Today is Friday, January 25th, the 25th day of the year. There are 340 days until the end of the year.
On this day:
In 1858, Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" was presented for the first time at the wedding of the daughter of Queen Victoria.
In 1915, Alexander Graham Bell spoke to his assistant Thomas A. Watson in San Francisco beginning the first transcontinental telephone service.
In 1924, the first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France.
In 1945, First Lieutenant Audie Murphy earned the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was given the heroism award for ordering his troops to retreat, then using a blazing tank destroyer to singlehandedly hold off German forces. He then ordered an artillery strike on his own position.
In 1947, noted gangster Al Capone died at the age of 48.
In 1949, the first Emmy Awards were presented. The ceremony took place at the Hollywood Athletic Club.
In 1956, RCA released Elvis Presley's first record, "Heartbreak Hotel."
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy presented the first, live presidential press conference.
In 1971, Charles Manson and three of his followers were sentenced to life in prison after being convicted on seven counts of first-degree murder.
In 1994, an out-of-court settlement was reached between Michael Jackson and the family of a 13-year-old boy he was accused of molesting.
In 2003, singer Billy Joel spent the night at Stony Brook University Hospital after he ran his Mercedes into a tree in Sag Harbor, Long Island.
In 2006, the group Hamas won control of the Palestinian Authority Government by capturing a majority of seats in the parliamentary elections. The United States' Department of State had classified Hamas as a terrorist organization.
In 2008, fire engulfed parts of the three-thousand room Monte Carlo Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The building sustained damages to its upper floors, facade and roof. The blaze was contained and extinguished within a few hours. The Monte Carlo opened in 1996 at a cost of over 300-million-dollars.
In 2011, a series of street demonstrations began in Egypt in what would become known as the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Marches, rallies and acts of civil disobedience took place in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities throughout the country.
In 2016, President Obama used his executive authority to ban solitary confinement for juveniles in the federal prison system.