VALDOSTA —
Today is Thursday, Jan. 31, the 31st day of 2013. There are 334 days left in the year.
Highlight in History
On Jan. 31, 1963, during the Civil War, the First South Carolina Volunteers, an all-black Union regiment composed of former slaves, was mustered into federal service at Beaufort, S.C.
On this date
In 1606, Guy Fawkes, convicted of treason for his part in the “Gunpowder Plot” against the English Parliament and King James I, was executed.
In 1797, composer Franz Schubert was born in Vienna.
In 1865, Gen. Robert E. Lee was named general-in-chief of all the Confederate armies.
In 1917, during World War I, Germany served notice it was beginning a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.
In 1929, revolutionary Leon Trotsky and his family were expelled from the Soviet Union.
In 1944, during World War II, U.S. forces began a successful invasion of Kwajalein Atoll and other parts of the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
In 1950, President Harry S. Truman announced he had ordered development of the hydrogen bomb.
In 1958, the United States entered the Space Age with its first successful launch of a satellite into orbit, Explorer I.
In 1961, NASA launched Ham the Chimp aboard a Mercury-Redstone rocket from Cape Canaveral; Ham was recovered safely from the Atlantic Ocean following his 16 1/2-minute suborbital flight.
In 1971, astronauts Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa blasted off aboard Apollo 14 on a mission to the moon.
In 1990, McDonald’s Corp. opened its first fast-food restaurant in Moscow.
In 2000, an Alaska Airlines jet crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Port Hueneme, Calif., killing all 88 people aboard.
Ten years ago
President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair met at the White House; Bush said he would welcome a second U.N. resolution on Iraq but only if it led to the prompt disarming of Saddam Hussein. Pushing for a new resolution, Blair called confronting Iraq “a test of the international community.”
Five years ago
President George W. Bush, speaking at the Nevada Policy Research Institute, said he would not jeopardize security gains in Iraq by withdrawing U.S. forces too quickly. A drifter pleaded guilty to murdering a young woman who’d gone missing while hiking in the north Georgia mountains; Gary Michael Hilton was swiftly sentenced to life in prison in the death of Meredith Emerson.
One year ago
Republican Mitt Romney routed Newt Gingrich in the Florida primary, rebounding from an earlier defeat. Retired Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua (beh-vih-LAH’-kwuh), who’d led the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia for more than 15 years, died at 88.
Top News
Today in History for Thursday, January 31, 2013
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Valdosta Brain/Spinal Injury meeting Tuesday
Valdosta Brain/Spinal Injury meeting Tuesday
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Bombs targeting Sunnis kill at least 76 in Iraq
Bombs ripped through Sunni areas in Baghdad and surrounding areas Friday, killing at least 76 people in the deadliest day in Iraq in more than eight months. The major spike in sectarian bloodshed heightened fears the country could again be veering toward civil war.
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Tornado-ravaged Texas town to start recovery
Residents whose homes were torn apart or blown away by a North Texas deadly tornado can soon return to retrieve what belongings may be left and start cleaning up, authorities said Friday.
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Conn. commuter trains collide; 60 go to hospitals
Two commuter trains serving New York City collided in Connecticut during Friday’s evening rush hour, sending 60 people to the hospital, including five with critical injuries, Gov. Dannel Malloy said.
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Record Powerball jackpot inspires office pools
In workplaces across the nation, Americans are inviting their colleagues to chip in $2 for a Powerball ticket and a shared daydream.
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Today in History for Saturday, May 18, 2013
Today is Saturday, May 18, the 138th day of 2013. There are 227 days left in the year.
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Authorities arrest man in Idaho in terrorism case
Federal authorities in Idaho said Thursday they have arrested an Uzbekistan national accused of conspiring with a designated terrorist organization in his home country and helping scheme to use a weapon of mass destruction.
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Ricin letters suspect evaded police
The man suspected of sending poison-laced letters to President Barack Obama and other officials appears to have attempted to evade law enforcement just days before his arrest, according to FBI documents made public Thursday.
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O.J. back in court
The lead defense attorney in O.J. Simpson’s armed robbery trial had a conflict of interest because he could have been a witness in the case, a lawyer who worked on Simpson’s unsuccessful appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court testified Thursday.
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Weekend Update: Morven Peach Festival
News reporter Caitlin Barker speaks to representatives Sandy Rentz and Dawana Nunnally from the Morven Peach Committee, about the Peach Festival taking place this Saturday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. The band Trailer of Tears will play from 10:30 a.m. until 2 p.m., followed by a parade taking place at 2 p.m.
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Valdosta Brain/Spinal Injury meeting Tuesday
