Electrocutions
Thomas Edison publicly electrocuted a circus elephant named Topsy with high-voltage alternating current electricity on Jan. 4, 1903. The elephant had killed three men in three years, including a trainer who tried to feed him a lit cigarette.
Hangings
The last legal hanging in America took place Jan. 5, 1993, when Washington state executed serial killer and child molester Westley Allan Dodd. It was the first hanging since 1965 and came at Dodd’s request.
Hollywood soirees
Actor Mel Gibson was born Jan. 3, 1956.
Knee clubbings
Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed in her knee at a figure skating contest in Detroit on Jan. 6, 1994. Her rhetorical question after the attack — “Why me?”— was later answered when Oregon-native and figure skater Tonya Harding admitted to covering up the assault plotted by her ex-husband and his friend.
Nukes
President Harry Truman announced on Jan. 7, 1953, that the U.S. had developed and detonated a hydrogen bomb.
Failed wars
President Lyndon Johnson announced his plans for a “War on Poverty” in his State of the Union Address Jan. 8, 1964. The Office of Economic Opportunity was subsequently created and it led to programs like Head Start and Job Corps. President Richard Nixon dismantled the OEO in 1973. President Bill Clinton declared an end to “welfare as we know it” in 1996, and the 2003 U.S. Census showed nearly 36 million Americans still live in poverty.
Secession
Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union on Jan. 9, 1861, helping move the nation closer to Civil War.
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This week in history
Daily Emerald
January 3, 2010
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