106BC Â Â Â Jan 3, Marcus Cicero (d.43BCE), Roman orator, statesman and author, was born. He was elected Consul in 63. He chose to support Pompey over Caesar and was murdered by Mark Antony: “What is more unwise than to mistake uncertainty for certainty, falsehood for truth?”
(V.D.-H.K.p.74) (AP, 4/10/98) (HN, 1/3/99)1521Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther from the Roman Catholic Church.
(NH, 9/96, p.18) (AP, 1/3/98)1543Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo (43-44) died of gangrene and was buried at San Miguel. He was injured in December while helping defend his men fight off a band of Indians in the Channel Islands off California. In 1989 Harry Kelsey authored the biography “Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo.”
(NPS-CNM, 4/1/97) (SFC, 10/18/14, p.A1)1621 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, William Tucker was born. He is believed to be first American born African-American. [1624 date also given]
(HN, 1/3/99) (MC, 1/3/02)1641Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Jeremiah Horrocks (22), English astronomical prodigy, died.
(MC, 1/3/02)1670Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, George Monck (61), English general (to the-sea), died.
(MC, 1/3/02)1754Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Joseph Black, a medical student at the Univ. of Edinburgh, rediscovered carbon dioxide after pouring acid into a tall glass containing some chalk Black had read Helmont’s memoirs and so knew of gas sylvestris. A candle near the glass was snuffed out due to the outpouring of carbon dioxide. He also found that carbon dioxide will precipitate out of limewater when exposed to a strong source of carbon dioxide gas. Black later attained a professorship and had James Watt, engine-builder, as one of his first assistants.
(NOHY, 3/90, p.5,42)1777       Jan 3, Gen. George Washington’s army routed the British led by Cornwallis in the Battle of Princeton, N.J.
(AP, 1/3/98) (HN, 1/3/99)1793      Jan 3, Lucretia Coffin Mott women’s rights activist, was born. She was a teacher, minister, antislavery leader and founder of the 1st Women’s Rights Convention.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99) (HN, 1/3/02)1795Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The 3rd division of the Lithuanian Polish Republic was made between Russia and Austria.
(Voruta #27-28, Jul 1996, p.5)
1795Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Josiah Wedgwood (b.1730), British ceramics manufacturer, died. His daughter, Susannah, was the mother of Charles Darwin. In 2004 Brian Dolan authored “Wedgwood: The First Tycoon.”
(SSFC, 12/5/04, p.E5)(www.wedgwoodmuseum.org.uk/wedgwood_chronology.htm)1825Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Scottish factory owner Robert Owen bought 30,000 acres in Indiana as site for New Harmony utopian community.
(MC, 1/3/02)1833Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Britain ousted a small group of Argentine settlers and seized control of the Malvina Islands (Falkland Islands) in the South Atlantic. In 1982 Argentina seized the islands, but Britain took them back after a 74-day war.
(AP, 1/3/98)(SFC, 4/3/02, p.A7)1852Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The 1st Chinese arrive in Hawaii.
(MC, 1/3/02)1856Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, John Thompson (1827-1876), Norway-born immigrant, departed Placerville, Ca., with skies and snow shoes on his first mail run to Carson City, Nevada. By the spring of 1857 he made 31 crossings of the Sierra to deliver mail.
(ON, 4/10, p.7)1861Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Delaware rejected a proposal that it join the South in seceding.
(HN, 1/3/99)
1861Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, US Ft. Pulaski & Ft. Jackson, Savannah, were seized by Georgia.
(MC, 1/3/02)1864Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, John Joseph Hughes (b.1797), Irish-born Archbishop of the Catholic diocese of NY, died.
(WSJ, 12/5/08, p.A19) (www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/John-Joseph-Hughes)1868Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Emperor Meiji ascended the throne and assumed power. The Meiji Restoration re-established the authority of Japan’s emperor and heralded the fall of the military rulers known as shoguns. The feudal clan system was abolished and industrialism was started. Japan opened itself up to the West, thereby obtaining the benefits of western technology. With the erosion of the Tokugawa bakufu system and international pressure to open the country, the boy emperor Mutsuhito””later known by the name Meiji””became the political leader replacing the Tokugawa shogunate. The social and political changes during the Meiji period (1868-1912) had begun in the late Tokugawa period, but were only formalized with the creation of the Meiji constitution in 1889.
(V.D.-H.K.p.243,286) (Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 215) (AP, 1/3/98) (HNQ, 11/21/00)1870Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge began.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Bridge)1871      Jan 3,  Henry W. Bradley patented oleomargarine in Binghamton, NY.
(AH, 2/06, p.14)1879      Jan 3, Grace Coolidge (Goodhue) First Lady: wife of 30th U.S. President Calvin Coolidge [1923-29], was born.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99) (HN, 1/3/99)1883      Jan 3, Clement Attlee Britain’s prime minister [1945-1951; head of Labour Party, was born.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1885      Jan 3, Anna Pavlova, Russia’s premier ballerina, was born.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1888      Jan 3, Marvin C. Stone of Washington, DC, patented the drinking straw.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1892Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. “All that is gold does not glitter; not all those that wander are lost.”
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99) (AP, 1/5/99) (AP, 1/3/00)1897      Jan 3, Marion (Cecilia Douras) Davies actress: Runaway Romany, When Knighthood Was in Flower, The Patsy, Show People, Going Hollywood, was born.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1898      Jan 3, Zasu Pitts actress: Busby Berkeley’s 1933 musical: Dames, was born.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1901 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Ngo Dinh Diem, South Vietnamese president (1955-63), was born.
(HN, 1/3/99) (MC, 1/3/02)1903Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The Bulgarian government renounced the treaty of commerce tying it to Austro-Hungarian empire.
(HN, 1/3/99)1905      Jan 3, Ray Milland (Reginald Truscott-Jones) Academy Award-winning actor: The Lost Weekend [1945], We’re Not Dressing, Star-Spangled Rhythm, Lady in the Dark, Let’s Do It Again, X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes, was born.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1909      Jan 3, Victor Borge (Borge Rosenbaum) pianist, comedian, was born.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1910Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, British miners struck for an 8 hour working day.
(MC, 1/3/02)
1910Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The Social Democratic Congress in Germany demanded universal suffrage.
(HN, 1/3/99)1911Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Joseph Rauh civil rights activist: cofounded Americans for Democratic Action; member: executive board of NAACP; general counsel: Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, was born.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)
1911Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, John Sturges director: Bad Day at Black Rock, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Ice Station Zebra, The Eagle Has Landed, was born.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1912 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Plans were announced for a new $150,000 Brooklyn stadium for the Trolley Dodgers baseball team.
(HN, 1/3/99)1915Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Jack Levine, artist, was born in Boston, Mass. His social realist and expressionist art included political and satirical undertones.
(SFC, 7/24/04, p.E1)1916Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Betty Furness, consumer advocate, TV spokesperson for refrigerators, was born.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)
1916Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Three armored Japanese cruisers were ordered to guard the Suez Canal.
(HN, 1/3/99)1918      Jan 3, Maxene Andrews was born. Singer with sisters LaVerne and Patti: The Andrews Sisters: Why Talk About Love?, A Simple Melody, Bei Mir Bist Du Schön, Rum and Coca Cola; solo: I Suppose; on Broadway with Patti: Over Here.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1920Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees for $100,000, twice the amount of any previous player transaction. The deal also included a $300,000 loan secured by a mortgage on Fenway Park, a contractual clause that made the Yankees owners the Red Sox’s landlords.
(http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00242487.html)
1920Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The last of the U.S. troops quit France.
(HN, 1/3/99)1921Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, John Russell, actor: Forever Amber, Rio Bravo, Pale Rider, was born.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)
1921Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The state capitol in Charleston, West Virginia, was destroyed by a fire. Ammunition, bought by the West Virginia State Police two years before, was stored on the top floor of the building. The ammunition had been purchased for use in the coal field disputes which had threatened to erupt into civil war.
(http://www.charlestonwv.net/community/capitol.html)
1921Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Italy halted the issue of passports to those emigrating to the U.S.
(HN, 1/3/99)1922Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Bill Travers, producer, director, actor: Born Free, was born.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1924Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Hank Stram, football: coach, was born: Kansas City Chiefs: Super Bowls I, IV; sportscaster: CBS radio.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)
1924Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Howard Carter opened the doors to the last shrine in the hall, revealing the large stone sarcophagus of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen. The next day Carter was photographed with Arthur Callender and an Egyptian workman in the Burial Chamber, looking through the open doors of the four gilded shrines, towards the quartzite sarcophagus tomb of Tutankhamun.
(http://tinyurl.com/6crmufa) (www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/gri/4acphot.html)1925Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Benito Mussolini dissolved the Italian parliament and became dictator.
(MC, 1/3/02)1926Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Joan Walsh Anglund, author, was born: Bedtime Book, Crocus in the Snow; illustrator of children’s books.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)
1926Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, George Martin record producer, arranger, keyboard player, was born: group: The Beatles; AIR Studios; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [3-15-99].
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1929Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, William S. Paley (27) became CBS president.
(MC, 1/3/02)1930Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Robert Loggia actor, was born: Independence Day, Wild Palms, Big, Armed and Dangerous, Prizzi’s Honor, Scarface, Psycho 2, Pink Panther series, A Woman Called Golda, Speedtrap, An Officer and a Gentleman, The Greatest Story Ever Told, Somebody Up There Likes Me, Mancuso FBI.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)
1930 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The second conference on war reparations began in the Hague.
(HN, 1/3/99)1931 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Hundreds of farmers stormed a small town in depression-plagued Arkansas demanding food.
(HN, 1/3/99)1932Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Coo Coo (Clifton) Marlin auto race: Winston Cup star, was born.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)
1932Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Dabney Coleman actor, was born: Judicial Consent, The Beverly Hillbillies, Amos and Andrew, Clifford, Never Forget, Short Time, Dragnet, The Man with One Red Shoe, Tootsie, On Golden Pond, 9 to 5, North Dallas Forty, The Other Side of the Mountain, Cinderella Liberty, The President’s Plane is Missing, Buffalo Bill.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1933 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The Japanese took Shuangyashan, China, killing 500 in the process.
(HN, 1/3/99)1938Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The first broadcast of Woman in White was presented on the NBC Red network. The program remained on radio for 10 years and was one of the first to feature real doctors and nurses in leading roles.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)
1938Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The March of Dimes was established by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to fight poliomyelitis. Roosevelt himself was afflicted with polio. The organization was originally called the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, as the disease was commonly known.
(AP, 1/3/98) (440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1939      Jan 3, Bobby Hull, ”˜The Golden Jet’: Hockey Hall of Famer, was born: Chicago Blackhawks left wing: Hart Memorial Trophy, NHL’s MVP award [1965, 1966]; Lady Byng Trophy for good sportsmanship [1965]; 1st pro hockey player to score more than 50 goals in one season [54: 1965].
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)
1939Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Tennis legend Don Budge played a pro tennis match, his first in Madison Square Garden, NY, before 6,000 spectators. Budge was touring the country as the top U.S. tennis player, having won the grand slam of tennis (Australian, French and U.S. Opens and Wimbledon) the year before.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1940Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The Southland Shuffle was recorded on Bluebird Records by Charlie Barnet and his orchestra. A young trumpet player named Billy May was featured.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Canada & US acquired air bases in Newfoundland with a 99 year lease.
(MC, 1/3/02)1943Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, A US B-17 bomber was downed over France following a bombing run over a German submarine base in southern France. John Roten, navigator, was the only survivor. Roten spent 28 months as a POW.
(SFC, 9/10/01, p.A11)1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Stephen Stills, singer, songwriter, guitarist: group, was born: Buffalo Springfield: For What It’s Worth; group: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, US aircraft carriers attacked Okinawa.
(MC, 1/3/02)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Edgar Cayce (b.1877), American self-proclaimed psychic from Kentucky, died. Jess Stearn (d.2002) authored “The Sleeping Prophet: The Life and work of Edgar Cayce” (1968), and “A Prophet in His Own Country: The Story of the Young Edgar Cayce” (1974). In 2000 Sidney D. Kirkpatrick authored Edgar Cayce, An American Prophet.
(SFEC, 7/26/98, BR p.3)(SSFC, 1/14/01, BR p.12)(SFC, 4/2/02, p.A15)(SFC, 8/7/08, p.E6)1946Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, John Paul Jones, musician, was born as John Baldwin in Kent, England: film score: Scream for Help; group: Led Zeppelin: Whole Lotta Love, Moby Dick, Ramble On, Immigrant Song, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Black Dog, Rock & Roll, The Battle of Evermore, Stairway to Heaven.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Jones_%28musician%29)
1946Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Don May, basketball player, was born: Univ. of Dayton, Indiana Pacers.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)
1946 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, President Truman called on Americans to spur Congress to act on the on-going labor crisis.
(HN, 1/3/99)
1946Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, William Joyce, (Lord Haw Haw), was hanged in Britain for treason. He had broadcast for the Nazis to British and American fighting troops. In 2005 Nigel Farndale authored “Haw-Haw: The Tragedy of William and Margaret Joyce.”
(www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/William-Joyce)(Econ, 7/30/05, p.77)1947Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, At the top of the record charts:
Ole Buttermilk Sky by The Kay Kyser Orchestra (vocal: Mike Douglas & The Campus Kids).
The Old Lamplighter by The Sammy Kaye Orchestra (vocal: Billy Williams).
For Sentimental Reasons by Nat King Cole.
Divorce Me C.O.D. by Merle Travis.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)
1947Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Congressional proceedings were televised for the first time as viewers in Washington, Philadelphia and New York City saw some of the opening ceremonies of the 80th Congress.
(AP, 1/3/98)
1947      Jan 3, In Trenton, New Jersey, Al Herrin, the handyman who claimed he had no bed to sleep in because he had never slept a wink in his life, passed away at age 92. He was famed for catnapping in chairs but never sleeping in a bed. No bed was found in his living quarters after he died. Doctors said there was evidence that he had gone several months without sleep and they confirmed that if he went that long, it could well be that he was awake his entire life.
(SFC, 12/4/94, p. S-8) (440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1948Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, King Michael left Romania. His Peles Castle in Sinaia was confiscated by the Communists. In 2006 it was returned to the former king.
(SFC, 10/20/00, p.A16) (SFC, 5/24/06, p.A2)1950Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Victoria Principal, actress, was born: Dallas, Fantasy Island, Scott Turow’s The Burden of Proof, Naked Lie, Blind Witness, Mistress, Pleasure Palace, Earthquake, Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1952Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, A revived “Pal Joey” opened at Broadhurst Theater, NYC, for 542 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pal_Joey_%28musical%29)
1952Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, “Dragnet” with Jack Webb premiered on NBC TV.
(MC, 1/3/02)1953Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Frances Bolton and her son, Oliver from Ohio, became the first mother-son combination to serve at the same time in the United States Congress.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1954Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Albert Einstein wrote a letter to the philosopher Eric Gutkind describing belief in God as “childish superstition” and saying Jews were not the chosen people. In 2008 the letter was put up for auction and sold for $404,000.
(AFP, 5/13/08) (AP, 5/16/08)1955Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Melody Anderson, actress, was born.: Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair, Landslide, Hitler’s Daughter, Final Notice, Speed Zone, Firewalker, Beverly Hills Madam, Policewoman Centerfold, Dead and Buried, Flash Gordon, Manimal.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)
1955Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, At the top of the record charts:
Mr. Sandman by The Chordettes.
Let Me Go, Lover by Joan Weber.
The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane by The Ames Brothers.
More and More by Webb Pierce.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1956Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Mel Gibson, Academy Award-winning director and actor, was born in Peekskill, New York. His films included Braveheart (1995) actor and director; Maverick, The Man Without a Face, Lethal Weapon series, Forever Young, Hamlet, Bird on a Wire, Tequila Sunrise, Mad Max series, Mrs. Soffel, The Road Warrior, The Year of Living Dangerously, Summer City.
(http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000154/)1957Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The Hamilton Watch Company was the first to introduce an electric watch in Lancaster, Pa.
(http://rondeau.net/history.html)1958Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The first six members of the newly formed US Commission on Civil Rights held their first meeting at the White House after they were sworn in by President Eisenhower.
(AP, 1/3/08)
1958Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Edmund Hillary reached the South Pole (Antarctica) overland. Hillary was part of a joint New Zealand-British ice trek that drove farm tractors on the Skelton Glacier to the South Pole. He beat Vivian Fuchs to the South Pole by 17 days.
(SFC, 1/14/99, p.C2) (MC, 1/3/02)
1958 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The British created the West Indies Federation with Lord Hailes as governor general. The federation lasted to 1962. It included Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad, Tobago and the Windward and Leeward Islands.
(HN, 1/3/99)(WUD, 1994, p.1623)1959Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, President Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Alaska to the Union as the 49th state. Its area is 586,412 sq. mls. Capital: Juneau; bird: willow ptarmigan; flower: forget-me-not; nickname: The Last Frontier.
(TMC, 1994, p.1959) (THM, 4/27/97, p.L5) (AP, 1/3/98) (440 Int’l. 1/3/99)
1959 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Fidel Castro took command of the Cuban army.
(HN, 1/3/99)1961Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba after Fidel Castro announced he was a communist. The US Guantanamo Bay base remained under US control.
(AP, 1/3/98) (HN, 1/3/99)(MC, 1/3/02)1962Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Pope John XXIII excommunicated Fidel Castro.
(MC, 1/3/02)1963Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Top hits:
Telstar by The Tornadoes
Bobby’s Girl by Marcie Blane
Go Away Little Girl by Steve Lawrence
Don’t Let Me Cross Over by Carl Butler & Pearl (Dee Jones).
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1964      Jan 3, Barry Goldwater announced that he was a candidate for the U.S. Presidency. He lost to Lyndon B. Johnson: 43,126,506 to 27,176,799.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1965Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, UC Berkeley officials announced a new campus policy that allowed political activity on campus.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F5)1966 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Cambodia warned the UN of retaliation unless the U.S. and South Vietnam end intrusions.
(HN, 1/3/99)1967Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Mary Garden (b.1874), Scottish opera star, died in Inverurie, Scotland.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Garden)
1967Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Jack Ruby (55), the man who shot accused presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, died in a Dallas hospital.
(AP, 1/3/98)1969Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Police in Newark, NJ, confiscated 30,000 copies of the John Lennon, Yoko Ono album, Two Virgins. A nude photo of John and Yoko on the cover violated pornography laws in Jersey.
(www.goatview.com/january03.htm)1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, “Mame” closed at Winter Garden Theater in NYC after 1508 performances.
(http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3142)1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, At the top of the record charts: “My Sweet Lord and Isn’t It” a Pity by George Harrison; “Knock Three Times” by Dawn; “Black Magic Woman” by Santana; and “Rose Garden” by Lynn Anderson.
(www.mbgtop40.com/chartreviews/1971/week10of1971.html)1972Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Don McLean received a gold record for his 8-minute-plus (8:32) hit, American Pie.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) got out of the baseball business this day by selling the New York Yankees to a 12-man syndicate headed by George Steinbrenner III for $8.8 million. Steinbrenner (1930-2010) put up barely $100,000.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_New_York_Yankees_season) (Econ, 7/17/10, p.38)1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Following eight years of inactivity, Bob Dylan and The Band began his 2-month concert tour in Chicago, IL. The tour was recorded and later released as a double-LP set titled, “Before the Flood.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan_and_The_Band_1974_Tour)1975Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, President Ford signed Public Law 93-620. This Act, written to enlarge the Grand Canyon National Park, also provided in Section 10 for the enlargement of the adjacent Havasupai Indian Reservation by 185,000 acres and designated a contiguous 95,300 acres of the enlarged National Park as a permanent traditional use area of the Havasupai Indians of Havasu Canyon, Arizona.
(SSFC, 2/19/06, p.F4) (www.tribal-institute.org/envirotext/89.htm)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, President Gerald Ford signed the Jackson-Vanik amendment into law, after both houses of the United States Congress unanimously voted for its adoption. Congress had passed the Jackson-Vanik amendment for economic sanctions on Russia to pressure the Soviet Union to allow unfettered emigration for Soviet Jews. Pres. Bush in 2001 proposed that it be lifted.
(WSJ, 11/5/01, p.A1) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson-Vanik_amendment)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The US Trade Act of 1974 was enacted.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_Act_of_1974)1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Pres. Gerald Ford signed the American Folklife Preservation Act. San Francisco Folklorist Aaron Green (1917-2009) had lobbied Congress for the passage of the bill.
(www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=6021)1977Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Apple Computers incorporated under Steven Jobs and Steve Wozniak. In March Apple produced the Apple II, the first pre-assembled, mass-produced PC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Computer)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)1978Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In India the Congress Party split and Indira Gandhi became head of the larger faction.
(WUD, 1994, p.1691)
1978 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Vietnamese troops were reported to be occupying 400 square miles in Cambodia. North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops were using Laos and Cambodia as staging areas for attacks against allied forces.
(HN, 1/3/02)1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The top of the record charts included: Le Freak by Chic; Too Much Heaven by the Bee Gees; My Life by Billy Joel; The Gambler by Kenny Rogers.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Conrad Hilton (b.1887), American founder of the Hilton Hotel chain, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_Nicholson_Hilton)1980Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Conservationist Joy Adamson (69), author of “Born Free,” was killed in northern Kenya by a servant.
(AP, 1/3/98) (WSJ, 9/8/00, p.W4)1981Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, John Lennon’s (Just Like) Starting Over and the album Double Fantasy topped the pop music charts just weeks after the death of the former Beatle.
(www.440.com/twtd/today.html)1982Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, A small plane crashed into the peak of White Mountain in northern California. Donnie Priest (10), the only survivor, was rescued 5 days later but lost both legs due to frostbite. His mother and stepfather were killed in the crash.
(SSFC, 11/25/07, p.A1)1983Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Hawaii the Pu’u O’o vent of the Kilauea volcano lit up the skies for the first time and began a state of almost constant eruption.
(SFEC, 4/2/00, p.T6)1985Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Soprano Leontyne Price, part of the Met since 1961, bid adieu to the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She sang the title role of Aida.
(440 Int’l. 1/3/99)
1985 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, President Reagan condemned a rash of arsons on abortion clinics.
(HN, 1/3/99)1986      Jan 3, The British Banker’s Association started publishing the London inter-bank offered rates (LIBOR), a measure of interest rates banks pay when they borrow from one another. The rate is subjective by design and not a statistical measure.
(http://mortgage-x.com/general/indexes/wsj_libor_history.asp?y=1986)(Econ, 3/10/12, p.84)1987Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, At the top of the record charts included: Walk Like an Egyptian by the Bangles; Everybody Have Fun Tonight by Wang Chung; Notorious by Duran Duran; Mind Your Own Business by Hank Williams, Jr.
(www.440.com/twtd/archives/jan03.html)
1987      Jan 3, The first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was ”˜Lady Soul’: Aretha Franklin (b.1942). Bill Haley was among the 14 others inducted.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aretha_Franklin)(http://tinyurl.com/mn5j6)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Milton J. Cross (b.1897), TV announcer (Met Opera), died.
(www.imdb.com/name/nm0189229/)1988Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Margaret Thatcher (b.1925) became the longest serving British PM this century.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_3)
1988Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The Israeli Army ordered nine Palestinian activists deported from West Beirut as part of a controversial crackdown to stop the uprising in the occupied territories. Israeli raids on Palestinian and Progressive Socialist Party positions in the region of Saida make killed 21 persons and wounded 11.
(AP, 1/3/98) (http://tinyurl.com/zz87m)1990Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces, 10 days after taking refuge in the Vatican’s diplomatic mission.
(AP, 1/3/98)1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The 102nd Congress convened, plunging immediately into acrimonious debate over the Persian Gulf crisis. President Bush proposed direct talks between Secretary of State James A. Baker the Third and Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz.
(AP, 1/3/01)1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In California, police pursued a driver who had killed another motorist along Interstate 5 for more than 300 miles until the car ran out of gas in Westminster; the driver was shot to death after officers said he pointed a shotgun at them.
(AP, 1/3/02)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 3,200 for the first time, ending the day at 3,201.48.
(AP, 1/3/02)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The UN, led by US Sec. of State Cyrus Vance, brokered a cease-fire between the Croatian government and rebel Serbs. Following subsequent breaches the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR) put 14,000 peacekeeping troops into Croatia. The European Community (EC) recognized the independence of Croatia.
(SFC,10/16/97, p.A12) (SFC, 6/11/96, p.A14)1993Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The START II Treaty was signed between the US and Russia by President Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin. It was to eliminate land-based multiple-warhead missiles and reduce the long-range nuclear arsenals.
(SFEC, 12/1/96, Parade p.6) (AP, 1/3/98)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Three days after he was jeered in Sarajevo, U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali took refuge from angry Somalis in Mogadishu.
(AP, 1/3/98)1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The US Postal Service raised the price of a first-class stamp to 32 cents.
(AP, 1/3/05)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo announced an emergency plan for wage and price controls and budget cuts to stabilize the peso and combat spiraling inflation. The peso had lost 37% of its value since Dec. 20, 1994.
(WSJ, 1/13/95, p.A-3)(AP, 1/3/00)1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, As a partial US government shutdown spilled into its record 19th day, stubborn House Republicans rebuffed a Senate bill that would have immediately returned idled federal workers to their jobs.
(AP, 1/3/01)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, US House speaker Newt Gingrich hired Christina Jeffrey to the post of historian for the House of Representatives.
(WSJ, 5/28/96, p. A-18)1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Bryant Gumbel ended his 15-year career as host of the NBC morning show “Today.”
(SFC, 1/4/97, p.E1) (AP, 1/3/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Pres. Clinton waived indefinitely the part of the Helms-Burton law that would punish foreign companies that used American property confiscated in Cuba 40 years ago.
(SFC, 1/4/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, President Clinton declared northern Nevada a major disaster area following days of rain that sent rivers over their banks in the Reno and Carson City area.
(AP, 1/3/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Las Vegas had a total of 101,106 hotel rooms as of this date.
(SFEC, 5/10/98, DB p.64)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In NY in Centereach, Long Island, William Sodders (21) shot and killed, James Halverson, a firefighter out on a jog, in a random murder. Sodders was later turned in to police by his father after admitting to him the murder. Sodders was said to be influenced by the film “Natural Born Killers.” Halverson left a wife pregnant with twins and a 4-year-old daughter.
(SFC, 8/15/97, p.A7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Washington a diplomat from Georgia, Gueorgui Makharadze, was in a car crash that killed a 16-year-old girl. Police said he was drinking, but he refused a breath test.
(SFC, 1/8/97, p.A17)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Europe the 11th day of a cold front left some 206 dead.
(SFC, 1/4/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Mexico a Jalisco state judge dismissed drug trafficking charges against Hector Luis Palma, leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel. He was sentenced to 6 years on lesser charges.
(SFC, 1/9/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Rwanda two Hutu men were sentenced to death for their role in the 1994 genocide.
(SFC, 1/4/97, p.A10)1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Peter Christoff, Prof. of Russian history at SF State Univ., died at age 86. His dissertation was on Alexander Herzen and Mikhail Bakunin and he later specialized on the Slavophil movement, which attempted to reinforce Orthodox Christian values and Slavic cultural traditions in the former USSR. His main work was a 4-volume “History of Russian Slavism.”
(SFC, 1/16/98, p.A19)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Meknassa, Algeria, a 117 people were killed. In Chekala some 200 people were killed. Villagers fled their homes and sought shelter in big-city public squares.
(SFC, 1/7/98, p.A8)1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The Mars Polar Lander was launched. Landing was scheduled for Dec 3 with probes designed to burrow 3 feet into the Mars surface.
(SFC, 12/11/98, p.D6)(SFC, 1/4/99, p.A2)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Chicagoans dug out from their biggest snowstorm in more than 30 years.
(AP, 1/3/00)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Wyoming Cindy Thompson Dixon (40) was found dead near a road about 5 miles north of Laramie. She was reported to have frozen to death after leaving a bar. She was the mother of Russell Henderson (21), who was waiting in jail for trial in the death of Matthew Shepard. Henderson pleaded guilty to murder in 1999 to avoid a trial and possible death sentence. He was sentenced to 2 consecutive life terms without eligibility for parole.
(SFC, 1/5/99, p.A3) (SFC, 1/6/99, p.A3) (SFC, 4/6/99, p.A1)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Indonesia 6 people died following a riot touched off by a military raid in Aceh province. The military sought Ahmad Kandang, leader of the separatist Free Aceh movement.
(SFC, 1/4/99, p.A8)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Israeli warplanes attacked Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon and wounded 6 people including a woman (55) and her 4 daughters.
(SFC, 1/4/99, p.A22)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Israel police detained 8 adults and 6 children belonging to the Concerned Christians sect from Denver, Colo. Police said the group under Monte Kim Miller planned violent acts to hasten the 2nd coming of Christ. 11 of the members were ordered to be deported.
(SFC, 1/4/99, p.A1) (SFC, 1/5/99, p.A8) (SFC, 1/6/99, p.A1)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Pakistan a bomb intended for Prime Minister Sharif killed 3 civilians and a police official. The Muttahida Qami Movement (MQM) was suspected. The MQM represented Urdu-speaking people who immigrated from British India in 1947.
(SFC, 1/4/99, p.A8)2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The last new daily “Peanuts” strip by Charles Schulz ran in 26-hundred newspapers.
(AP, 1/3/01)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Pres. Clinton opened peace talks between Syria and Israel in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
(SFC, 1/4/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Brazil flooding killed at least 11 people in Rio de Janeiro.
(WSJ, 1/4/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Croatia a center-left coalition won the elections over the nationalist Democratic Union (HDZ). Leading the coalition were Ivica Racan (55) of the Social Democratic Party and Drazen Budisa (52) of the Social-Liberals.
(SFC, 1/4/00, p.A10)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, A curfew was imposed in southern Egypt following violence between Muslims and Christians that left 20 Christians and Muslim dead in the village of el-Kusheh (Al Kosheh).
(SFC, 1/4/00, p.A12) (SFC, 6/30/01, p.A10)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Germany reported plans to cut the tax on profits from sales of shares held less than a year, making 50% of the gains taxable rather than 100%. The change would be effective in 2001.
(WSJ, 1/4/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Indonesia new fighting in the Spice Islands left at least 18 people dead.
(SFC, 1/4/00, p.A12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In India controlled Kashmir a land mine killed 17 people.
(WSJ, 1/4/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Beirut, Lebanon, assailants fired rocket-propelled grenades at the Russian Embassy. One police officer and one attacker were killed. In northern Lebanon Muslim militants killed 4 soldiers and 3 hostages.
(SFC, 1/4/00, p.A10,12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Russia acting Pres. Putin fired Tatyana Dyachenko, the daughter of Boris Yeltsin and Kremlin image advisor from her post in one of his first official acts, moving quickly to distance himself from Yeltsin’s scandal-tinged administration.
(SFC, 1/4/00, p.A10) (AP, 1/3/01)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Sri Lanka fighting was reported at a key northern pass that had left 60 people dead on both sides.
(WSJ, 1/3/00, p.A1)2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Oklahoma defeated Florida State, 13-to-2, to win the Orange Bowl and capture college football’s Bowl Championship Series title game.
(AP, 1/3/02)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The 107th Congress opened with the Senate split evenly down the middle. Because of the 50-50 divide, the Democrats were initially in control, since Vice President Al Gore could break ties, but the Republicans took over on Inauguration Day when Dick Cheney became vice president. However, the Senate reverted to Democratic control when Vermont Sen. James Jeffords switched his affiliation from Republican to Independent in May.
(SFC, 1/4/01, p.A3) (AP, 1/3/02)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The US Federal Reserve under Alan Greenspan, outside its normal schedule of meetings, reduced interest rates by a half % and sent the Nasdaq up 324 points to 2616. The Dow rose 299 to 10,945.
(SFC, 1/4/01, p.A1) (Econ, 10/20/07, SR p.16)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Delaware a fire at an Oak Orchard rural home killed 11 Wright-Shelton family members including 7 children.
(SFC, 1/4/01, p.C12) (AP, 1/3/02)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Prague some 100,000 people gathered in Wenceslas Square to support the striking TV journalists.
(SFC, 1/4/01, p.A8)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, On the India-Pakistan border 4 Indian soldiers and 2 civilians were killed at the border post of Arhayee Mandi.
(SFC, 1/4/01, p.A12)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Iraq denied reports that Pres. Saddam Hussein was hospitalized with a stroke following a parade Dec 31.
(SFC, 1/4/01, p.A12)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Yasser Arafat accepted “with reservations” Pres. Clinton’s outline for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement.
(SFC, 1/4/01, p.A8)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Spain a commuter train hit a van near Lorca and 12 Ecuadoran farm workers were killed.
(WSJ, 1/04/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Tanzania 6 armed men attacked a ferry with 50 passengers in Lake Tanganyika and 3 were shot to death including a 3-year-old girl. Male passengers were ordered to jump into the lake and 5 bodies were later recovered. 20 were feared drowned. 5 gunmen were later arrested
(SFC, 1/8/01, p.A10) (SFC, 1/9/01, p.A15)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Turkey suicide bomber Gultekin Koc (23) killed himself a 2 others in a police station in Istanbul. At least 7 people were injured. Koc was a member of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front, a Marxist group
(SFC, 1/4/01, p.A9) (SFC, 9/11/01, p.B3)2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Miami beat Nebraska 37-14 in the Rose Bowl.
(AP, 1/3/03)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, A three-year federal investigation into the political and personal finances of Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., ended with no criminal charges.
(AP, 1/3/03)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, A judge in Alabama ruled that former Ku Klux Klansman Bobby Frank Cherry was mentally competent to stand trial on murder charges in the 1963 Birmingham church bombing that killed four black girls. Cherry was later convicted, and served a life sentence until his death in November 2004.
(AP, 1/3/07)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, US warplanes hit an al Qaeda compound in the Khost region south of Tora Bora and Islamic fighters near Baghran were reported to be in negotiations.
(SFC, 1/4/02, p.A19) (WSJ, 1/4/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The US announced increased military operations in Somalia and prepared to send Marines there. It was suspected that Al Qaeda fighters might attempt fleeing to Somalia.
(SFC, 1/4/02, p.A19) (WSJ, 1/4/02, p.A14)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Florida the conviction of Juan Melendez for a 1983 murder was overturned after he had spent 17 years on death row. In 2000 the transcript of another man’s confession, withheld by prosecutors, was found.
(SFC, 1/4/02, p.A17) (WSJ, 1/4/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In the US south the largest snowstorm in a decade stranded thousands and left at least 9 people dead.
(SFC, 1/4/02, p.A7)
2002      Jan 3, Afghan troops beat back refugees seeking food at a Red Crescent compound in Jalalabad. There were numerous reports of stolen wheat and relief supplies attributed to members of the Eastern Shura.
(SFC, 1/4/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Argentina failed to make a $28 million payment on a foreign loan. A devaluation of the peso by 30-40% was expected soon. Duhalde named Jorge Remes Lenicov, former economic chief of Buenos Aires, as his finance minister.
(SFC, 1/4/02, p.A5) (WSJ, 1/4/02, p.A5)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Australia fires continued for the 11th straight day. At least 40 were fires were started by arsonists. Over 100 fires covered 1,250 square miles.
(SFC, 1/4/02, p.A14)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Israel seized a ship, Karine A, in the Red Sea carrying 50 tons of advanced weapons allegedly for the Palestinian Authority. Most of the equipment was from Iran. Operation Noah’s Ark was not reported until the next day when US envoy Gen. Zinni arrived to promote peace talks. Hezbollah helped broker the deal and it was reported to have been overseen by Fuad Shubaki, a close aide to Arafat. Captain Omar Akawi, a member of Fatwah, said he was in contact with Adel Awadallah, an alias for Adel Mughrabi, a weapons buyer for the Palestinian Authority.
(SFC, 1/5/02, p.A1,9) (SFC, 1/7/02, p.A3) (SFC, 1/8/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Juan Garcia Esquivel, pianist and composer, died in Mexico at age 83. He turned out 10 albums in the US from 1957-1963.
(SFC, 1/10/02, p.A16)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Alfred Henry Heineken (78), builder of a global beer brand, died in the Netherlands. Freddie designed the green bottle and logo. In 1983 he was abducted for weeks and released unharmed.
(WSJ, 1/4/02, p.A1) (SFC, 1/5/02, p.A22)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Russian forces fought Chechen rebels for a 6th day in a conflict that left 40 dead. In other action 5 Russian soldiers were killed in attacks across Chechnya. Fighting continued in Tsotsin-Yurt. Moscow claimed 100 rebels killed, but rebels disputed that and said 40 Russians were killed.
(SFC, 1/4/02, p.A17) (WSJ, 1/4/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The UN made public a decision by Kofi Annan to pursue war crimes in Sierra Leone with a war crimes tribunal.
(SFC, 1/5/02, p.A7)2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Ohio State beat Miami in the Fiesta Bowl 31-24 in double overtime to become the national college football champion.
(SFC, 1/4/03, p.C1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, President George W. Bush visited Fort Hood in Texas, where he rallied Army troops as the nation faced the prospect of war with Iraq.
(AP, 1/3/04)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, David Westerfield, the man who’d kidnapped and murdered 7-year-old neighbor Danielle van Dam, was sentenced to death by a judge in San Diego.
(AP, 1/3/04)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Brazil Pres. Silva delayed a plan to spend $700 million on jet fighters. The military’s $7.4 billion budget is scheduled to be cut by $282 million.
(AP, 1/3/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Ivory Coast Pres. Laurent Gbagbo pledged to cease hostilities and send home foreign mercenaries fighting with loyalist troops.
(AP, 1/3/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, A Peruvian court struck down anti-terror laws that had been used to quash rebel movements in the 1990s.
(AP, 1/3/03)
(AP, 1/3/08)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Jose Maria Gironella (85), Spanish author, died. His work included “The Cypresses Believe in God,” a trilogy based on the 1936-1939 Civil War, for which he won the 1953 National Literary prize.
(SFC, 2/10/03, p.B5)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Caracas, Venezuela, clashes between opponents and supporters of Pres. Chavez left at least eighty people wounded.
(AP, 1/3/03)2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The NASA spacecraft Spirit landed on Mars at the Gusev Crater. It was the 4th successful US landing on Mars.
(SSFC, 1/4/04, p.A1) (USAT, 1/16/04, p.2A)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In San Jose., Ca, a gang brawl at a Jack in the Box restaurant left 2 teenagers (17) dead. James Ortega (14) was charged as an adult on 2 counts of gang motivated murder. In 2007 a San Jose court sentenced Ortega to 36 years to life in prison for the shooting.
(SFC, 1/9/04, p.A17) (SFC, 2/23/07, p.B1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In China a fire broke out on an overcrowded bus along an expressway that connects Shanghai with the eastern city of Nanjing, killing at least 12 people and injuring 14.
(AP, 1/3/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In China a landslide crushed five houses, killing at least 14 people in northern Shanxi province.
(AP, 1/4/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, An Egyptian Air Flash, Boeing 737, carrying 148 people, most of them French tourists on New Year family holidays, crashed into the Red Sea off the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all on board.
(AP, 1/3/04) (SFC, 1/3/04, p.A3)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, India’s PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee made a historic visit to Pakistan ahead of a key South Asian summit, greeted with a warm handshake by PM Zafarullah Khan Jamali. The airport ceremony would have been unimaginable just one year ago.
(AP, 1/3/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In eastern India unidentified gunmen stormed a village and shot to death five so-called “untouchables.”
(AP, 1/3/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Iran rescuers pulled Sharbanou Mazandarani (97) from the rubble at Ban, 9 days following the earthquake, as the death toll rose to about 35,000.
(SSFC, 1/4/04, p.A2)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Tikrit, Iraq, American soldiers opened fire with a machine gun on a taxi, killing four Iraqi civilians, including a 7-year-old boy.
(AP, 1/10/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Israeli soldiers shot and killed 3 Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus.
(AP, 1/3/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Isidro Galeana (65), a former state police commander and the first former government official to face arrest for his role in Mexico’s “dirty war” of the 1960s and 1970s, died of a heart attack.
(AP, 1/4/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Nigeria said it had routed a newly emerged Muslim militant movement fighting to create an Islamic state in Africa’s most populous nation. 2 weeks of running gunbattles had killed at least eight people.
(AP, 1/3/04)2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, President Bush tapped his father, former President Bush, and former President Clinton to help raise tsunami relief funds.
(AP, 1/3/06)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The third-ranked Auburn Tigers limped to a 16-13 victory over No. 9 Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl.
(AP, 1/3/06)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Heavy snow shut down a major highway north of Los Angeles and slowed post-holiday travel in the Sierra Nevada as Californians grappled with a 2nd week of stormy weather.
(AP, 1/3/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Will Eisner (b.1917), comic book pioneer, died in Fla. In 1978 he wrote and drew his graphic novel “A Contract With God.” It was the 1st of a trilogy that included “A Life Force” (1983) and “Dropsie Avenue” (1995).
(SFC, 1/4/05, p.A2) (Econ, 1/15/05, p.81) (SSFC, 12/25/05, p.M3)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In eastern Afghanistan a US soldier was killed and three others wounded in a clash with militants.
(AP, 1/3/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The Algerian Interior Ministry said security forces had arrested the leader of the Armed Islamic Group, the radical insurgency movement responsible for brutal village massacres several years ago, and killed his replacement. The arrest of Nourredine Boudiafi and the killing of Chaabane Younes were near-fatal blows to the seriously weakened GIA, as the movement is known. Islamic extremists killed 18 people in an ambush of an army convoy south of the capital Algiers.
(AP, 1/4/05) (AFP, 1/5/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Thousands of Argentines angered over safety lapses at a nightclub where a fire killed 183 people, many of them teenagers, marched through capital streets holding pictures of the victims and demanding the resignations of key city officials.
(AP, 1/4/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Honduras Pres. Ricardo Maduro said that police have arrested the alleged mastermind of an attack on a public bus that left 28 passengers dead two weeks ago. The suspect was identified as Juan Carlos Miralda, 24, one of the leaders of the violent Mara Salvatrucha criminal gang.
(AP, 1/4/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, India’s death toll from the Dec 26 tsunami was expected to top 15,000.
(AP, 1/3/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, J.N. Dixit (68), India’s national security advisor, died in New Delhi.
(SFC, 1/6/05, p.B7)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Iraq 3 suicide car bombs, including one that exploded near the Iraqi prime minister’s party headquarters in Baghdad, along with a roadside explosion, rifle fire and an explosive rigged to a dead body killed at least 20 people.
(AP, 1/3/05) (SFC, 1/4/05, p.A3)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Jewish settlers clashed with Israeli troops who came to tear down two structures at an unauthorized West Bank outpost, and a soldier was arrested for encouraging comrades to refuse to evacuate the settlement.
(AP, 1/3/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Russian President Vladimir Putin stripped many of the duties of his top economic adviser, an outspoken critic who has accused the Kremlin of trying to muzzle voices of dissent and civil society in Russia.
(AP, 1/3/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Ukraine gave in and agreed to pay Turkmenistan a third more for natural gas following a shut-off.
(WSJ, 1/4/05, p.A1)2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Jack Abramoff, the US lobbyist who spawned a congressional corruption scandal, pleaded guilty to 3 felonies and pledged to cooperate in a criminal probe edging closer to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
(AP, 1/3/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Pennsylvania the Dover School Board rescinded its policy of presenting intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in high school biology classes.
(SFC, 1/4/06, p.A2)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Rhode Island became the 11th state to legalize medical marijuana and the first since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that patients who use the drug can still be prosecuted under federal law.
(AP, 1/4/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The US DJIA rose 129.91 to 10847.41 on expectations for an end to interest rate increases based the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve meeting in December.
(WSJ, 1/4/06, p.A1)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that 47 journalists were killed in 2005, and that more than three-quarters were murdered to silence their criticism of punish them for their work. Iraq accounted for 22 of the deaths.
(WSJ, 1/4/06, p.A9)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The UN secretariat of the Convention on Int’l. Trade in Endangered Species ordered a temporary halt to the global export of caviar to compel nations to demonstrate that their fishing practices are not pushing caviar producing fish to extinction.
(SFC, 1/4/06, p.A2) (WSJ, 1/4/06, p.A9)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Armed men beheaded a teacher in the central Afghan town of Qalat, the latest in a string of attacks against educators at schools where girls study. Officials blamed Taliban militants.
(AP, 1/4/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Argentina repaid $9.57 billion in debt to the International Monetary Fund, a measure officials depicted as a means to help reclaim Argentina’s economic independence.
(AP, 1/3/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Egypt will deport 654 Sudanese refugees who were violently evicted from a protest camp in a Cairo park last week.
(AP, 1/3/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, A top official said Iran has decided to resume research into nuclear fuel production in a statement certain to increase concerns that Iran is moving toward production of nuclear weapons.
(AP, 1/3/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Gunmen attacked a car carrying construction workers in western Baghdad, killing three and wounding two. Gunmen in the same neighborhood fired on a car carrying civilians, killing two and wounding three. The sister of Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr was kidnapped and her bodyguard killed. The nephew of Maj. Gen. Ali Al-Yasiri, Baghdad rescue police commander, was kidnapped.
(AP, 1/3/06) (SFC, 1/4/06, p.A3)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Urbano Lazzaro (81), a resistance fighter credited with arresting fascist dictator Benito Mussolini at the end of World War II, died in Vercelli, Italy.
(AP, 1/4/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Japan Yoshie Sato (56) was killed near the Yokosuka base. Japanese media later reported that a US serviceman (21) had admitted to US military authorities to killing her.
(AFP, 1/6/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Peru formally asked Chile to extradite former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori so he can be tried on human rights and corruption charges.
(AP, 1/3/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Russian and Ukrainian officials agreed to resume talks on resolving a dispute over the price of natural gas that has reverberated across the continent and left Ukraine cut off from its supplies.
(AP, 1/3/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Serb officials acknowledged that war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic was drawing an army pension until at least mid-November 2005.
(WSJ, 1/4/06, p.A1)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez offered Bolivia’s president-elect Evo Morales diesel fuel, trade benefits and help in financing his social reforms as the two leftists cemented ties, reasserting their opposition to US policy in Latin America.
(AP, 1/3/06)2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Hundreds of hay bales fell from the sky across Colorado’s rangeland as military helicopter and cargo plane crews delivered food to cattle that have been stranded by heavy snow and high drifts for a week.
(AP, 1/4/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Bob Nardelli abruptly resigned as chairman and chief executive of The Home Depot Inc. after a six-year tenure that saw the world’s largest home improvement store chain post big profits but left investors disheartened by poor stock performance. He left with a severance package of $210 million. He was succeeded by Frank Blake.
(AP, 1/3/07) (SFC, 1/4/07, p.C1) (Econ, 1/6/07, p.54)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, C. William Verity Jr. (89), former US Commerce Secretary, died in Beaufort, SC.
(AP, 1/3/08)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Afghanistan’s the interior ministry said Afghan and NATO troops killed 17 rebels, including two commanders, in a sweep of a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan. In southern Afghanistan a roadside bomb killed five Afghan security forces and wounded four as they patrolled with NATO troops.
(AFP, 1/3/07)(AP, 1/4/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, A key political alliance announced it would boycott this month’s general elections in Bangladesh, deepening a political crisis that has crippled the South Asian country for months.
(AP, 1/3/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Belarus vowed to charge fees for transshipped oil.
(WSJ, 1/4/07, p.A1)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Mike Perham (14), a British teenager, became the youngest person to sail solo across the Atlantic Ocean, reaching the Caribbean island of Antigua after a six-week voyage. Perham was trailed by his father in another boat.
(AP, 1/3/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, It was reported that more than a million Chinese die each year of smoking related diseases. The toll was expected to double by 2025. A roadside bomb in southern China killed two children who found the explosive wrapped in a package and began playing with it in Shenzhen.
(WSJ, 1/3/07, p.A1) (AP, 1/4/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, China’s Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing arrived in the central African nation of Guinea-Bissau for cooperation talks. His 7-nation tour reflected Chinese interest in Africa.
(AP, 1/4/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In northern India ash-smeared and naked Hindu saints led millions of devotees in a pre-dawn holy dip at the meeting of three major rivers, starting a weeks-long pilgrimage to wash away their sins.
(AP, 1/3/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Iraq arrested 3 men who were present at Saddam Hussein’s execution, including the person believed to have recorded the event on a cell phone camera. US troops detained 23 people suspected of ties to senior al-Qaida leaders in raids in western Iraq. Police in Baghdad found 27 bodies, most of them with gunshot wounds to the head. Four Americans and an Austrian abducted in southern Iraq spoke briefly and appeared uninjured in a video.
(AP, 1/3/07) (SFC, 1/4/07, p.A3) (WSJ, 1/4/07, p.A1) (AP, 1/3/08)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Kenya sent extra troops to its border with Somalia to keep Islamic militants from entering the country after Ethiopian helicopters attacked a Kenyan border post by mistake while pursuing suspected fighters.
(AP, 1/3/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Myanmar’s military government freed nearly 3,000 convicts, but key political prisoners were not among those released.
(AP, 1/3/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, A Nigerian militant group said it had seized $545,000 sent by Italian oil firm Agip to obtain the release of 4 foreign workers kidnapped on Dec 7 but had kept the men hostage.
(AP, 1/4/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In the northern Philippines a minibus carrying partygoers from a beach collided with a cargo truck, killing eight people and injuring 17.
(AP, 1/2/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Saudi Arabia Muslims circled the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site, for a final time, bringing to a close what may have been the largest hajj pilgrimage ever.
(AP, 1/3/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, South Korea’s official media reported that Paek Nam Sun, North Korea’s foreign minister and the country’s top diplomat for nearly 10 years, has died at the age of 78.
(AP, 1/3/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Tunisia at least 14 people, including two security forces, were killed in the shootout in Soliman, 25 miles south of the capital, Tunis. Fifteen people were arrested. On Jan 12 the interior minister said nearly 30 Islamic extremists involved in a deadly gunbattle with police had blueprints of foreign embassies and documents naming foreign envoys.
(AP, 1/13/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Turkmenistan’s acting president, in his first campaign statement for next month’s election, called for wider Internet access in the country and for improving pensions that were slashed last year.
(AP, 1/4/07)2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mike Huckabee won the Iowa caucuses as the candidates move on to New Hampshire. Obama won with 38% over Edwards at 30% and Hillary Clinton at 29%. Overall, Clinton leads with 175 delegates, including superdelegates, followed by Obama with 75 and Edwards with 46. Huckabee won 34% with Romney at 25%. Huckabee scored 30 delegates and Romney got 7.
(AP, 1/4/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Ford Motor Co. named Tata Motors Ltd. the top bidder for its Jaguar and Land Rover brands and entered into “focused negotiations at a more detailed level.”
(AP, 1/3/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In southwestern Afghanistan a suicide bomber attacked Indian road construction workers and their Afghan police escorts, killing seven and wounding 12.
(AP, 1/3/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Chile Interior Minister Belisario Velasco, one of the most powerful officials in President Michelle Bachelet’s government, resigned as part of an expected Cabinet shake-up. Mapuche Indians trying to reclaim farmland they say belonged to their ancestors clashed with police in violence that left protester Matias Catrileo dead.
(AP, 1/3/08) (AP, 1/5/13)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, China issued rules restricting the broadcast of Internet videos to sites run by the state.
(WSJ, 1/4/08, p.A1)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, A bitterly cold winter storm pummeled parts of Europe, killing at least three sailors when a ship sank in rough seas, and piling up snow that stranded thousands at airports, on mountain roads and in remote villages.
(AP, 1/3/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Worshippers at a Hindu temple in southern India stampeded as they tried to draw close to a goddess’ statue, trampling at least five people to death and injuring 15 others. The northern state of Himachal Pradesh said it planned to use unemployed youths to sterilize monkeys to try to combat aggressive primates who have been raiding farms. The idea drew immediate condemnation from conservationists, who said the plan was unscientific and would likely worsen the problem.
(AP, 1/3/08)
2008      Jan 3, Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki held talks with PM Gordon Brown, notably discussing the plight of five Britons seized in Baghdad last year. Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, a top Shiite politician, acknowledged the contribution of US-backed Sunni Arab groups to the decline in violence across Iraq and called for their use in the continuing fight against al-Qaida. The Samarra dam bridge, one of the entrances into Samarra, reopened. For the past 8 months, the entrances to the city were essentially closed due to the levels of violence. At least 5 people were killed in two separate attacks in Baghdad, one targeting a local member of the prime minister’s party. One woman was killed and another civilian wounded when a rocket slammed into the primarily Shiite neighborhood of Washash in northwest Baghdad. Iraqi authorities ordered a one-day vehicle ban in Baqouba in response to a series of deadly suicide bombings and other attacks by al-Qaida in Iraq against predominantly Sunni fighters that have allied with the United States. The US military killed two insurgents and detained 12 in the Diyala region. But the operations also resulted in the deaths of two American soldiers the wounding of another in a small arms attack.
(AFP, 1/3/08) (AP, 1/3/08) (AP, 1/4/08) (AP, 1/5/08)
2008      Jan 3, Israeli tanks and warplanes attacked a series of targets throughout the Gaza Strip. 9 people were killed including 3 civilians with over 30 Palestinians wounded. The attack had intensified following a Katyusha rocket strike 10½ miles into Israel. The Israeli military uncovered an arms cache in Nablus that contained explosives, military equipment and material for manufacturing rockets.
(AP, 1/3/08) (SFC, 1/4/08, p.A16) (SSFC, 1/6/08, p.A18)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Israeli authorities ordered fowl destroyed in an area of northern Israel after chickens kept at a kindergarten were diagnosed with a deadly strain of bird flu.
(AP, 1/3/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Crews in Naples, where the streets increasingly are lined with trash, began cleaning up a long disused dump in a bid to ease a mounting garbage crisis.
(AP, 1/3/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Kenya riot police fired tear gas and water cannons to beat back crowds heading for a banned rally to protest the disputed election, and the president said he is willing to talk to the opposition once calm has been restored.
(AP, 1/3/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Libya’s foreign minister declared an end to confrontation with the US in a rare visit to Washington by a top Libyan diplomat aimed at cementing ties between the former foes.
(AP, 1/4/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In the southern Philippines 2 al-Qaida-linked Muslim militants, including one wanted for the 2001 kidnapping of three Americans and 17 other people from a resort island, were captured in separate raids. Troops arrested suspected Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Tuwatin Anahalul in Zamboanga del Sur province’s Margusatubig town.
(AP, 1/4/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Puerto Rico halted all bird imports after a rare outbreak of avian flu in nearby Dominican Republic, where authorities killed more than 100 chickens, including fighting roosters that tested positive for the lethal virus. The ban forced the cancellation of more than 100 cockfights, dealing a blow to the lucrative industry.
(AP, 1/4/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, South Sudanese officials said North Sudanese troops have missed a third deadline to fully redeploy from the south following over two decades of north-south civil war that ended in 2005.
(AP, 1/3/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In northern Sri Lanka heavy fighting broke out between government troops and Tamil Tigers, hours after Colombo announced it was pulling out of a tattered ceasefire agreement with the rebels.
(AFP, 1/3/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Turkey’s Parliament approved a law extending a smoking ban in this tobacco-growing nation to all bars, restaurants and coffeehouses by mid-2009.
(AP, 1/3/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Turkey a car bomb exploded in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern city of Diyarbakir, killing 6 people, including 5 students. 67 people were wounded, including military personnel.
(AP, 1/3/08) (Reuters, 1/4/08) (AP, 1/8/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, President Hugo Chavez shuffled his Cabinet, naming a retired military officer as vice president and other changes aimed at tackling corruption and inefficiencies in his socialist government.
(AP, 1/3/08)2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The United States blocked approval of a UN Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers.
(AP, 1/4/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In New Orleans Danny Platt (22), was arrested and accused of committing an “extremely hideous” murder because he was ordered to pay child support. He initially told police that gunmen had kidnapped his 2 1/2-year-old son.
(AP, 1/4/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Bitcoin, the “world’s first decentralized digital currency” was introduced. It was devised in 2008 by programmer Satoshi Nakomoto (thought not to be the person’s real name). It was run by a peer-to-per network and limited to 21 million coins. By 2013 the leading exchange was Mt.Gox, a Tokyo-based firm.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin) (Econ, 6/18/11, p.83)(Econ, 4/13/13, p.69)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Sir Alan Walters (b.1926), a top economic adviser to former British PM Margaret Thatcher, died. Walters received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in 1983.
(AP, 1/6/09) (Econ, 1/10/09, p.50)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in European cities against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, including protesters who hurled shoes at the tall iron gates outside the British prime minister’s residence in London.
(AP, 1/3/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In eastern China an explosion at an illegal fireworks factory killed 13 people in the city of Weifang in Shandong province. A boy, Zou Chuanshuo (2) was killed with an ax in Luoyang in Hubei province. The child’s grandmother Zhu Deqing (43) and six others were also killed. On Jan 11 authorities arrested junk collector Xiong Zhenlin (32) in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. He confessed to the murders, which included a widow who jilted him. A Chinese court sentenced him to death on Feb 9 for the murders. Zhenlin was executed on April 16 in the central city of Suizhou.
(AP, 1/4/09) (AP, 2/9/09) (AP, 4/16/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Ghana opposition leader John Atta Mills was declared the next president in the closest electoral race this West African nation has ever seen. The peaceful ballot secured Ghana’s place as a beacon of democracy on a volatile continent.
(AP, 1/3/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Iraq two brothers were killed and another was wounded when a bomb they were concealing in their car exploded near the town of Sinjar, 75 miles west of Mosul.
(AP, 1/3/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Israeli warplanes, gunboats and artillery units bombarded more than 40 Hamas targets, including weapons storage facilities, training centers and leaders’ homes. Palestinian medical officials said an Israeli airstrike on a mosque in the Gaza Strip killed 10 people and wounded dozens in the northern town of Beit Lahiya.
(AP, 1/3/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In southwest Pakistan two paramilitary soldiers were killed and four wounded in a landmine explosion in Dera Bugti, Baluchistan province. Sarbaz Khan, a spokesman for the Baluch Republican Army, later claimed responsibility of the attack.
(AFP, 1/3/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Russian gas flows to four European Union countries fell normal levels after Moscow cut off supplies to Ukraine in a pricing row with no talks in sight to resolve the dispute. Bulgaria’s Bulgargaz joined energy firms in Poland, Romania and Hungary in saying they had noted falls in supply.
(Reuters, 1/3/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Somalia Islamic insurgents appeared to be scrambling for power, taking over several police stations in the capital as Ethiopian troops who have been propping up the government began to pull out.
(AP, 1/3/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Sri Lankan troops advanced on the military headquarters of the Tamil Tigers and engaged the rebels in fresh gun battles. At least three people were wounded in a bomb blast in Colombo.
(AFP, 1/3/09)2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The US and Britain closed their embassies in Yemen in the face of al-Qaida threats, after both countries announced an increase in aid to the government to fight the terror group linked to the failed attempt to bomb a US airliner on Christmas.
(AP, 1/3/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, John Irwin (80), former criminal turned writer and criminologist, died at his SF home. Irwin was released from Soledad Prison in 1957 after serving 5 years for armed robbery. In 1967 He began teaching at SF Univ. and founded Project Rebound, a program to help those coming out of prison to go to college. His 6 books included “The Felon” (1970).
(SFC, 1/7/10, p.C3)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered parliament to cancel its winter recess so lawmakers can consider his new cabinet nominees. In southern Afghanistan 4 US troops and a British soldier were killed in two separate roadside bomb attacks.
(AFP, 1/4/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In southeastern Australia more than 1,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes in Coonamble, in central New South Wales, as the worst floodwaters to hit the area in a decade threatened to swamp a remote farming town.
(AFP, 1/3/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and Banque Misr, the country’s first and second biggest banks by assets, said they had agreed to accept real estate in exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars in public sector debt.
(Reuters, 1/3/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Eric Rohmer (b.1920), French new Wave film director and critic, died in Paris. His first feature film, “The Sign of Leo,” was released in 1959.
(SFC, 1/15/10, p.C5)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In northern India police said more than 30 people have died in cold weather-related incidents in the past 24 hours, including 10 people killed in train accidents caused by dense fog.
(AP, 1/3/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Pakistan’s northwest tribal region a suspected US drone missile strike killed at least 2 people. A roadside bomb struck a vehicle in the Hangu district of North West Frontier Province, killing a former irrigation minister and 3 others. Another roadside bomb struck a vehicle carrying anti-Taliban elders in the Bajur tribal area, killing 2 and critically wounding 4 others. The bullet-riddled bodies of a man and a woman were found in the Mamund area of Bajur with a note saying they were guilty of violating Islamic law.
(AP, 1/3/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Serbian police arrested Darko Jankovic, a war crimes suspect. He was wanted for the killing of at least 19 civilians in eastern Bosnia and other atrocities of the 1992-95 war.
(AP, 1/3/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Switzerland avalanches killed at least four skiers and a rescue doctor. Two of the avalanches occurred in Diemtig Valley, the first hitting a group of skiers, the second the rescuers who came to their aid. A third avalanche buried two skiers near Switzerland’s borders with France and Italy.
(AP, 1/4/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In northwestern Turkey a passenger train crashed head-on into another train, killing one of the engine drivers and injuring 14 other people.
(AP, 1/3/10)2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Boston scientists and health care giant Johnson & Johnson announced that they are joining forces to bring a blood test for cancer to market. Four big cancer centers also will start studies using the experimental test this year. The test is so sensitive that it can spot a single cancer cell lurking among a billion healthy ones.
(AP, 1/3/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, It was reported that Facebook has received a $450 million infusion from Goldman Sachs Group along with another $50 million from Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian firm already invested in Facebook and other social-media firms.
(SFC, 1/4/11, p.D1)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, US Marine Maj. Gen. Richard Mills, the senior Marine general in Afghanistan, said the leaders of the largest tribe in a Taliban stronghold in the southern Helmand province have pledged to halt insurgent attacks and expel foreign fighters.
(AP, 1/3/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Australian military flights rushed to restock the coastal city of Rockhampton before it was cut off by floodwaters that have turned a huge swath of the Outback into a lake. Police confirmed two more deaths in the crisis.
(AP, 1/3/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff kicked off her government with a series of market-friendly signals, including new details on budget cuts and a report that she will turn to the private sector to help solve one of Brazil’s biggest infrastructure bottlenecks, a badly needed new terminal at Sao Paulo’s main international airport.
(Reuters, 1/3/11)
2011      Jan 3, Ed Miliband, Britain’s Labor leader, warned that the VAT rise from 17.5% to 20% will cost families £7.50 from January 4, and put 250,000 jobs at risk.
(AFP, 1/3/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, China’s state television reported that Chinese scientists have mastered the technology for reprocessing nuclear fuel, potentially yielding additional power sources to keep the country’s economy booming.
(AP, 1/3/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Colombian authorities said that they have accused an army major and four other soldiers of killing three civilians and then falsely presenting their bodies as those of guerrillas slain in combat. Maj. Juan Carlos Del Rio Crespo and four other troops were charged in the 2002 killings of three members of the Agudelo family in Antioquia state.
(AP, 1/3/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The Dominican Republic launched its first major crackdown on illegal Haitian immigrants since last year’s devastating earthquake, rounding up and deporting hundreds of people in recent days. Human rights groups criticized the deportations, accusing authorities of stopping and questioning people based on their physical appearance.
(AP, 1/6/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, A Greek ministry statement said experts from Greece and the US have found rough axes and other tools, thought to be between 130,000 and 700,000 years, old close to shelters on the south coast of Crete. The island has been separated from the mainland for about five million years, so whoever made the tools must have traveled there by sea, a distance of at least 40 miles.
(AP, 1/4/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Guatemala City 7 people were killed and 15 others injured from a fire inside a passenger bus. Guatemalan authorities soon arrested four members of the Mara 18 street gang, including a woman (19) who police say left the bomb on the bus that was then detonated by cell phone. In the following days 2 more people died of the injuries.
(AP, 1/3/11) (AFP, 1/4/11) (AP, 1/12/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In India a government environmental panel approved the initial stage of a project by POSCO of South Korea, to produce 4 million tons of steel on a 4,000-acre site in Orissa state. Activists opposed the project citing ecological damage.
(Econ, 1/8/11, p.67)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Iraq a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car northeast of Baghdad, killing a passerby and injuring 33. A policeman was killed in a drive-by shooting in Baghdad and a Christian woman was shot to death by armed men who broke into her house.
(AP, 1/3/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, African leaders returned to Ivory Coast in their second visit in a week as they stepped up pressure on the country’s renegade president to cede power more than a month after the election or face a military ouster.
(AP, 1/3/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Lebanon Ahmed Yamani (86), one of the founders of the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, died in Beirut after a stroke. The PFLP was launched by the late Palestinian leader George Habash in December 1967, six months after the Arabs lost the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Syria’s Golan Heights to Israel.
(AP, 1/4/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Mexico the severed head of Ramses Mendoza (30) was found hanging from a bridge in the Mexican border city of Tijuana. Hours earlier, a woman between 30 and 35 years old was found shot to death in another Tijuana neighborhood, also with a threatening message left nearby. Unidentified gunmen shot to death Sonora state’s interim prison director, Erasto Ortiz Valencia, outside his home. The assistant police chief of the city of Empalme, near the coastal city of Guaymas, was also shot to death by a gunmen who fired an assault rifle from an SUV. Police in Acapulco reported they had found the bound bodies of four young men dumped on a main boulevard. Gunmen opened fire on people gathered at a street corner in the northern city of Monterrey, killing two adults and a 13-year-old boy.
(AP, 1/4/11) (AP, 1/5/11) (AP, 1/7/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Nigeria a policeman was shot dead in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, where an Islamist sect last week killed at least 16 people in a series of religiously motivated attacks. Security officers killed 3 bystanders and arrested 7 suspected Boko Haram sect members, including a man they were chasing in Maiduguri movie theater.
(Reuters, 1/3/11) (AFP, 1/4/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Pakistani PM Yusuf Raza Gilani scrambled to save his ruling coalition after a key partner withdrew, plunging the country into a political crisis. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari threw his weight behind beleaguered PM Gilani.
(AP, 1/3/11) (Reuters, 1/3/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Sudan a Darfur alliance of rebel splinter factions said that it has agreed to sign a final peace settlement with the Sudanese government.
(AP, 1/3/11)2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The US Justice Dept. said Maersk, a Danish shipping company, will pay $31.9 million for overcharging the US government for shipments to US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq for several years.
(SFC, 1/4/12, p.D1)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Mitt Romney won 25% of the Iowa caucus by eight votes over Rick Santorum. Ron Paul won 21%, Newt Gingrich won 13% and Rick Perry won 10%. Michele Bachmann won just 5% and dropped out the race the next day. A recount of the vote gave the victory to Rick Santorum.
(ABCNews, 1/4/12) (Econ, 1/28/12, p.25)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, An expert hired by the state of Ohio said a 4.0 magnitude earthquake in Ohio on New Year’s Eve did not occur naturally and may have been caused by high-pressure liquid injection related to oil and gas exploration and production.
(Reuters, 1/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Orchard Supply Hardware Stores went public in an $82 million IPO on NASDAQ after being spun off by struggling Sears Holding Corp.
(SFC, 1/4/12, p.D1)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Patagonia, an outdoor clothing firm, became the first company to take advantage of a new California law designed to give businesses greater freedom to pursue strategies which they believe benefit society as a whole rather than having to concentrate on maximizing profits. California became the 6th state to allow B Corps; the first was Maryland in April, 2010.
(Econ, 1/7/12, p.57)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Afghanistan a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle struck in Kandahar, killing four civilians and a policemen. 3 explosions today killed 13 people Kandahar. The dead include a child and four police officers. The Taliban announced that they had come to an “initial agreement” to open their first political overseas office, possibly in Qatar, in the first public gesture towards peace talks with the US.
(AP, 1/3/12) (AFP, 1/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Afghan police arrested two British private security contractors and two Afghan colleagues and ordered their company, GardaWorld, closed down after finding a cache of weapons in their vehicle in Kabul.
(AP, 1/5/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The Arab League called for an emergency meeting to discuss whether to withdraw the group’s monitors from Syria. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces shot dead three people in the restive city of Homs. The LCC had a higher toll, saying security forces killed four people in Homs, one in the Damascus suburb of Kfar Batna and one in the central province of Hama. An explosion struck a gas pipeline in central Syria in an attack the government blamed on terrorists.
(AP, 1/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Brazil’s labor ministry said some 294 employers submit workers to slave-like conditions.
(SFC, 1/4/12, p.A2)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Canada Czech emigre writer Josef Skvorecky (87) died in Toronto. He had published the works of former President Vaclav Havel and other authors persecuted by the communist government at home. His first novel was “The Cowards,” written in 1948-1949, describing the atmosphere of Skvorecky’s native Czech town of Nachod during the 1945 liberation from Nazism. It was only published in 1958 and then confiscated and banned. It was later translated into more than 20 languages.
(Reuters, 1/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, China’s official Xinhua news agency said the number of entertainment shows airing during prime time every week had plunged to 38 from 126, in line with an order the state broadcasting watchdog issued in October.
(AFP, 1/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In China 13 people were killed in Hunan province when a truck crossed a highway divider and crashed head-on into a bus traveling in the opposite direction.
(AP, 1/4/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Congo DRC at least 8 people were killed in the town of Ngolombe in an attack by Rwandan Hutu rebels.
(AFP, 1/4/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Egyptians lined up in front of polling centers in nine provinces to cast their ballots in the third and final round of the country’s first parliamentary elections following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. The two-day balloting is taking place in areas known as strongholds of Islamist parties and is unlikely to change the outcome of the elections.
(AP, 1/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Indian activists reacted angrily after 12 doctors were fined less than $100 each for conducting secret drug trials on children and patients with learning disabilities.
(AFP, 1/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Iraq’s Cabinet voted to declare the missing Iraqiya ministers “on leave.” That decision sidesteps for now the possibility that boycotting ministers would be replaced.
(AP, 1/4/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Israel’s Yitzhak Molcho and Palestinian Saeb Erekat met in Jordan in the presence of envoys from the US, Russia, the EU and the UN. The Palestinian president threatened to take “new measures” against Israel if a much-anticipated meeting in Jordan fails to bring about a resumption of peace talks. There were no significant breakthroughs but both sides agreed to continue the dialogue.
(AP, 1/3/12)(SFC, 1/4/12, p.A3)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Israeli credit card companies said hackers claiming to be Saudis disclosed credit card information of thousands of Israelis on the Internet.
(AP, 1/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Jamaica final results gave Portia Simpson Miller’s opposition People’s National Party (PNP) a two-to-one margin in Parliament.
(AP, 1/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Libya’s National Transitional Council said Yussef al-Mangush, a former colonel in Kadhafi’s military, has been appointed as the new chief of staff of the Libyan army. Mangush was arrested in the oil town of Brega in April by Kadhafi’s forces and freed in late August following the fall of Tripoli. Two former rebel factions clashed in hours of gun battles in central Tripoli that left five fighters dead. The clashes were triggered by arrest of a Misrata fighter on New Year’s Eve by Tripoli fighters. He was suspected of robbery and the Misrata fighters were trying to free him.
(AFP, 1/3/12) (AP, 1/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Mali’s government announced a plan to distribute 40,000 tons of food in emergency aid to drought victims and those lacking food security.
(AFP, 1/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Myanmar began releasing some prisoners, but activists and relatives said a government clemency fell short of national reconciliation promise.
(AP, 1/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The offices of Niger’s justice ministry in Niamey were ravaged by a serious fire which broke out in the early hours. In August last year, the justice ministry set up a hotline number for callers wishing to report alleged cases of corruption.
(AFP, 1/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Nigerian police fired tear gas and detained protesters while crowds blocked petrol stations amid rising anger over a controversial measure that has led to skyrocketing fuel prices. A top trade union accused police of shooting dead a protester. Two suspected Boko Haram gunmen shot dead the head of the Shehuri neighborhood in Maiduguri. Suspected sect members also killed the leader of a neighborhood in Damaturu during a simultaneous attack. A girl was killed in the crossfire after suspected sect members attacked a police station in the northern state of Jigawa. Sect members also attacked a church in Gombe state, killing at least 8 people.
(AFP, 1/3/12) (AP, 1/4/12) (AP, 1/7/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Pakistanis angry at gas shortages blocked a major highway and clashed with police for the second day, adding pressure on a government bogged down by scandal, near economic collapse and militant violence.
(AP, 1/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In the Philippines some 50 New People’s Army guerrillas assaulted a government militia outpost guarding a village in Agusan del Norte province, killing a militiaman and two rebels. A weeklong rebel cease-fire ended on Jan 2.
(AP, 1/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Senegal suspected separatist rebels attacked a paramilitary police brigade in the troubled Casamance region for the second time this week.
(AFP, 1/4/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Spain Ibrahima Dyey (32) of Senegal was shot in the San Marti neighborhood of Barcelona. Dyey’s death led to rioting and the arrest of four members of a Roma family. One of the arrested men had asked a group of youths to stop playing football on the street and after they refused he opened fire on them with a gun, striking Dyey in the chest.
(AFP, 1/4/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Sri Lanka Dinesh Buddhika Charitananda (25), an ethnic Sinhalese, was abducted. His body was found the following morning near a river in a Colombo suburb.
(Econ, 1/14/12, p.42)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Turkey Kenan Evren (94), a former president (1982-1989), and former air force commander Tahsin Sahinkaya faced charges of crimes against the state. A court will now have to decide whether to accept the indictment and order a trial. Their trial began on April 4.
(AP, 1/3/12) (AP, 4/4/12)2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The new 113th US Congress convened. It was set to take a fresh crack at a number of old, and highly contentious, issues, such as gun control, immigration, the record debt, tax reform and the farm bill.
(Reuters, 1/3/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Officials said a smuggling ring brought narwhal tusks from the Canadian Arctic into Maine in a trailer with a secret compartment and then illegally sold them to American buyers. In 2015 Andrew Zarauskas (61) was sentenced to nearly three years for buying more than 30 tusks over six years from two Canadians.
(SFC, 1/4/13, p.A6) (SFC, 1/13/15, p.A6)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Hormel Foods said it has agreed to buy the Skippy peanut butter business from Unilever for about $700 million.
(SFC, 1/4/13, p.C3)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Argentine Pres. Cristina Fernandez called on Britain to relinquish control of the Falkland Islands.
(SFC, 1/4/13, p.A2)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Australian astronomers discovered a comet named C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring). Scientists said it will pass about 50km from Mars on October 19, 2014. On Oct 19 the comet’s closest approach to Mars was about 140,000 km.
(Econ, 3/9/13, p.80) (Econ, 10/25/14, p.82)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The Basque nationalist group known as Batasuna, legal in France but banned in Spain, announced that it is dissolving after 11 years.
(AP, 1/3/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, British police extradited terror suspect Abid Naseer (26) to the United States to face charges that he took part in an alleged al-Qaida plot to detonate explosives aboard the New York City subway system.
(AP, 1/3/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Coalition military officials in Afghanistan said an elite Danish soldier was killed overnight by an explosive device.
(AP, 1/3/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In India 5 men accused of raping a university student for hours on a bus as it drove through New Delhi were charged with murder, rape and other crimes that could bring them the death penalty. A sixth suspect, listed as a 17-year-old, was expected to be tried in a juvenile court, where the maximum sentence would be three years in a reform facility. Authorities said they will seek the death penalty against the 5 men.
(AP, 1/3/13) (SFC, 1/4/13, p.A2)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Iraqi authorities ordered the release of 11 women facing criminal charges and pledged to transfer other women prisoners to jails in their home provinces, in a move to address a main demand during a wave of protests by the country’s Sunni minority against the Baghdad government. A car bomb struck a procession of Shiite pilgrims in the town of Musayyib, about 60 km south of Baghdad, killing at least 20 and wounding dozens.
(AP, 1/3/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In northeast Nigeria at least 43 people were killed when gunmen suspected of belonging to Boko Haram attacked the town of Song.
(SFC, 1/4/13, p.A2)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Northern Ireland 8 police officers were injured when protests at the removal of the British flag from Belfast City Hall turned violent for the first time in more than two weeks.
(Reuters, 1/3/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Pakistan a US drone strike took place near Mir Ali, the main town of the North Waziristan tribal region. One missile hit a vehicle near the town, followed by another missile when people rushed to the vehicle to help people in the car. Officials said four people were killed in the strike.
(AP, 1/3/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Palestinian officials said Israeli undercover troops broke into a West Bank house in a failed arrest raid near Jenin, igniting a violent protest and signaling that Israeli-Palestinian security coordination may be in trouble.
(AP, 1/3/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Russia announced that President Vladimir Putin has approved French actor Gerard Depardieu’s application for citizenship.
(AP, 1/3/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Russia Denis Burakov (27), was killed when a transparent plastic ball, known as a zorb, veered off course and sailed over a rock ledge at the Dombai ski resort in the rugged Caucasus Mountains. His friend Vladimir Shcherbakov survived.
(AP, 1/9/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Syrian troops and rebels fought intense battles around the Taftanaz air base in the country’s north and a suburb of the capital that government forces have been trying to capture since last month. Rebels reportedly killed the commander of the air base, a brigadier general. The Observatory and the LCC said 8 people were killed in Douma and nearby areas. Dozens of people were also killed or wounded in the town of Hayan in Aleppo province. A car bomb blew up in a Damascus gas station, killing at least 9 people.
(AP, 1/3/13) (AP, 1/4/13)
2013      Jan 3, Syrian journalist Suheil al-Ali, who worked for a pro-government television station, died four days after a “terrorist” opened fire on him as he was returning home from work in the suburbs of Damascus.
(AP, 1/5/13)2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, A major snowstorm producing blizzard-like conditions hammered the northeastern United States, causing 2,000 US flight delays and cancellations. At least 15 deaths were blamed on the storm.
(Reuters, 1/3/14) (SFC, 1/4/14, p.A4)
2014      Jan 3, Rock & Roll singer Phil Everly (b.1939), the younger brother of Don Everly (b.1937), died. Phil helped make the Everly Brothers one of the biggest rock and country acts of the 1950s and early 1960s.
(Reuters, 1/3/14)(SFC, 1/4/14, p.A7)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Argentina’s government agreed to roll over the debt of 18 provinces to help ease their financial strains.
(Econ, 1/11/14, p.29)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Cambodia At least 4 people were killed when police outside Cambodia’s capital opened fire to break up a protest by striking garment workers demanding a doubling of the minimum wage.
(AP, 1/3/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The health minister of Alberta, Canada, said an H1N1 flu outbreak in Alberta has sickened nearly 1,000 people and killed five over the past few weeks. He urged everyone to get vaccinated.
(AFP, 1/3/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Egyptian riot police clashed with supporters of former Islamist Pres. Morsi across the country, leaving 17 dead and 62 injured as the Muslim Brotherhood renewed calls to protest ahead of a key referendum later this month.
(AP, 1/3/14) (AP, 1/4/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, An Egyptian security official said police have found a murdered Swiss couple buried in the garden of their house in the Red Sea resort town of Hurgada. They were reportedly killed by the house’s guard and two of his friends who wanted to rob the couple.
(AFP, 1/3/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Ethiopia South Sudan’s warring parties began negotiations to end nearly three weeks of raging conflict which has left thousands feared dead and taken the world’s youngest nation to the brink of all-out civil war. Fighting intensified as the army moved on rebel-held Bor.
(AFP, 1/3/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In western Germany a World War II bomb exploded during construction work in Euskirchen, near Bonn, killing one person and wounding at least eight others.
(AP, 1/3/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Indian PM Manmohan Singh ruled out serving another term after an election due by May and threw his support behind Nehru-Gandhi dynasty scion Rahul Gandhi to lead the country if their party wins the vote.
(Reuters, 1/3/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Iraq Sunni Muslim tribesmen backed by Iraqi troops fought al Qaeda-linked militants for control of Anbar province. More than 100 people were killed as police and tribesmen battled ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, aka ISIL) fighters, Al-Qaeda-linked militants who took over parts of Fallujah and Ramadi.
(Reuters, 1/3/14) (AFP, 1/3/14) (Econ, 1/11/14, p.39)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Israeli war planes carried out a series of strikes in the Gaza Strip, shortly after a rocket from the enclave struck the Jewish state.
(AFP, 1/3/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The Italian navy over the last 24 hours rescued more than 1,000 migrants from boats trying to reach Europe.
(Reuters, 1/3/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Madagascar’s electoral commission said that former finance minister Hery Rajaonarimampianina, the candidate backed by outgoing President Andry Rajoelina who spearheaded the coup nearly five years ago, won 53.5 percent of the December 20 vote.
(Reuters, 1/3/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Mexico 9 people were killed during a gunfight at a prison in Guerrero state, after a gang dressed as police officers gained entry.
(Reuters, 1/4/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Pakistan Iram Ramazan, a 10-year-old maid, died in Lahore after being beaten by the wife of the household for stealing a few rupees.
(SSFC, 1/5/14, p.A4) (http://tinyurl.com/mhrtzx3)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Pakistan two senior Sunni leaders were killed in Islamabad.
(CSM, 1/9/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, A Palestinian youth, identified as Adnan Abu Khater (16), died of his wounds after he was shot a day earlier by Israeli soldiers near the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip.
(AFP, 1/3/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Spanish police said they have caught two women flying in from Brazil with more than a kilo (two pounds) of cocaine each hidden under their wigs. The two women, who were Portuguese and aged 18 and 28, arrived at Madrid’s Barajas airport on different days from Sao Paulo.
(AFP, 1/3/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, A Turkish court ordered the release from jail of two Kurdish lawmakers being tried for links to militants in a potential boost to a fragile peace process. Turkish prosecutors said they have charged 36 protesters with terrorism over mass anti-government demonstrations that swept the country last year.
(Reuters, 1/3/14) (AFP, 1/3/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Zimbabwe’s black empowerment agency said at least 90 percent of foreign shop owners don’t have bank accounts and are hiding away money or smuggling it out of the country, worsening cash shortages in the troubled economy.
(AP, 1/3/14)http://www.timelinesdb.com
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