Today, January 4
1581 – Irish archbishop and historian James Ussher is born in Dublin
1896 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state
1903 – Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by the owners of Luna Park, Coney Island. The Edison Film Company makes a movie of it.
1987 – The Amtrak 94 Colonial, en route to Boston from Washington, D.C., collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, killing 2 crew members, 14 passengers and injuring over 600 more.
1989 – 2 Libyan MiG-23 “Floggers” are shot down by US Navy F-14 Tomcats over the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea
2002 – U.S. Army Sergeant Nathan Ross Chapman is the first service member killed in action in Afghanistan.
2004 – The NASA Mars rover Spirit, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC
2007 – The 110th United States Congress convenes, electing Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House
2010 – The 163 story Burj Khalifa, the current tallest building in the world at 2,722 feet, officially opens in Dubai.