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Highlight in History
On Jan. 29, 1963, poet Robert Frost died in Boston at age 88.
On this date
In 1919, the ratification of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which launched Prohibition, was certified by Acting Secretary of State Frank L. Polk.
In 1929, The Seeing Eye, a New Jersey-based school which trains guide dogs to assist the blind, was incorporated by Dorothy Harrison Eustis and Morris Frank.
In 1936, the first inductees of baseball’s Hall of Fame, including Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, were named in Cooperstown, N.Y.
In 1958, actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were married in Las Vegas.
In 1979, President Jimmy Carter formally welcomed Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping to the White House, following the establishment of diplomatic relations.
In 1998, a bomb rocked an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Ala., killing security guard Robert Sanderson and critically injuring nurse Emily Lyons. (The bomber, Eric Rudolph, was captured in May 2003 and is serving a life sentence.)
Ten years ago
The Congressional Budget Office predicted the federal deficit for fiscal 2003 would soar to $199 billion even without President George W. Bush’s new tax cut plan or a war against Iraq. A dust explosion at the West Pharmaceutical Services plant in Kinston, N.C., killed six people and injured dozens more.
Five years ago
John McCain won a breakthrough triumph in the Florida primary, easing past Mitt Romney for his first-ever triumph in a primary open only to Republicans. Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton claimed victory in a campaign-free Florida presidential primary in which all the candidates had signed pledges not to compete. (The national Democratic Party had stripped the state of its delegates as punishment for moving its primary ahead of Feb. 5.) Margaret Truman, the only child of President Harry S. Truman, died in Chicago at age 83. Raymond Jacobs, believed to be the last surviving member of the group of Marines photographed during the first U.S. flag-raising on Iwo Jima, died in Redding, Calif., at 82.
One year ago
Eleven people were killed when smoke and fog caused a series of fiery crashes on I-75 in Florida. Lydia Ko of New Zealand became the youngest person to win a professional golf tour event by winning the Bing Lee/Samsung Women’s NSW Open on the ALPG Tour (she was 14 years and 8 months at the time). Novak Djokovic began defense of his Australian Open title with a 5-hour, 53-minute match against Rafael Nadal (Djokovic won 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 at 1:37 a.m. Jan. 30). Team Chara won a 12-9 victory over Team Alfredsson in the NHL All-Star game. The AFC beat the NFC 59-41 in the Pro Bowl. Jeremy Abbott won his third title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif.
