BRIAN THOMAS

During World War II on this  day in 1945, about 30,000 United States
Marines landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima 
from the Imperial Japanese Army.  

William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. is 79-years-old today.

Singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive
Smokey Robinson was the founder and front man of the Motown
vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief songwriter
and producer. Robinson led the group from its 1955 origins as
"The Five Chimes" until 1972 when he announced a retirement
from the group to focus on his role as Motown’s vice president,
but Robinson returned to the music industry as a solo artist the
following year. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame in 1987.

BRIAN THOMAS

In Milwaukee on this day in 1992, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to life in prison. He was later sentenced to a 16th term
of life imprisonment for an additional homicide committed in Ohio
in 1978. On November 28 of 1994, he was beaten to death in prison
by Christopher Scarver (below), a fellow inmate at the Columbia Correctional Institution.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan is 56 years old today.

Former high-flying Chicago Bulls shooting guard is considered by many to
be the greatest basketball player of all-time. He was a 6-time NBA champion,
6-time NBA Finals MVP, and 5-time NBA MVP. He didn’t make the varsity
squad as a sophomore at Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina because he was only 5’11".  MJ is currently the principal owner and chairman of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.

Here’s “Air Jordan” in Portland, Oregon.

TIM MAGUIRE

The Beatles arrived at JFK airport in New York City to begin their
first U.S. tour on this day in 1964. The arrival of the Fab Four from
England was dubbed…“Beatlemania”. A new era of Rock ‘n’ Roll
began.

Troyal Garth Brooks is 57 years old today.

Pop country singer and musician Garth Brooks was named the Best-Selling
Solo Artist of the Century in the United States by the RIAA in 2007. His first
album, an EP, hit #2 on the Country Billboard in 1989. Brooks released six
albums that went diamond by the time he returned from retirement in 2009. 

Then & now: Cracker Jack and its signature sailor mascot have
evolved over the years.

One of the oldest American forms of junk food, the Cracker Jack was invented
and trademarked in 1896 when the brothers who formed F.W. Rueckheim &
Bro., mixed molasses-flavored, caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts together.

Fredrich William Rueckheim

   
Louis Rueckheim
           

Today,January 19, celebrates all of the different ways the corn-based treat      
popcorn can be enjoyed savory or sweet, caramelized, buttered or plain.

The Popcorn Board, a non-profit started in 1998, says Americans consume
13 billion quarts of popcorn a year, more than any other country in the
world.

CARLATA BRADLEY

On this day in 1943, work was completed on the Pentagon and it was dedicated as the world’s largest office building located just outside
Washington, DC, in Arlington, VA. The structure covers 34 acres of
land and has 17 miles of corridors.

The first National Football League (NFL) Super Bowl was played on
this day in 1967. The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City
Chiefs of the American Football League. The final score was 35-10.

Even though ticket prices averaged just $12, it was the only Super Bowl that
didn’t sell out. The game aired on two different networks, NBC and CBS and
drew in an audience of more than 61,000 fans. The popularity of the event
continued to grow after the leagues integrated.

Super Bowl I – Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The Packers quarterback Bart Starr.

Football great and TV commentator Frank Gifford (second from left).