Today in History for January 22

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 22, 1984, the Los Angeles Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins 38-9 to win Super Bowl XVIII (18), played at Tampa Stadium in Florida; the CBS-TV broadcast featured Apple Computer's famous "1984" commercial introducing the Macintosh computer.

On this date:

In 1498, during his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus arrived at the present-day Caribbean island of St. Vincent.

In 1901, Britain's Queen Victoria died at age 81.

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson pleaded for an end to war in Europe, calling for "peace without victory." (By April, however, America also was at war.)

In 1922, Pope Benedict XV died; he was succeeded by Pius XI.

In 1938, Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town" was performed publicly for the first time in Princeton, N.J.

In 1944, during World War II, Allied forces began landing at Anzio, Italy.

In 1953, the Arthur Miller drama "The Crucible" opened on Broadway.

In 1968, the fast-paced sketch comedy series "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" premiered on NBC-TV.

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court, in its Roe v. Wade decision, legalized abortions using a trimester approach. Former President Lyndon B. Johnson died at his Texas ranch at age 64.

In 1987, Pennsylvania treasurer R. Budd Dwyer, convicted of defrauding the state, proclaimed his innocence at a news conference before pulling out a gun and shooting himself to death in front of horrified spectators.

In 1994, actor Telly Savalas died in Universal City, Calif., a day after turning 72.

In 1998, Theodore Kaczynski pleaded guilty in Sacramento, Calif., to being the Unabomber in return for a sentence of life in prison without parole.

Ten years ago: South Dakota politician Bill Janklow was sentenced to 100 days in jail for an auto accident that killed a motorcyclist, Randy Scott. (The 64-year-old Republican was released on May 17, 2004.) Enron Corp.'s former top accountant, Richard Causey, surrendered to federal authorities; he pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and fraud charges. (Causey later pleaded guilty to securities fraud and was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison; he served 4 3/4 years.) Actress-dancer Ann Miller died in Los Angeles at age 80.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp within a year (however, the facility remains in operation, with Republican and some Democratic lawmakers repeatedly blocking efforts to transfer terror suspects to the United States). The Senate Finance Committee cleared the nomination of Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary, 18-5, despite unhappiness over his mistakes in paying his taxes. A Chinese court sentenced two men to death and a dairy boss to life in prison for their roles in producing and selling infant formula tainted with melamine that was blamed for the deaths of at least six babies and sickening thousands more.

One year ago: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line bloc fared worse than expected in a parliamentary election, forcing Netanyahu to negotiate a broad coalition deal. The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution condemning North Korea's rocket launch in Dec. 2012 and imposing new sanctions. An Indonesian court sentenced Lindsay June Sandiford, a British grandmother, to death for smuggling cocaine into Bali (Sandiford is appealing her sentence). Linda Pugach, who was blinded in 1959 when her lover, Burton Pugach, hired hit men to throw lye in her face — and became a media sensation after later marrying him — died in New York at age 75.

Today's Birthdays: Former Sen. Birch Bayh, D-Ind., is 86. Actress Piper Laurie is 82. Actor Seymour Cassel is 79. Author Joseph Wambaugh is 77. Actor John Hurt is 74. Singer Steve Perry is 65. Country singer-musician Teddy Gentry (Alabama) is 62. Movie director Jim Jarmusch is 61. Hockey Hall-of-Famer Mike Bossy is 57. Actress Linda Blair is 55. Actress Diane Lane is 49. Actor-rap DJ Jazzy Jeff is 49. Country singer Regina Nicks (Regina Regina) is 49. Rhythm-and-blues singer Marc Gay (Shai) is 45. Actress Katie Finneran (TV: "The Michael J. Fox Show") is 43. Actor Gabriel Macht is 42. Actor Balthazar Getty is 39. Actor Christopher Kennedy Masterson is 34. Pop singer Willa Ford is 33. Actress Beverley Mitchell is 33. Rock singer-musician Ben Moody is 33. Actress-singer Phoebe Strole (TV: "Glee") is 31. Actress Sami Gayle (TV: "Blue Bloods") is 18.

Thought for Today: "I know there's a proverb which that says 'To err is human,' but a human error is nothing to what a computer can do if it tries." — Dame Agatha Christie, English mystery writer (1890-1976).