GMT

Today in History January 8

871
Battle of Ashdown: Ethelred I of Wessex and his brother Alfred the Great beat invading Danish army

1745
England, Austria, Saxony and the Netherlands form an alliance against Russia.

1908
A subway line opens linking the New York boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan.

1954
President Dwight Eisenhower proposes stripping convicted Communists of their U.S. citizenship.

1963
President John F. Kennedy attends the unveiling of the Mona Lisa.

1979
The United States advises the Shah to leave Iran.

1982
AT&T agrees to divest 22 subdivisions as part of an antitrust agreement.

1998
Unabomber suspect Ted Kaczynski asks to act as his own lawyer

2011
An attempted assassination of Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords is part of a shooting spree in which Jared Lee Loughner kills 6 and wounds 13.

2016
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto announces the recapture of drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, six months after he escaped prison

2021
Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declares a state of emergency for Tokyo and surrounding areas after COVID-19 cases surge to their highest level

2021
Twitter bans US President Donald Trump permanently "due to the risk of further incitement of violence"

2022
The United Kingdom passes 150,000 COVID-19 deaths, the first country in Europe and the seventh globally

Born on January 8

1935
Elvis Presley, rock 'n roll singer, actor in over thirty films.

1947
David Bowie, singer, songwriter, producer, actor ("Starman").


Joke of the Day

“The doctor walks in: ‘Sir, I have some bad news. I’m afraid you’re going to have to stop masturbating.’
Patient: ‘I don’t understand, doc. Why?’
Doctor: ‘Because I’m trying to examine you.'”