January 3
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Featured Event
Paul NatkinâArchive Photos/Getty Images
Aretha Franklin became the first woman voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. More than 80 other women have entered the hall since her induction was announced on this day in 1987. [Read todayâs edition of Today in History >>]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
Tony Duffy/Getty Images
Cheryl Miller, born this day in 1964, is one of the greatest basketball players of all time. She won two NCAA championships as well as an Olympic gold medal while at the University of Southern California in the 1980s. She later pursued a career as a coach and a commentator, analyst, and reporter covering the NBA.
Famous Birthdays
More on January 3
© Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
2026
During air strikes on Venezuela, U.S. forces captured the countryâs president, NicolĂĄs Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, and removed them from Venezuela to face U.S. charges related to alleged narco-terrorism. U.S. Pres. Donald Trump announced the United States would be running Venezuela. [Whatâs the background to this attack?]
Erika P. RodriguezâChicago Tribune/TNS/Alamy
2023
Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to U.S. federal charges of fraud connected to his role as CEO of a cryptocurrency exchange. He was later tried, convicted, and sentenced to 25 years in prison. [Learn more about eight other corporate criminals.]
© CNSAâAFP/Getty Images
2019
The Chinese lunar probe Changâe 4, carrying the Yutu-2 rover, landed on the Moonâs far side, the first spacecraft to do so. [Find out whoâs winning the new space race.]
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
2004
The U.S. Mars Exploration Rover Spirit landed on Mars to study the chemical and physical composition of the planetâs surface. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Mars.]
Scott Barbour/Getty Images
2001
Hillary Clinton was sworn in as a U.S. senator from New York, having become the first first lady in U.S. history to win elective office. [Take our first ladies of the United States quiz.]
National Archives, Washington, D.C.
1990
About two weeks after Operation Just Cause began, Panamanian military leader Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces that had been blasting rock music at him while he hid in the Vaticanâs embassy in Panama City.
Courtesy of Apple Computer, Inc.
1977
Apple was incorporated by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. It went on to become one of the most recognizable brands in the world. [Find out what you need to know about companies in the technology sector.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
1962
Pope John XXIII excommunicated Fidel Castro after he took control of Cuba in 1959 and turned the country into the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about history makers.]
EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1959
Alaska became the 49th U.S. state. [Take our quiz about U.S. state flags.]
Canada Wide/Pictorial Parade
1939
Bobby Hull, whose speed and slap shot earned him the nickname âGolden Jetâ during his long career in the National Hockey League, was born in Point Anne, Ontario. [Read our list of the 10 best ice hockey players of all time.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Digital File Number: cph 3c17121)
1938
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the National Foundation of Infantile Paralysis (later called the March of Dimes) to find a cure for polio, a disease he had been stricken with in 1921. [Test your knowledge of medical conditions and discoveries.]
© 1984 Warner Brothers, Inc
1929
Motion-picture director Sergio Leone, known for his popularization of the spaghetti western, was born in Rome. [How much do you know about movies?]
© 2003 New Line Cinema Productions, Inc.
1892
J.R.R. Tolkien, best known for his epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings (1954â55), was born in South Africa. [Learn about six fictional languages you can really learn, including Tolkienâs Elvish.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (reproduction no. LC-USZ62-42559)
1793
Lucretia Mottâwho, with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, founded the womenâs rights movement in the United Statesâwas born in Nantucket, Massachusetts. [Take our quiz of famous suffragettes.]
© Bildagentur-onlineâUniversal Images Group/Getty Images
1777
The Battle of Princeton was fought in New Jersey during the American Revolution. The clash, along with the Battle of Trenton, marked the first victory for the Revolutionary War general George Washington in the open field. [Explore the stories behind Americaâs revolution.]
© Andy Z./Shutterstock.com
1543
Juan RodrĂguez Cabrillo, credited as the first European to sail along the Pacific coast of what is now the United States, died off the coast of northern California. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about European explorers.]
Photos.com/Getty Images
1521
Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther, a German theologian and religious reformer who was the catalyst of the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. [What document by Martin Luther marked the beginning of the Reformation?]