On this day...

1521 Martin Luther excommunicated by Roman Catholic Church
1777 Washington defeats British at Battle of Princeton, NJ
1831 First US building & loan association organized, Frankford PA
1852 First Chinese arrive in Hawaii
1861 Delaware legislature rejects proposal to join Confederacy
1861 US' Ft. Pulaski & Ft. Jackson, Savannah, seized by Georgia
1865 Con Orem & Hugh O'Neill box 193 rounds before darkness ends match
1870 Brooklyn Bridge begun; completed May 24, 1883
1871 Oleo margarine patented by Henry Bradley, Binghamton, NY
1872 First patent list issued by US Patent Office
1876 First free kindergarten in US opens in Florence MA
1888 First drinking straw patented, by M.C. Stone in Washington, DC
1889 Admissions convention meets in Ellensburg, WA, asks for statehood
1890 First US college-level dairy school opens at University of Wisconsin
1911 US postal savings bank inaugurated
1912 South Pacific RR offers to bring Liberty Bell to Exposition, free
1918 US employment service opens as a unit of Department of Labor
1920 NY Yankees purchase Babe Ruth from Red Sox for $125,000
1921 Turkey makes peace with Armenia
1929 27 year old William S. Paley becomes CBS president
1931 Nels Stewart of Montreal Maroons scores 2 goals in 4 sec (record)
1938 March of Dimes established to fight polio
1939 Gene Cox becomes first girl page in US House of Representatives
1941 Canada & US acquire air bases in Newfoundland (99 year lease)
1943 Canadian Army troops arrive in North Africa
1947 First opening session of Congress to be telecast
1947 William Dawson becomes first black to head congressional committee
1949 "Colgate Theatre" dramatic anthology series premiers on NBC TV
1951 Fred Wilt wins AAU Sullivan Memorial Trophy (US athlete of 1950)
1952 "Dragnet" with Jack Webb premiers on NBC TV
1957 First electric watch introduced, Lancaster PA
1958 Sir Edmund Hillary reached South Pole overland
1959 Alaska admitted as 49th US state
1961 Adam Clayton Powell elected Chairman of House Education & Labor
1961 US breaks relations with Cuba
1967 Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys is indicted for draft evasion
1970 Marxist government takes over in Congo
1971 Baltimore Colts beat Oakland Raiders 27-17 in AFC championship game
1971 Dallas Cowboys beat San Francisco '49ers 17-10 in NFC championship game
1973 George Steinbrenner III buys Yankees from CBS for $12 million
1974 Gold hits record $121.25 an ounce in London
1977 Apple Computer incorporated
1980 Gold hits record $634 an ounce
1981 Cleveland Cavaliers retire jersey # 34, Austin Carr
1983 Tony Dorsett sets NFL record with 99-yd rush, Dallas vs Minnesota
1984 Syria frees captured US pilot after appeal from Jesse Jackson
1985 Israel government confirms resettlement of 10,000 Ethiopian Jews
1988 Margaret Thatcher becomes longest-serving British PM this century
1989 Jim & Tammy Bakker return to TV

Birthdays which occurred on January 3rd:

106 B.C.-Marcus Tullius Cicero, Rome, statesman/author (Academica)
1793 Lucretia Coffin Mott, US, teacher/minister/abolitionist/feminist
1810 Eliza Von Bretton di Zerega, Danish West Indies, baroness
1835 Larkin Goldsmith Mead, sculptor
1840 Father Joseph Damien de Veuster, Belgium, helped lepers in Hawaii
1870 Henry Handel Richardson, Australia, novelist (Richard Mahoney)
1879 Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge, First lady (1924-28)
1883 Clement Richard Attlee, (L) British PM (1945-51)
1886 Josephine Hull, Academy award character actress (Harvey)
1892 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, South Africa, philologist/writer (Lord of the Rings)
1893 Pierre Drieu La Rochelle, French novelist/essayist (Gilles)
1898 Johannes Hin Holland, yachtsman (Olympic-gold-1920)
1898 ZaSu Pitts, Parsons Kansas, actress (Life With Father, Dames)
1901 Ngo Dinh Diem, dictator of South Vietnam (1954-63)
1905 Ray Milland, Neath Wales, actor (Lost Weekend-Academy Award 1945)
1907 Anna May Wong, Los Angeles CA, actress (Impact, Study in Scarlet)
1912 Robert Flemyng, Liverpool England, actor (Windom's Way, Young Winston)
1916 Betty Furness, New York NY, actress/consumer activist (Studio 1)
1917 Vernon Walters, New York NY, US permanent representative to the UN
1918 Maxene Andrews, singer (Andrew Sisters-Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy)
1919 Jesse White, Buffalo NY, actor (Bedtime for Bonzo, Million Dollar Mermaid)
1921 John Russell, Los Angeles CA, actor (Pale Rider, Rio Bravo)
1922 Bill Travers, England, actor (Born Free, Gorgo)
1926 George Martin, record producer (The Beatles)
1928 Frank Ross Anderson, Canada, International Chess Master (1954)
1930 Eddie Egan, Bronx New York NY, actor (Joe Forrester)
1930 Robert Loggia, Staten Island, actor
1932 Mara Corday, Santa Monica CA, actress (Foxfire, Black Scorpion)
1934 Carla Hills, politician (US Presidential Commission on Housing-1982)
1939 Bobby Hull, NHL forward (Chicago Blackhawk 1957-72)
1941 Van Dyke Parks, Alabama, actor/musician (Bonino, Billy Crystal Hour)
1944 Christina von Saltza, US, swimmer (Olympic-3 gold-1960)
1945 Stephen Stills, singer/songwriter/guitarist (Cosby Stills & Nash)
1945 Victoria Principal, Fukuoka Japan, actress (Earthquake, Pamela-Dallas)
1946 John Paul Jones, rocker (Led Zeppelin-Stairway to Heaven)
1948 Larry McNeeley, Lafayette IN, banjo player (Glen Campbell Hour)
1953 Angelo Parisi, France, heavyweight judo (Olympic-gold-1980)
1955 Cynthia Sykes, Coffeyville KY, actress (Flamingo Road, St. Elsewhere)
1956 Mel Gibson, Peekskill NY, actor (Mad Max, Mrs Soffel, Lethal Weapon)
1967 Helena Bonham Carter, London England, actress (Getting it Right)
1975 Danica McKellar, actress (Winnie-Wonder Years)

Deaths which occurred on January 3rd:

1543 Juan Cabrillo, conqueror of Central America, discoverer of California
1641 Jeremiah Horrocks, English astronomical prodigy, dies at 22
1875 George Bizet, composer
1946 William Joyce (Lord Haw Haw) hanged in Britain for treason
1967 Jack Ruby, assassin who killed assassin Lee Harvey Oswald
1975 Milton J. Cross, TV announcer (Met Opera Auditions), dies at 87
1988 Gaston Eyskens, PM of Belgium (1949, 1958-61, 1968-72), dies at 82
1992 Dame Judith Anderson, actress (Laura, Rebecca), dies at 93