Today in History

Today in History Today is Friday, Jan. 22, the 22nd day of 2021. There are 343 days left in the year. Today’s Highlights in History: On Jan. 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court, in its Roe v. Wade decision, declared a nationwide constitutional right to abortion. Former President Lyndon B. Johnson died at his Texas ranch at age 64. On this date: 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 1907, the Richard Strauss opera ‘œSalome’� made its American debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York; its racy content sparked outrage and forced cancellation of additional performances. In 1944, during World War II, Allied forces began landing at Anzio, Italy. 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 1973, George Foreman upset reigning heavyweight champion Joe Frazier with a second round TKO in their match in Kingston, Jamaica. In 1987, Pennsylvania treasurer R. Budd Dwyer, convicted of defrauding the state, proclaimed his innocence at a news conference before pulling out a gun, placing the barrel in his mouth and shooting himself to death in front of horrified onlookers. In 1995, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy died at the Kennedy compound at Hyannis Port, Mass., at age 104. In 1997, the Senate confirmed Madeleine Albright as the nation’s first female secretary of state. In 1998, Theodore Kaczynski (kah-ZIHN’-skee) pleaded guilty in Sacramento, California, to being the Unabomber responsible for three deaths and 29 injuries in return for a sentence of life in prison without parole. In 2006, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points, the second-highest in NBA history, in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 122-104 victory over the Toronto Raptors. In 2007, a double car bombing of a predominantly Shiite commercial area in Baghdad killed 88 people. Iran announced it had barred 38 nuclear inspectors on a United Nations list from entering the country in apparent retaliation for U.N. sanctions imposed the previous month. In 2009, President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp within a year. (The facility remained in operation as lawmakers blocked efforts to transfer terror suspects to the United States; President Donald Trump later issued an order to keep the jail open and allow the Pentagon to bring new prisoners there.) Ten years ago: Drawing inspiration from a revolt in Tunisia, thousands of Yemenis demanded the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh (AH’-lee ahb-DUH’-luh sah-LEH’) in a noisy demonstration that appeared to be the first large-scale public challenge to the strongman. (He stepped down as president in 2012.) Five years ago: North Korea said it had detained Otto Warmbier, a university student from Ohio, for what the authoritarian nation called a ‘œhostile act.’� (Warmbier was later sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor; he’d said he had tried to steal a propaganda banner as a trophy for an acquaintance. Warmbier died in 2017, shortly after he returned to the U.S. in a coma and showing apparent signs of torture while in custody.) California Gov. Jerry Brown rejected parole for a third time for Bruce Davis, a follower of cult leader Charles Manson.