Today is Tuesday, January 8th, the eighth day of the year. There are 357 days until the end of the year.
On this day:
In 1642, astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei died at the age of 77.
In 1675, the New York Fishing Company became the first corporation charted in the United States.
In 1815, the Americans defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans.
In 1825, inventor Eli Whitney died. He invented the cotton gin.
In 1935, Rock 'N Roll legend Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi.
In 1941, Boy Scouts founder Lord Robert Baden-Powell died at the age of 83.
In 1957, in an article appearing in "LOOK" magazine, Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to break the color lines in major league baseball, announced his retirement from the sport.
In 1973, the trial of the "Watergate Seven" began in Washington, D.C.
In 1991, Def Leppard guitarist Steve Clark was found dead in his London home of a lethal combination of drugs and alcohol.
In 1996, former French president Francois Mitterrand died of prostate cancer in Paris at age 79.
In 1998, Ramzi Yousef was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the World Trade Center bombing.
In 2002, Wendy's Restaurants founder Dave Thomas died at the age of 69.
In 2004, in an interview with ABC's "Primetime Thursday," Pete Rose, baseball's all-time hits leader, admitted that he bet on baseball and the Cincinnati Reds while he managed the team.
In 2007, "Scooby Doo" creator Iwao Takamoto died of heart failure in Los Angeles. He was 81.
In 2010, Art Clokey, the man behind the cartoonish, whimsical green colored clay figure Gumby, died at the age of 88.
In 2011, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was among several people shot during a meet-and-greet session at a grocery store in Tucson, Arizona. The shooting killed six people. Giffords was among the 13 wounded.
In 2016, Drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was taken back into custody after being captured in a raid in Mexico. Mexico's government says Guzman tried to avoid capture by escaping through a drain, but was caught as he tried to get away in a vehicle. He escaped from a Mexican prison earlier in the year.