Today in History

A coal mine explosion in Sago, West Virginia, kills 12 miners and critically injures another. This accident and another within weeks lead to the first changes in federal mining laws in decades.

A severe winter storm hits the Midwestern US; in Chicago temperatures plunge to -13 ºF and19 inches of snow fell; 68 deaths are blamed on the storm.

British police arrest the “Yorkshire Ripper” serial killer, Peter Sutcliffe.

President Jimmy Carter asks the U.S. Senate to delay the arms treaty ratification in response to Soviet action in Afghanistan.

The United States admits the accidental bombing of a Hanoi hospital.

Cuba Gooding Jr., actor; won Academy Award for Jerry Maguire.

American G.I.s move into the Mekong Delta for the first time.

In Vietnam, the Viet Cong down five U.S. helicopters in the Mekong Delta. 30 Americans are reported dead.

Judith Miller, journalist; while working for the New York Times, she was involved in two major controversies, one concerning faulty information in her coverage of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and the other concerning the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame.

The Allies capture Buna in New Guinea.

Hugh Shelton, US general; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 1997–2001; the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US occurred near the end of his term.

Roger Miller, singer, songwriter, actor (“King of the Road,” “Dang Me”).

Japanese forces in Manchuria set up a puppet government known as Manchukuo.