On Jan. 2, 1492, Spaniards seized the city of Granada from the Moors–the last Arab stronghold in Spain.
In 1893 the post office issued the first commemorative stamps, depicting events in the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus.
In 1921 religious services were broadcast for the first time–KDKA in Pittsburgh transmitted services from Calvary Episcopal Church.
In 1929 the U.S. and Canada agreed on joint action to preserve Niagara Falls.
In 1935 Bruno Hauptmann went on trial in Flemington, N.J., for kidnapping and murdering the infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. He was found guilty and executed.
In 1942 Manila was captured by the Japanese in World War II.
In 1943 American and Allied forces seized the New Guinea island of Buna from the Japanese.
In 1965 the New York Jets signed University of Alabama quarterback Joe Namath for a reported $400,000.
In 1974 President Richard Nixon signed a bill requiring states to limit highway speeds to 55 m.p.h. because of the energy crisis. The federal limits were abolished in 1995.
In 1983 the musical “Annie” closed after 2,377 Broadway performances.
In 1984 W. Wilson Goode was sworn in as Philadelphia’s first black mayor.
In 1986 ex-White Sox owner Bill Veeck died in Chicago at 71.
In 1991 Sharon Pratt Dixon was sworn in as the first black female mayor of Washington.
In 1996 former Interior Secretary James Watt pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of attempting to sway a grand jury investigating 1980s influence-peddling at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (Watt was fined and given probation.) Also, AT&T announced it would eliminate 40,000 jobs, mostly through layoffs.
In 1997 rain and melting snow swamped much of the West, trapping visitors in Yosemite National Park, closing casinos in Reno and forcing 50,000 Californians to flee their homes.
In 1999 a blizzard dumped 17 inches of snow on the Chicago area, the largest recorded snowfall for one day.
In 2001 former U.S. Atty. Gen. and Secretary of State William Rogers died at 87.
