January 31 - What happened today?

Home What happened today in history? Blamepro's Almanac for January 31
In the headlines today:

2000	An Alaska Airlines MD-80 jetliner on a flight from Puerta Vallarta to San Francisco, crashes off the California coast while attempting an emergency diversion to Los Angeles.
1999	The Denver Broncos repeat as NFL champions, defeating the Atlanta Falcons 34-19 in Super Bowl XXXIII.
1990	McDonald's opens its first fast food restaurant in Moscow.
1987	Cut-price airline People Express flies its last flights before becoming part of Continental Airlines.
1984	NBC TV news reporter Edwin Newman retires after 35 years with the network.
1971	American astronauts Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa blast off to the moon aboard Apollo 14.
1958	The US enters the space race with the successful launch of the Explorer One satellite.
1950	US president Harry Truman announces that development has started on the hydrogen bomb. (photo credit: SoundWorks)
1949	The first daytime TV soap opera, These Are My Children, premieres from the NBC TV affiliate in Chicago.
1944	US forces begin their invasion of Kwajalein Atoll and the Marshall Islands, during WWII.
1936	The Green Hornet makes its broadcast premiere on Detroit radio station WXYZ.
1917	Germany declares a campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare.
1865	General Robert E. Lee becomes General-in-Chief of the Confederate army.
1606	Guy Fawkes, convicted of treason against England's King James I, is executed.