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• • On this date: • In 1610, astronomer Galileo Galilei began observing three of Jupiter's moons (he spotted a fourth moon almost a week later). • In 1800, the 13th president of the United States, Millard Fillmore, was born in Summerhill, N.Y. • In 1894, one of the earliest motion picture experiments took place at the Thomas Edison studio in West Orange, N.J., as Fred Ott was filmed taking a pinch of snuff and sneezing. • In 1927, commercial transatlantic telephone service was inaugurated between New York and London. • In 1942, the Japanese siege of Bataan began during World War II. (The fall of Bataan three months later was followed by the notorious Death March.) • In 1949, George C. Marshall resigned as U.S. Secretary of State; President Harry S. Truman chose Dean Acheson to succeed him. • In 1953, President Harry S. Truman announced in his State of the Union message to Congress that the United States had developed a hydrogen bomb. • In 1963, the U.S. Post Office raised the cost of a first-class stamp from 4 to 5 cents. • In 1973, sniper Mark Essex laid siege at a Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge in downtown New Orleans for about 10 hours, killing seven people before being slain by police sharpshooters. • In 1979, Vietnamese forces captured the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, overthrowing the Khmer Rouge government. • In 1989, Emperor Hirohito of Japan died in Tokyo at age 87; he was succeeded by his son, Crown Prince Akihito. • In 1999, for the second time in history, an impeached American president went on trial before the Senate. President Bill Clinton faced charges of perjury and obstruction of justice; he was acquitted. • • Ten years ago: President George W. Bush proposed legal status, at least temporarily, for millions of immigrants improperly working in the U.S. Swedish actress Ingrid Thulin died in Stockholm at age 77. • Five years ago: President-elect Barack Obama met at the White House with America's four living presidents: George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. Russia shut off all its gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine in a price and payment dispute; the cutoff lasted nearly two weeks. • One year ago: President Barack Obama announced he would nominate former (Continued on page 37)
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