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Almanac for Jan. 20, 2026

Today is Tuesday, Jan. 20, the 20th day of 2026. There are 345 days left in the year. Today in history: In 1981, Iran released 52 Americans it had held hostage for 444 days, minutes after Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president of the United States, succeeding Jimmy Carter. Also on this date: In 1841, the island of Hong Kong was ceded by China to Great Britain. It returned to Chinese control in July 1997. In 1936, Britain's King George V died after his physician injected the mortally ill monarch with morphine and cocaine to hasten his death. The king was succeeded by his eldest ...

Almanac for Jan. 19, 2026

Monday is Jan. 19, the 19th day of 2026. There are 346 days left in the year. This day in history: In 1937, Howard Hughes set a new transcontinental speed record in his H-1 Racer aircraft, flying from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, in seven hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds. Also on this date: In 1853, Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Il trovatore" premiered in Rome. In 1861, Georgia became the fifth state to secede from the Union; it would join the Confederacy the following month. In 1942, a German submarine sank the Canadian liner RMS Lady Hawkins off Cape Hatteras, North ...

Where there aren’t fathers, birth rates collapse

Where are the babies? Social conservatives keep asking what's happened as the U.S. fertility rate crashes to its lowest level ever. But the answer should be another question: Where are the fathers? And by fathers, we do not mean men who merely spread their seed and then take off, but men who ...

DOJ: Members of Congress can’t intervene in Epstein files release

NEW YORK (AP) — Manhattan's top federal prosecutor said Friday that a judge lacks the authority to appoint a neutral expert to oversee the public release of documents in the sex trafficking probe of financier Jeffrey Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell. Judge Paul A. Engelmayer ...

Sandy Gill honored with Heritage Award for lifelong service to U.P. State Fair

ESCANABA -- For more than five decades, Sandy Gill has been a constant, caring presence at the Upper Peninsula State Fair, quietly shaping the experiences of thousands of youth exhibitors while strengthening the traditions that define one of the region’s most cherished events. In recognition ...

Almanac for Jan. 17, 2026

Today is Saturday, Jan. 17, the 17th day of 2026. There are 348 days left in the year. Today in history: In 1920, prohibition of alcohol began in the United States as the Volstead Act went into effect in support of the 18th Amendment. Also on this date: In 1950, the Great Brink's Robbery took place as seven masked men held up the Brink's Building in Boston, stealing $1.2 million in cash and $1.5 million in checks and money orders. In 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his farewell address in which he warned against "the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether ...