Today in History....January 15

On this day in …

1777, the people of New Connecticut declared their independence. (The tiny republic later became the state of Vermont.)
1782, Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris went before Congress to deliver a report on the young nation's finances. Morris recommended establishing a national mint and outlined plans for decimal coinage

1909, motorized hearse was used for the first time in a Chicago funeral procession by funeral director H.D. Ludlow. It was a sharp break with tradition: stately horse-drawn hearses had been in use for centuries

1919, fiery hot molasses floods the streets of Boston on this day in 1919, killing 21 people and injuring scores of others. The molasses burst from a huge tank at the United States Industrial Alcohol Company building in the heart of the city

1933, after nearly a century of cooperative living, the utopian Amana colonists of Iowa begin using U.S. currency for the first time

1943, work was completed on the Pentagon, now the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense

1967, the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League 35-10 in the first Super Bowl (although the matchup was then officially called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game)

1976, Sara Jane Moore was sentenced to life in prison for her attempt on the life of President Ford in San Francisco

1997, a bitterly divided Israeli Cabinet agreed to withdraw troops from most of Hebron and rural West Bank areas, approving an accord wrapped up hours earlier by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat, ym"sh

2002, Attorney General John Ashcroft said that John Walker Lindh, the 20-year-old Californian who had fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan, would be charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and could face life in prison if convicted. (Lindh received a 20-year sentence after pleading guilty to supplying services to the Taliban and carrying explosives in commission of a felony.)