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Almanac for Jan. 2, 2026

Today is Friday, Jan. 2, the second day of 2026. There are 363 days left in the year. Today in history: In 2016, a heavily armed group led by brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, beginning a 41-day standoff to protest the imprisonment of two ranchers convicted of setting fires on public land and to demand the federal government turn over public lands to local control. Also on this date: In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison appointed Alice Sanger as the first female White House staffer at a time of a growing movement for women's ...

Wrong predictions? Never mind

End of the year predictions about the future have been around at least since the days of Nostradamus, but what about past predictions? There were plenty of predictions that electing Donald Trump the first time and then re-electing him, would cause economic Armageddon. Democrats and their ...

Judge: DOJ prosecuted Abrego Garcia only after deportation mistake

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A newly unsealed order in the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia reveals that high-level Justice Department officials pushed for his indictment, calling it a "top priority," only after he was mistakenly deported and then ordered returned to the U.S. Abrego ...

Almanac for Dec. 31, 2025

Today is Wednesday, Dec. 31, the 366th and final day of 2025. This is New Year's Eve. Today in history: In 1879, Thomas Edison first demonstrated his electric incandescent lights for the public by illuminating some 100 bulbs in and around his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. Also on this date: In 1904, New York's Times Square saw its first New Year's Eve celebration, with an estimated 200,000 people in attendance. In 1972, baseball player Roberto Clemente, 38, was killed when a plane he chartered and was traveling on crashed shortly after takeoff from Puerto Rico while ...

Almanac for Jan. 1, 2026

Thursday is Jan. 1, the first day of 2026. There are 364 days left in the year. It is New Year's Day. Today in history: In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War, declaring that all enslaved people in rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." Also on this date: In 1804, Haiti declared itself independent from France, becoming the world's first Black-majority republic. In 1808, the federal law prohibiting the importation of enslaved people to the United States took effect. In 1818, Mary Shelley's novel ...

Respect for Trump — or fear?

In the course of his losing race with the teleprompter during his Oval Office address on Dec. 17, President Donald Trump returned to a theme that obsesses him — respect. Even before his entry into politics, Trump was convinced that "weak" leaders including Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Obama ...