TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

Jan. 9, 1793

Frenchman Jean Pierre Blanchard, using a hot-air balloon, flew from Philadelphia to Woodbury, N.J.

ALSO ON THIS DATE

1788

Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1861

Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union, the same day the Star of the West, a merchant vessel bringing reinforcements and supplies to Federal troops at Fort Sumter, S.C., retreated because of artillery fire.

1916

The World War I Battle of Gallipoli ended after eight months with an Ottoman Empire victory as Allied forces withdrew.

1945

During World War II, American forces began landing on the shores of Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines as the Battle of Luzon got underway, resulting in an Allied victory over Imperial Japanese forces.

1958

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in his State of the Union address to Congress, warned of the threat of Communist imperialism.

1968

The Surveyor 7space probe made a soft landing on the moon, marking the end of the American series of unmanned explorations of the lunar surface.

1987

The White House released a January 1986memorandum prepared for President Ronald Reagan by Lt. Col. Oliver L. North showing a link between U.S. arms sales to Iran and the release of American hostages in Lebanon.

2008

President George W. Bush warned Iran of “serious consequences” if it again harassed U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf.