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Today is Thursday, January 2, the second day of 2025. There are 363 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On January 2, 2016, a heavily armed group led by brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. That began a 41-day standoff to protest the jailing of two ranchers convicted of burning public land. the federal government transfers public lands to local control.
Also on this date:
In 1942, the Philippine capital Manila was captured by Japanese troops during World War II.
In 1959, the Soviet spacecraft Luna 1 was launched, becoming the first spacecraft to escape Earth’s gravity.
In 1971, 66 people were killed when a crowd of spectators left a football match at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland.
In 1974, President Richard Nixon signed legislation requiring states to limit highway speeds to 55 miles per hour as a way to save gasoline in the face of an OPEC oil embargo. (The 90 km/h limit was effectively abolished in 1987; federal speed limits were abolished in 1995.)
In 2023, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after making a tackle during the first quarter of an NFL game against the Cincinnati Bengals, requiring life-saving treatment on the field. The match was cancelled; Hamlin would make a full recovery and return to play the following season.
Today’s Birthdays:
- Filmmaker Todd Haynes is 64.
- Baseball Hall of Famer Edgar Martínez is 62.
- Actor-singer Tia Carrere is 58.
- Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. is 57.
- Model Christy Turlington is 56.
- Actor Taye Diggs is 54.
- Actor Renée Elise Goldsberry is 54.
- Actor-comedian Dax Shepard is 50.
- Singer-rapper Bryson Tiller is 32.