Today in History

Today is Monday, Jan. 5, the fifth day of 2015. There are 360 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 5, 1925, Democrat Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming took office as America's first female governor, succeeding her late husband, William, following a special election.

On this date:

In 1781, a British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold burned Richmond, Virginia.

In 1895, French Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, convicted of treason, was publicly stripped of his rank. (He was ultimately vindicated.)

In 1905, the National Association of Audubon Societies for the Protection of Wild Birds and Animals was incorporated in New York State.

In 1933, the 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, died in Northampton, Massachusetts, at age 60. Construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge. (Work was completed four years later.)

In 1949, in his State of the Union address, President Harry S. Truman labeled his administration the Fair Deal.

In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed assistance to countries to help them resist Communist aggression in what became known as the Eisenhower Doctrine.

In 1964, during a visit to the Holy Land, Pope Paul VI met with Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople in Jerusalem.

In 1970, Joseph A. Yablonski, an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the United Mine Workers of America, was found murdered with his wife and daughter at their Clarksville, Pennsylvania, home. (UMWA President Tony Boyle and seven others were convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, the killings.) "All My Children" premiered on ABC-TV.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan announced he was nominating Elizabeth Dole to succeed Drew Lewis as secretary of transportation; Dole became the first woman to head a Cabinet department in Reagan's administration, and the first to head the DOT.

In 1994, Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, former speaker of the House of Representatives, died in Boston at age 81.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush opened a new drive for caps on medical malpractice awards, contending the limits would lower health care costs. The bodies of 18 young Iraqi Shiites taken off a bus and executed in Dec. 2005 were found in a field near Mosul. Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun (wah-SEF' ah-LEE' hah-SOON'), a Marine charged with desertion in Iraq after mysteriously disappearing from his post was again declared a deserter — this time for failing to report to his U.S. base. (Hassoun turned himself in to military authorities in June 2014.) Eris, the largest dwarf planet of the solar system, was identified by astronomers at the Palomar Observatory in California.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama scolded 20 of his highest-level officials over the thwarted Christmas Day terror attack on an airliner bound for Detroit, taking them jointly to task for "a screw-up that could have been disastrous" and should have been avoided. The U.S. and British embassies in Yemen reopened their doors after a two-day closure prompted by security concerns.

One year ago: The Iraqi military tried to dislodge al-Qaida militants in Sunni-dominated Anbar province, unleashing airstrikes and besieging the regional capital. Acting with a court order, the family of Jahi (juh-HY') McMath, a 13-year-old California girl declared brain dead after a tonsillectomy, removed her from a California hospital to be cared for elsewhere.

Thought for Today: "It is the job that is never started that takes longest to finish." — J.R.R. Tolkien, English author (1892-1973).

(Above Advance for Use Monday, Jan. 5)