January 5 - What happened on the day I was born?

Home What happened today in history? Blamepro's Almanac for January 5
In the headlines today:

2006	Momofuku Ando, ramen instant noodle inventor and founder of Nissin Food Products, Inc., dies of a heart attack at age 96.
2004	Baseball pitcher 'Tug' McGraw dies of brain cancer at age 62. *Did you know?* Tug was father of country music superstar Tim McGraw, and father-in-law of country singer Faith Hill.
1998	Politician Sonny Bono, formerly of the Sonny and Cher pop duo, dies in a skiing accident in Lake Tahoe, California, at age 62.
1996	The longest US government shutdown ends after 21 days when Congress passes an interim spending measure allowing federal employees to return to work.
1994	Thomas P. 'Tip' O'Neill, former speaker of the US House of Representatives, dies in Boston at age 81. (photo credit: Jimmy Carter Library )
1993	Washington state hangs serial killer Westley Allan Dodd, the first such execution in the US in 28 years.
1979	Jazz bassist Charles Mingus dies of a heart attack at age 56.
1975	The Wiz, a musical adaptation of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, opens on Broadway.
1972	US president Richard Nixon approves the NASA space shuttle program. (photo credit: NARA)
1970	Joseph Yablonski, presidential candidate for the United Mine Workers union, is found murdered at home with his wife and daughter.
1961	The television comedy Mr. Ed debuts, for the first of six seasons of mirth and mayhem centered around a horse that talks only to his owner, Wilbur Post. (photo credit: MGM)
1949	US president Harry Truman nicknames his administration the 'Fair Deal' in his State of the Union address. (photo credit: SoundWorks)
1943	Scientist and educator George Washington Carver dies in Tuskegee, Alabama, at age 81.
1933	Calvin Coolidge, 30th US president, dies in Northampton, MA, at age 60.
1925	Nellie T. Ross becomes the first female governor in the US, succeeding her late husband as governor of Wyoming.
1589	In 1589, Catherine de Medici, Queen of France, dies at age 69.