Today in History....January 25

On this day in …

1776, the first national memorial is ordered by Congress. It was built in in honor of Brigadier General Richard Montgomery, who had been killed during an assault on Quebec on December 31, 1775
1905, at the Premier Mine in Pretoria, South Africa, a 3,106-carat diamond is discovered during a routine inspection by the mine's superintendent. Weighing 1.33 pounds, and christened the "Cullinan," it was the largest diamond ever found

1915, the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, inaugurated U.S. transcontinental telephone service

1919, in Paris, delegates to the peace conference formally approve the establishment of a commission on the League of Nations

1956, in a long interview with visiting American attorney Marshall MacDuffie, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev adopts a friendly attitude toward the United States and indicates that he believes President Dwight Eisenhower is sincere in his desire for peace

1959, American Airlines opened the jet age in the United States with the first scheduled transcontinental flight of a Boeing 707

1961, President Kennedy held the first presidential news conference carried live on radio and television

1968, the Israeli submarine Dakar, carrying 69 sailors, passes the island of Crete and radioed its position --- then disappears. The exact fate of this vessel remains a mystery to this day

1971, Charles Manson and three women followers were convicted in Los Angeles of murder and conspiracy in the 1969 slayings of seven people, including actress Sharon Tate

1981, the 52 Americans held hostage by Iran for 444 days arrived in the United States

1997, responding to recent cases of deadly food poisoning, President Clinton said in his weekly radio address that he would seek $43 million dollars to implement a state-of-the-art early warning system for food contamination

2002, J. Clifford Baxter, a former Enron Corp. executive who'd reportedly complained about the company's questionable accounting practices, was found shot to death in a car, a suicide

2006, Hamas won a large majority of seats in Palestinian parliamentary elections