Today in History, January 3rd!

A few of the great historical events that happened today in history, January 3rd!

Today in history facts are from various sites including, but not limited too: the History Channel, The New York Times, WHG Historynet.com, and HistoryOrb.com.

Today in History, January 3rd!

1521	Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.
1777	General George Washington defeats the British led by British General Lord Charles Cornwallis, at Princeton, New Jersey.
1861	Delaware rejects a proposal that it join the South in seceding from the Union.
1868	The Meiji Restoration re-established the authority of Japan’s emperor and heralded the fall of the military rulers known as shoguns.
1892	J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
1903	The Bulgarian government renounces the Treaty of Commerce tying it to the Austro-Hungarian empire.
1910	The Social Democratic Congress in Germany demands universal suffrage.
1912	Plans are announced for a new $150,000 Brooklyn stadium for the Trolley Dodgers baseball team.
1916	Three armored Japanese cruisers are ordered to guard the Suez Canal.
1920	The last of the U.S. troops depart France.
1921	Italy halts the issuing of passports to those emigrating to the United States.
1924	King Tutankhamen’s sarcophagus is uncovered near Luxor, Egypt.
1930	The second conference on Germany’s war reparations begins at the Hague, in the Netherlands.
1931	Hundreds of farmers storm a small town in depression-plagued Arkansas demanding food.
1933	The Japanese take Shuangyashan, China, killing 500 Chinese.
1938	The March of Dimes campaign to fight polio was organized.
1946	President Harry S. Truman calls on Americans to spur Congress to act on the on-going labor crisis.
1958	The British create the West Indies Federation with Lord Hailes as governor general.
1959	Alaska is admitted into the Union as the 49th and largest state.
1959	Fidel Castro takes command of the Cuban army.
1961	The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba.
1966	Cambodia warns the United Nations of retaliation unless the United States and South Vietnam end intrusions.
1967	Jack Ruby, the man who fatally shot accused presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, died in a Dallas hospital.
1978	North Vietnamese troops reportedly occupy 400 square miles in Cambodia. North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops were using Laos and Cambodia as staging areas for attacks against allied forces.
1985	President Ronald Reagan condemns a rash of arson attacks on abortion clinics.
1990	Ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces, 10 days after taking refuge in the Vatican’s diplomatic mission in Panama City.
2000	The last new daily “Peanuts” comic strip by Charles Schulz ran in 2,600 newspapers.
2004	NASA’s Mars rover, Spirit, touched down on the red planet.
2006	Lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion and agreed to cooperate in investigations of corruption in Congress.
2009	After seven days of pummeling the Gaza Strip from the air, Israel launched a ground offensive.