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning turns 31 years old today.

AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Rock musician Stephen Stills (Crosby, Stills and Nash) turns 67 years old today.

AP Photo/Tony Avelar

1926 George Martin, Record producer, turns 86

1930 Robert Loggia, Actor, turns 82

1932 Dabney Coleman, Actor, turns 80

1939 Bobby Hull, Hockey Hall of Famer, turns 73

1946 John Paul Jones, Rock musician (Led Zeppelin), turns 66

1950 Victoria Principal, Actress (“Dallas”), turns 62

1956 Mel Gibson, Actor, director, turns 56

1968 Shannon Sturges, Actress, turns 44

1975 Danica McKellar, Actress (“The Wonder Years”), turns 37

Historic Birthdays

Lucretia Mott 1/3/1793 – 11/11/1880 Early proponent of the American women’s rights movement.Go to obituary »

86 Heinrich Wilheim von Gerstenberg 1/3/1737 – 11/1/1823
German theorist of Sturm & Drang literary movement

82 Robert Whitehead 1/3/1823 – 11/14/1905
British engineer, invented the modern torpedo

49 Father Damien 1/3/1840 – 4/15/1889
Belgian missionary to Hawaiian lepers

71 Sir Henry Alfred Lytton 1/3/1865 – 8/15/1936
English Gilbert and Sullivan star

84 Clement Attlee 1/3/1883 – 10/8/1967
English prime minister (1945-51)

81 J. R. R. Tolkien 1/3/1892 – 9/2/1973
English novelist and scholar

84 T. Claude Ryan 1/3/1898 – 9/11/1982
American aircraft manufacturer; designed the Spirit of St Louis

62 Dinh Diem Ngo 1/3/1901 – 11/2/1963
South Vietnamese president (1955-63)

86 Boris Kochno 1/3/1904 – 1/8/1990
Russian-born French ballet librettist

22 Morten Nielsen 1/3/1922 – 8/29/1944
Danish poet & resistance fighter

1521	Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.
1777	Gen. George Washington’s army routed the British in the Battle of Princeton, N.J.
1868	The Meiji Restoration re-established the authority of Japan’s emperor and heralded the fall of the military rulers known as shoguns.
1892	J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
1938	The March of Dimes campaign to fight polio was organized.
1961	The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba.
1967	Jack Ruby, the man who fatally shot accused presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, died in a Dallas hospital.
1990	Ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces, 10 days after taking refuge in the Vatican’s diplomatic mission in Panama City.
2000	The last new daily “Peanuts” comic strip by Charles Schulz ran in 2,600 newspapers.
2004	NASA’s Mars rover, Spirit, touched down on the red planet.
2006	Lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion and agreed to cooperate in investigations of corruption in Congress.
2009	After seven days of pummeling the Gaza Strip from the air, Israel launched a ground offensive.

1926	George Martin, Record producer, turns 86
1930	Robert Loggia, Actor, turns 82
1932	Dabney Coleman, Actor, turns 80
1939	Bobby Hull, Hockey Hall of Famer, turns 73
1946	John Paul Jones, Rock musician (Led Zeppelin), turns 66
1950	Victoria Principal, Actress (“Dallas”), turns 62
1956	Mel Gibson, Actor, director, turns 56
1968	Shannon Sturges, Actress, turns 44
1975	Danica McKellar, Actress (“The Wonder Years”), turns 37

86	Heinrich Wilheim von Gerstenberg 1/3/1737 – 11/1/1823 German theorist of Sturm & Drang literary movement
82	Robert Whitehead 1/3/1823 – 11/14/1905 British engineer, invented the modern torpedo
49	Father Damien 1/3/1840 – 4/15/1889 Belgian missionary to Hawaiian lepers
71	Sir Henry Alfred Lytton 1/3/1865 – 8/15/1936 English Gilbert and Sullivan star
84	Clement Attlee 1/3/1883 – 10/8/1967 English prime minister (1945-51)
81	J. R. R. Tolkien 1/3/1892 – 9/2/1973 English novelist and scholar
84	T. Claude Ryan 1/3/1898 – 9/11/1982 American aircraft manufacturer; designed the Spirit of St Louis
62	Dinh Diem Ngo 1/3/1901 – 11/2/1963 South Vietnamese president (1955-63)
86	Boris Kochno 1/3/1904 – 1/8/1990 Russian-born French ballet librettist
22	Morten Nielsen 1/3/1922 – 8/29/1944 Danish poet & resistance fighter