历史上的今天 January 31st

Today's Highlight in History:
On January 31st, 1950, President Truman announced he had ordered development of the hydrogen bomb.

On this date:
In 1606, Guy Fawkes, convicted for his part in the "Gunpowder Plot" against the English Parliament and King James the First, was executed.

In 1797, composer Franz Schubert was born in Vienna, Austria.

In 1865, General Robert E. Lee was named General-in-Chief of all the Confederate armies.

In 1917, Germany served notice it was beginning a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.

In 1934, President Roosevelt devalued the dollar in relation to gold.

In 1944, during World War Two, US forces began invading Kwajalein Atoll and other parts of the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.

In 1949, the first TV daytime soap opera, "These Are My Children," was broadcast from the NBC station in Chicago.

In 1958, the United States entered the Space Age with its first successful launch of a satellite into orbit, "Explorer One."

In 1971, astronauts Alan B. Shepard Junior, Edgar D. Mitchell and Stuart A. Roosa blasted off aboard Apollo 14 on a mission to the moon.

In 1987, discount airline pioneer People Express flew its last flights before merging into Continental Airlines.

Ten years ago: In his first State of the Union address, President Bush proposed a significant cut in US and Soviet combat troops. McDonald's Corporation opened its first fast-food restaurant in Moscow.

Five years ago: President Clinton scrapped a $40 billion rescue plan for Mexico, announcing instead that he would act unilaterally to provide Mexico with $20 billion from a fund normally used to defend the US dollar. Legendary Broadway producer-director George Abbott died in Miami Beach, Florida, at age 107.

One year ago: The Denver Broncos repeated as NFL champions, defeating the Atlanta Falcons 34-to-19 in Super Bowl 33. Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham presented what they called convincing proof that the AIDS virus originated in chimpanzees and spread to people in Africa.

Mystics always hope that science will some day overtake them."

-- Booth Tarkington, American author-dramatist (1869-1946).