Almanac
Today is the 21st day of 2022 and the 32nd day of winter.
TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1793, King Louis XVI of France was executed by guillotine in Paris.
In 1861, Jefferson Davis resigned from the U.S. Senate to lead the Confederacy during the Civil War.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter pardoned nearly all Viet- nam War draft evaders.
In 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that for the first time, the largest minority group in the United States was Hispanics (who may be of any race).
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Ethan Allen (1738-1789), writer/ military leader; Christian Dior (1905-1957), fashion designer; Telly Savalas (1922-1994), ac- tor; Wolfman Jack (1938-1995), disc jockey; Jack Nicklaus (1940- ), golfer; Placido Domingo (1941- ), opera singer; Paul Al- len (1953-2018), co-founder of Microsoft; Geena Davis (1956- ), actress; Hakeem Olajuwon (1963- ), basketball player; Jam Master Jay (1965-2002), rapper; Ken Leung (1970- ), actor; Cat Power (1972- ), singer-songwrit- er; Luke Grimes (1984- ), actor.
TODAY’S FACT: The guil- lotine was used for executions in France as recently as 1977. The death penalty was abol- ished there in 1981.
TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1979, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 35-31 in Super Bowl XIII to become the first NFL team to win three Super Bowls.
TODAY’S QUOTE: “What should exist? To me, that’s the most exciting question imagin- able. What do we need that we don’t have? How can we realize our potential?” — Paul Allen
TODAY’S NUMBER: 9 — price in shillings (approximately $77 in modern American cur- rency) of William Hill Brown’s “The Power of Sympathy: or, The Triumph of Nature,” pub- lished in Boston on this day in 1789. The work is widely con- sidered to be the first American novel.
TODAY’S MOON: Between full moon (Jan. 17) and last quarter moon (Jan. 25).
