By The Associated Press

Today in History

Today is Tuesday, Jan. 7, the seventh day of 2020. There are 359 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Jan. 7, 2004, President George W. Bush proposed legal status, at least temporarily, for millions of immigrants improperly working in the U.S.

On this date:

In 1789, America held its first presidential election as voters chose electors who, a month later, selected George Washington to be the nation’s first chief executive.

In 1904, the Marconi International Marine Communication Company of London announced that the telegraphed letters “CQD” would serve as a maritime distress call (it was later replaced with “SOS”).

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

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

In 1959, the United States recognized the new government of Cuba, six days after Fidel Castro led the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista.

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

In 1979, Vietnamese forces captured the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, overthrowing the Khmer Rouge government.

In 1989, Emperor Hirohito of Japan died in Tokyo at age 87; he was succeeded by his son, Crown Prince Akihito.

In 1999, for the second time in history, an impeached American president went on trial before the Senate. President Bill Clinton faced charges of perjury and obstruction of justice; he was acquitted.

In 2002, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and nine U.S. senators swept into Bargam Air Base in Afghanistan for an unannounced visit and promised Afghan leaders their full support in rebuilding the shattered country.

In 2004, President George W. Bush proposed legal status, at least temporarily, for millions of immigrants improperly working in the U.S.

In 2006, Jill Carroll, a freelance journalist for The Christian Science Monitor, was kidnapped and her translator shot dead in Baghdad. (Carroll was freed almost three months later.)

Ten years ago: A worker for a transformer-making company in St. Louis showed up at the plant and opened fire, killing three people and wounding five before killing himself. Thousands of Egyptian Christians went on a rampage after six members of their community were gunned down as they left midnight Mass for Coptic Christians in the southern Egyptian town of Nag Hamadi. No. 1 Alabama held on for a 37-21 win over No. 2 Texas in the BCS championship played in Pasadena, California.

Five years ago: Masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French newspaper that had caricatured the Prophet Mohammad, methodically killing 12 people.