This Day in History

On Jan. 31, 2020, the United States declared a public health emergency over the new coronavirus, and President Donald Trump signed an order to temporarily bar entry to foreign nationals, other than immediate family of U.S. citizens, who traveled in China in the preceding 14 days.

Also on this date:

In 1863, during the Civil War, the First South Carolina Volunteers, an all-Black Union regiment composed of many who escaped from slavery, was mustered into federal service at Beaufort, South Carolina.

In 1945, Pvt. Eddie Slovik, 24, became the first U.S. soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion as he was shot by an American firing squad in France.

In 1958, the United States entered the Space Age with its first successful launch of a satellite, Explorer 1, from Cape Canaveral.

In 1971, astronauts Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa blasted off aboard Apollo 14 on a mission to the moon.

In 1988, Doug Williams, the first Black quarterback to play in the Super Bowl, led the Washington Redskins (now Washington Commanders) to a 42-10 victory over the Denver Broncos and was named Super Bowl MVP.

In 2000, an Alaska Airlines MD-83 jet crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Port Hueneme (wy-NEE'-mee), California, killing all 88 people aboard.

In 2001, a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands convicted one Libyan and acquitted a second in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. (Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi was given a life sentence but was released after eight years on compassionate grounds by Scotland's government. He died in 2012.)

In 2023, Boeing Co. delivered its last 747 wide-body jet to a customer, capping more than a half-century of production of the iconic jumbo jet.

Today's birthdays: Composer Philip Glass is 89. Blues singer-musician Charlie Musselwhite is 82. Actor Glynn Turman is 79. Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan is 79. Actor Jonathan Banks is 79. Rock singer John Lydon is 70. Actor Anthony LaPaglia is 67. Actor Minnie Driver is 56. Actor Portia de Rossi is 53. Actor-comedian Bobby Moynihan is 49. Actor Kerry Washington is 49. Singer Justin Timberlake is 45. Country singer Tyler Hubbard (Florida Georgia Line) is 39. Musician Marcus Mumford (Mumford and Sons) is 39.