January seventh

Today's Highlight in History:
One year ago, on January seventh, 1999, for the second time in history, an impeached American president went on trial before the Senate. President Clinton faced charges of perjury and obstruction of justice; he was acquitted.

On this date:
In 1610, the astronomer Galileo Galilei sighted four of Jupiter's moons.

In 1800, the 13th president of the United States, Millard Fillmore, was born in Summerhill, New York.

In 1894, one of the earliest motion picture experiments took place at the Thomas Edison studio in West Orange, New Jersey, as comedian Fred Ott was filmed sneezing.

In 1927, commercial transatlantic telephone service was inaugurated between New York and London.

In 1942, the World War Two siege of Bataan began.

In 1953, President Truman announced in his State of the Union address that the United States had developed a hydrogen bomb.

In 1959, the United States recognized Fidel Castro's new government in Cuba.

In 1972, Lewis F. Powell Junior and William H. Rehnquist were sworn in as the 99th and 100th members of the US Supreme Court.