This Day in History

By The Standard Staff - 01/13/2008

Today Sunday, Jan. 13, is the 13th day of 2008. There are 353 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight: On Jan. 13, 1794, President George Washington approved a measure adding two stars and two stripes to the American flag, following the admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the union. (The number of stripes was later reduced to the original 13.) On this date: In 1982, an Air Florida 737 crashed into Washington, D.C.’s 14th Street Bridge after takeoff and fell into the Potomac River, killing a total of 78 people.

In 1990, L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia became the nation’s first elected black governor as he took the oath of office in Richmond.

In 2002, the off-Broadway musical “The Fantasticks” finished its original run of nearly 42 years and 17,162 shows.

Ten years ago: Linda Tripp wore a hidden microphone for the FBI and recorded a conversation with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Birthdays Country singer Liz Anderson is 78. Actress Frances Sternhagen is 78. Comedian Rip Taylor is 74. Actor Richard Moll is 65. Rock musician Trevor Rabin is 54. Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus is 47. Country singer Trace Adkins is 46. Actress Penelope Ann Miller is 44. Actor Patrick Dempsey is 42. Actor Keith Coogan is 38. Actress Nicole Eggert is 36. Actor Orlando Bloom is 31.

Worth repeating ...

“There are periods when the principles of experience need to be modified, when hope and trust and instinct claim a share with prudence in the guidance of affairs, when, in truth, to dare is the highest wisdom.” — William Ellery Channing, American clergyman (1780-1842)