Today is Wednesday, Jan. 7, the seventh day of 2026 with 358 to follow.
The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.
On this date in history:
In 1927, commercial trans-Atlantic telephone service between New York and London was inaugurated.
In 1931, as the Great Depression was getting underway, a report to U.S. President Herbert Hoover estimated that 4 million to 5 million Americans were out of work.
In 1953, U.S. President Harry Truman announced that the United States had developed the hydrogen bomb.
In 1979, the Cambodian government of Pol Pot was overthrown.
In 1980, the U.S. government authorized $1.5 billion in loans for Chrysler Corp.
In 1989, Japan's Emperor Hirohito died at the age of 88.
In 1993, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a long-awaited report that classified environmental tobacco smoke as a carcinogen.
In 1999, U.S. President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial opened in the Senate. He was acquitted.
In 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush proposed a tax-cut package of $670 billion over 10 years.
In 2015, Islamist terrorists stormed the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 members of the satirical publication's staff. French President Francois Hollande described it as "an act of exceptional barbarism."
In 2025, Southern California's Palisades Fire, fueled by a strong windstorm, exploded in size and prompted the city of Los Angeles to declare a state of emergency and evacuate some 30,000 people. By time it was fully contained on Jan. 31, it had killed 12 people, burned 23,448 acres and destroyed nearly 7,000 structures. Dozens of celebrities lost their homes in the blaze, including John Goodman, Ed Harris and Amy Madigan, Diane Warren, Cary Elwes, Paris Hilton, Anna Faris, and Billy Crystal.
