On Jan. 19, 1937, Howard Hughes established a transcontinental air record when he flew across the United States in 7 hours, 28 minutes.
In 1944 the federal government relinquished control of the nation’s railroads after settlement of a wage dispute.
In 1955 a presidential news conference was filmed for television for the first time, with the permission of President Dwight Eisenhower.
In 1966 Indira Gandhi was elected prime minister of India.
In 1977 in one of his last acts of office, President Gerald Ford pardoned Iva Toguri D’Aquino, an American who had made wartime broadcasts for Japan.
In 1979 former Atty. Gen. John Mitchell was released from prison after serving 19 months for his Watergate conviction.
In 1981 the United States and Iran signed an agreement paving the way for the release of 52 Americans held hostage for more than 14 months.
In 1995 Russian troops regained control of the presidential palace in Grozny, the capital of the breakaway republic of Chechnya.
In 1997 Yasser Arafat returned to Hebron for the first time in more than 30 years, joining 60,000 Palestinians in celebrating the hand-over of the last West Bank city in Israeli control.
In 2005 the American Cancer Society reported that cancer had passed heart disease as the top killer of Americans age 85 and younger.
