This Day in History

On Jan. 9, 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone at the Macworld conference in San Francisco.

Also on this date:

In 1861, Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union, the same day the Star of the West, a merchant vessel bringing reinforcements and supplies to Federal troops at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, retreated because of artillery fire.

In 1916, the World War I Battle of Gallipoli ended with an Ottoman Empire victory as Allied forces withdrew.

In 1945, during World War II, American forces began landing on the shores of Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines as the Battle of Luzon got underway, resulting in an Allied victory over Imperial Japanese forces.

In 2005, Mahmoud Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority. following the death of Yasser Arafat the previous November.

In 2018, downpours sent mud and boulders roaring down Southern California hillsides that had been stripped of vegetation by a gigantic wildfire; more than 20 people died and hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed.

In 2022, 17 people, including eight children, died after a fire sparked by a malfunctioning space heater filled a high-rise apartment building with smoke in the New York City borough of the Bronx; it was the city's deadliest blaze in three decades.

Today's birthdays: Musician-activist Joan Baez is 84. Rock musician Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) is 81. Singer Crystal Gayle is 74. Actor J.K. Simmons is 70. Actor Imelda Staunton is 69. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchú is 66. Actor Joely Richardson is 60. Musician Dave Matthews is 58. Singer AJ McLean (Backstreet Boys) is 47. Golfer Sergio Garcia is 45. Catherine, Princess of Wales, is 43. Actor Nina Dobrev is 36.