Today in history

On Jan. 22, 1973, the U. S. Supreme Court, in its Roe v. Wade decision, legalized abortions using a trimester approach. Former President Lyndon B. Johnson died at his Texas ranch at age 64.

In 1498, during his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus arrived at the present- day Caribbean island of St. Vincent.

In 1901, Britain's Queen Victoria died at age 81 after a reign of 63 years; she was succeeded by her eldest son, Edward VII.

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson pleaded for an end to war in Europe, calling for "peace without victory." ( By April, however, America also was at war.)

In 1922, Pope Benedict XV died; he was succeeded by Pius XI.

In 1938, Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town" was performed publicly for the first time in Princeton, New Jersey.

In 1944, during World War II, Allied forces began landing at Anzio, Italy.

In 1953, the Arthur Miller drama "The Crucible" opened on Broadway.

In 1968, "Rowan & Martin's Laugh- In" premiered on NBCTV.

In 1970, the first regularly scheduled commercial flight of the Boeing 747 began in New York and ended in London some 6 1/ 2 hours later.

In 1984, the Los Angeles Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins 38- 9 to win Super Bowl XVIII ( 18) at Tampa Stadium in Florida; the CBS- TV broadcast featured Apple Computer's famous "1984" commercial introducing the Macintosh computer.

In 1995, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy died at the Kennedy compound at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, at age 104.

In 2008, actor Heath Ledger was found dead of an accidental prescription overdose in New York City; he was 28.

Ten years ago: Evo Morales, Bolivia's first Indian president, took office with a promise to lift his nation's struggling indigenous majority out of centuries of poverty and discrimination. The Pittsburgh Steelers won the AFC title game, dismantling the Denver Broncos 34- 17.

“Praise undeserved is satire in disguise.” — Henry Broadhurst, English politician ( 1840- 1911).