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Today in History January 9

1861 Mississippi secedes from the Union.

1908 Count Zeppelin announces plans for his airship to carry 100 passengers.

1912 Colonel Theodore Roosevelt announces that he will run for president if asked.

1924 Ford Motor Co. stock is valued at nearly $1 billion.

1943 Soviet planes drop leaflets on the surrounded Germans in Stalingrad requesting their surrender with humane terms. The Germans refuse.

1992 The Assembly of the Serb People in Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaims the creation of a new state within Yugoslavia, the Rupublika Srpska.

2007 Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, unveils the first iPhone.


Born on January 9

1941 Joan Baez, American folk singer and activist.


Joke of the Day

Carl is in the 10th year of a life sentence when he gets a new cellmate, Jim.
...after taking some time to size Jim up and decide that he can trust him, Carl tells Jim about his plan to escape.
"You see, " Carl says "for the first 5 years I was inside, I trained my digestive system to follow my command. Now I can eat something and it comes out broken down into it's components." Jim is skeptical, but intrigued.
Carl continues: "For the last five years, I've been swallowing pieces off my uniform. It's perfect, because the guards just think it's rats chewing on it."
So Jim asks, "Well, what does that have to do with me? How can I help?"
Carl says "Well, the pieces of fabric come out as individual fibers. I figure by this time next year, we'll have enough to fashion enough rope to get over the wall. I just need you to tie the fibers."
Jim, disgusted, says "You have got to be kidding me!"
And Carl says "I shite. You knot."