January 31st

Egypt's military promised not to fire on peaceful protests and recognized 'the legitimacy of the people's demands.'.

Alaska Airlines flight 261 crashes into the sea. The MD-83 experienced horizontal stabilizer problems before descending into the Pacific Ocean, killing all 88 on board.

Samuel Alito was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in as a Supreme Court justice.

A Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands convicted one Libyan and acquitted a second in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

An Alaska Airlines jet plunged into the ocean off Southern California on a flight from Mexico to San Francisco, killing all 88 people on board.

A suicide bombing in Sri Lanka kills 91 people. Separatist Tamil Tigers detonated a truck loaded with explosives in front of the central bank in Colombo.

McDonald's Corp. opened its first fast-food restaurant in Moscow.

South African President PW Botha offers to free Nelson Mandela if he denounces violence.

Astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr., Edgar D. Mitchell and Stuart A. Roosa blasted off aboard Apollo 14 on the third successful manned mission to the moon.

Ham the Chimp travels into outer space. The chimpanzee survived the US Mercury Program test flight with just a bruised nose.

The first U.S. earth satellite, Explorer I, was launched.

US President Harry Truman publicly announces support for the development of a hydrogen bomb.

The first TV daytime soap opera, 'These Are My Children,' was broadcast by the NBC station in Chicago.

Private Eddie Slovik became the only U.S. soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion.

U.S. forces invaded the Japanese-held Marshall Islands during World War II.

General Friedrich von Paul surrenders to Soviet troops at Stalingrad.

The first social security check was issued to Ida Fuller for $22.54.

Baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, who broke the sport's color barrier in 1947, was born in Cairo, Ga.

Germany announced a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.

General Robert E. Lee named Commander-in-Chief of Confederate Armies during US Civil War.

Composer Franz Schubert was born in Vienna, Austria.

Guy Fawkes, convicted for his part in the Gunpowder Plot against the English Parliament and King James I, was executed.