January 13
1898
French writer Emile Zola published his “J’Accuse” letter, accusing the French of a cover-up in the Alfred Dreyfus treason case.
1941
Novelist James Joyce died in Zurich.
1990
Douglas Wilder of Virginia became the first elected African-American governor in the United States.
1999
Michael Jordan announced his second retirement from the NBA. He would “unretire” again in 2001.
2002
After 17,162 performances, The Fantasticks ended its almost 42-year off-Broadway run.
2004
Joseph Darby, a U.S. soldier at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, reported U.S. abuses of Iraqi prisoners to the Army’s Criminal Investigations Division.
Birthdays
Horatio Alger
1832–1899, American writer.
Jan van Goyen
landscape painter (1596)
Salmon P. Chase
public official and jurist (1808)
Elmer Davis
radio commentator (1890)
Gwen Verdon
dancer, actor (1925)
Charles Nelson Reilly
actor, theater director (1931)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
actress (1961)
Patrick Dempsey
actor (1966)
Orlando Bloom
actor (1977)