Water Cooler

NEW YORK (AP) ― Today is Monday, January 7th, the seventh day of 2008. There are 359   days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On January 7th, 1789, the first U.S. presidential election was held. Americans voted for electors who, a month later, chose George Washington to be the nation's first president.

On this date:

In 1608, an accidental fire devastated the Jamestown settlement in the Virginia Colony.

In 1610, astronomer Galileo Galilei began observing three of Jupiter's moons.

In 1800, the 13th president of the United States, Millard Fillmore, was born in Summerhill, New York.

In 1904, the Marconi International Marine Communication Company of London announced that the telegraphed letters "C-Q-D" would serve as a maritime distress call (it was later replaced by "S-O-S").

In 1927, commercial transatlantic telephone service was inaugurated between New York and London.

In 1942, the Japanese siege of Bataan began during World War II.

In 1953, President Truman announced in his State of the Union

message to Congress that the United States had developed a hydrogen bomb.

In 1972, Lewis F. Powell Junior and William H. Rehnquist were sworn in as the 99th and 100th members of the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1989, Emperor Hirohito of Japan died in Tokyo at age 87; he was succeeded by his son, Crown Prince Akihito.

In 2006, Jill Carroll, a freelance journalist for The Christian Science Monitor, was kidnapped and her interpreter shot dead in one of Baghdad's most dangerous Sunni Arab neighborhoods. (Carroll was freed almost three months later.)

Ten years ago: Convicted Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols escaped the death penalty when a jury deadlocked over his punishment. The government of Canada apologized for past acts of oppression against the country's native peoples.

Five years ago: President Bush unveiled his 674 billion-dollar economic expansion plan. Police in London announced they had found traces of the deadly poison ricin in a north London apartment and arrested six men in connection with the virulent toxin that had been linked to al Qaeda terrorists and Iraq.

One year ago: Newly elected House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, interviewed on CBS' "Face the Nation," said Democrats running Congress would not give President Bush a blank check to wage war in Iraq. NASCAR driver Bobby Hamilton, who had won the 2001 Talladega 500, died at age 49.

Today's Birthdays: Author William Peter Blatty is 80. Country singer Jack Greene is 78. Pop musician Paul Revere is 70. Magazine publisher Jann Wenner is 62. Singer Kenny Loggins is 60.  Singer-songwriter Marshall Chapman is 59. Latin pop singer Juan Gabriel is 58. Actress Erin Gray is 58. Actor Sammo Hung is 56.  Actor David Caruso is 52. "CBS Evening News" anchor Katie Couric is 51. Country singer David Lee Murphy is 49. Rock musician Kathy Valentine (The Go-Go's) is 49. Actor David Marciano is 48. Actress Hallie Todd is 46. Actor Nicolas Cage is 44. Singer-songwriter John Ondrasik (Five for Fighting) is 43. Actor Doug E.  Doug is 38. Actor Kevin Rahm is 37. Country singer-musician John Rich is 34. Actor Dustin Diamond is 31. Actor Robert Ri'chard is 25. Actor Liam Aiken is 18. Actress Camryn Grimes is 18. Actor Max Morrow is 17.

Thought for Today: "Whether women are better than men I cannot say—but I can say they are certainly no worse."—Golda Meir, Israeli prime minister (1898-1978).

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)