1870 – First African Americans were elected to US House of Representatives. They were Joseph H. Rainey, Robert C. Delarge and Robert B. Elliott, all South Carolina Republicans.
1915 – United States bankers arrange a $500 million loan to the British and French.
1917 – United States Army opens Love Field, a military airplane pilot training center, in Dallas, Texas.
1926 – John C. Garland patents semi-automatic rifle.
1932 – Jimmie Foxx wins American League Most Valuable Player and Chuck Klein wins National League Most Valuable Player.
1944 – United States forces land in the Philippines.
1951 – President Harry Truman formally ends the state of war with Germany.
1957 – Montreal Canadiens’ Maurice “Rocket” Richard becomes the first National Hockey League player to score 500 goals.
1960 – United States imposes embargo on exports to Cuba.
1967 – Mariner 5 makes a fly-by of Venus.
1968 – American swimmer Jan Henne in 1:00.0 leads American sweep of the women’s 100-meter freestyle medals at the Mexican City Olympic. Teammates Susan Pedersen and Linda Gustavson both swim 1:00.3 for silver and bronze medals.
1969 – Oakland quarterback Daryle Lamonica passes for six touchdowns in a 50-21 win against Buffalo.
1976 – President Gerald Ford signs the first major revision of copyright law since 1909.
1983 – Senate establishes Martin Luther King Jr. Day as federal holiday, observed on the third Monday in January, which is on or near his January 15 birthday.
1990 – “Dances with Wolves,” directed by Kevin Costner and starring Kevin Costner and Mary McDonnell, premieres in Washington, D.C. It wins an Academy Award for Best Picture in 1991.
1997 – “Annie” closes at Martin Beck Theater in New York City.
2005 – Hurricane Wilma becomes the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record with a minimum pressure of 882 mb.
2015 – Scientists from the University of California find evidence that life on Earth may have begun 4.1 billion years ago, 300 million years earlier than previously thought.
2020 – United States charges six Russian military officers with a massive cyber-attack meant to disrupt the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, 2017 French presidential election and Ukraine’s power grid.
2022 – Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola faces his brother, San Diego Padres catcher Austin Nola, in the first Major League Baseball playoff sibling pitcher-batter battle. Austin goes 1-for-2 with a rally starting RBI in an 8-5 win at Petco Park in San Diego.