It’s Tuesday, Jan. 15, the 15th day of 2013. There are 350 days left in the year.
Happenings
Facebook — The social networking giant reports on a mysterious new project to the news media. Speculation has ranged from a new Frank Gehry-designed engineering building to plans for a Facebook-branded smartphone.
Salem — The governor and legislative leaders speak to newspaper editors at The Associated Press’ annual legislative preview.
History
Highlight: In 1943, work was completed on the Pentagon, headquarters of the U.S. Department of War (now Defense).
In 1559, England’s Queen Elizabeth I was crowned in Westminster Abbey.
In 1777, the people of New Connecticut declared their independence. (The republic later became the state of Vermont.)
In 1862, the U.S. Senate confirmed President Abraham Lincoln’s choice of Edwin M. Stanton to be the new Secretary of War, replacing Simon Cameron.
In 1913, actor Lloyd Bridges was born in San Leandro, Calif.
In 1929, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta.
In 1947, the mutilated remains of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short, who came to be known as the “Black Dahlia," were found in a vacant Los Angeles lot; her slaying remains unsolved.
In 1954, Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio got married at San Francisco City Hall. (The marriage, however, lasted only about nine months.)
In 1961, a U.S. Air Force radar tower off the New Jersey coast collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean during a severe storm, killing all 28 men aboard.
In 1967, the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League 35-10 in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, retroactively known as Super Bowl I.
In 1973, President Richard Nixon announced the suspension of all U.S. offensive action in North Vietnam, citing progress in peace negotiations.
In 1993, in Paris, a historic disarmament ceremony ended with the last of 125 countries signing a treaty banning chemical weapons.
In 2009, US Airways Capt. Chesley “Sully" Sullenberger ditched his Airbus 320 in the Hudson River after a flock of birds disabled both engines; all 155 people aboard survived.
Ten years ago: White House budget director Mitchell Daniels predicted federal deficits would balloon to the $200-$300 billion range over the next two years. Mickey Mouse and The Walt Disney Co. scored a big victory as the Supreme Court upheld longer copyright protections for cartoon characters, songs, books and other creations worth billions of dollars.
Five years ago: Mitt Romney scored his first major primary victory in his native Michigan. During a visit to Saudi Arabia, President George W. Bush warned that surging oil prices threatened the U.S. economy and he urged OPEC nations to boost their output.
One year ago: Addressing a conference in Beirut on democracy in the Arab world, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded that Syria’s president, Bashar Assad, stop killing his own people, and said the “old order" of one-man rule and family dynasties was over in the Middle East.
Birthdays
Actress Margaret O’Brien is 76. Actor-director Mario Van Peebles is 56. Actress Regina King is 42. Actor Eddie Cahill is 35. Rapper/reggaeton artist Pitbull is 32. Electronic dance musician Skrillex is 25.
— From wire reports