This Day in History

By The Associated Press - 01/07/2008

Today Monday, Jan. 7, the seventh day of 2008. There are 359 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight: In 1789, the first U.S. presidential election was held. Americans voted for electors who, a month later, chose George Washington to be the nation’s first president.

On this date: In 1608, an accidental fire devastated the Jamestown settlement in the Virginia Colony.

In 1610, astronomer Galileo Galilei began observing three of Jupiter’s moons.

In 1927, commercial transatlantic telephone service was inaugurated between New York and London.

In 1953, President Truman announced in his State of the Union message to Congress that the United States had developed a hydrogen bomb.

Birthdays Author William Peter Blatty is 80. Country singer Jack Greene is 78. Pop musician Paul Revere is 70. Singer Kenny Loggins is 60. Singer-songwriter Marshall Chapman is 59. Latin pop singer Juan Gabriel is 58. Actress Erin Gray is 58. Actor David Caruso is 52. “CBS Evening News” anchor Katie Couric is 51. Actor David Marciano is 48. Actress Hallie Todd is 46. Actor Nicolas Cage is 44. Actor Doug E. Doug is 38. Actor Kevin Rahm is 37. Country singer-musician John Rich is 34. Actor Dustin Diamond is 31. Actor Liam Aiken is 18. Actress Camryn Grimes is 18.

Worth repeating ...

“Whether women are better than men I cannot say — but I can say they are certainly no worse.” — Golda Meir, Israeli prime minister (1898-1978)