This Day in History
In Alaska
• In 1893, an official survey of the townsite of Juneau was commenced by C.W. Garside.
• In 1912, the Alaska Daily Empire was established by J.F.A. Strong (who became governor of the territory in 1913). It later became the Southeast Alaska Empire and currently the Juneau Empire.
• In 1920, residents of Anchorage voted 328-130 to incorporate as a first-class city.
• In 1976, the voters of Alaska authorized the formation of the Alaska Permanent Fund.
• In 1982, Bill Sheffield was elected the state's sixth governor.
In the nation
• In 1783, Gen. George Washington issued his "Farewell Address to the Army" near Princeton, N.J.
• In 1795, the 11th president of the United States, James Knox Polk, was born in Mecklenburg County, N.C.
• In 1865, the 29th president of the United States, Warren Gamaliel Harding, was born near Corsica, Ohio.
• In 1889, North Dakota and South Dakota became the 39th and 40th states, respectively.
• In 1947, Howard Hughes piloted his huge wooden airplane, known as the "Spruce Goose," on its only flight, which lasted about a minute over Long Beach Harbor in California.
• In 1948, President Truman surprised the experts by being re-elected in a narrow upset over Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey.
• In 1976, former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter became the first candidate from the Deep South, excluding Texas, since the Civil War to be elected president. He defeated incumbent Gerald R. Ford.
• In 1983, President Reagan signed a bill establishing a federal holiday on the third Monday of January in honor of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
• In 1993, the Senate called for full disclosure of Sen. Bob Packwood's diaries as part of a probe into allegations of sexual harassment and possible criminal wrongdoing by the Oregon Republican. Wildfires in Southern California pushed through areas of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, burning 35,000 acres and 200 homes.
• In 1998, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates took center stage at his company's antitrust trial, appearing on videotape inside a federal courtroom in Washington.