On this day
Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch today for much of the state. Temperatures could reach the low 50's, which will melt many snow piles left from the blizzard, and heavy rains are predicted as well. SUSAN JO KELLER
WHEN the Winter Antiques Show began 42 years ago, there was nothing to compare to this patriotically American event and nothing else on the calendar to entice collectors to visit Manhattan during the bleak days of January. But in a city like New York, one is never enough. Now the Winter Antiques Show, which opens today and runs through Jan. 28 at the Seventh Regiment Armory, has company. The show has inspired a host of imitators: smaller, less expensive antiques shows that are all around the city this weekend. There are also special gallery exhibitions organized by dealers who do not exhibit at the Winter Antiques Show. And there are auctions: both Sotheby's and Christie's time their important American furniture and decorative arts auctions to coincide with the Winter Antiques Show because they realize that many of their important clients will be in town.
A vitamin supplement taken by millions of Americans in hope of avoiding cancer or heart disease has fallen short under rigorous scientific examination. Two large studies found that the substance, beta carotene, which is converted into vitamin A in the body, provided no benefits. One of the studies suggested that it might be harmful for some people. That study, which involved people at high risk of lung cancer because they smoked or worked with asbestos, was halted early, partly because of an increase in deaths from lung cancer and heart disease among those who took the supplements, compared with those who took dummy pills.
Two liquor store owners admitted in court yesterday that they took more than $2 million in illegal kickbacks from alcohol wholesalers from 1990 to 1994. As part of their plea agreement, Saul Leighton, 58, of Clark, and Harry Hammer, 64, of Holmdel, pledged to cooperate with what state officials describe as one of the biggest investigations ever of the New Jersey liquor industry. The A.P. said the men also agreed to pay more than $2.3 million in fines and penalties and to sell their business, Bayway Liquors in Elizabeth.
Fidelity Investments, which in the last five years has dominated such high-profile bankruptcy cases as those involving Federated Department Stores and R. H. Macy & Company, abruptly announced yesterday that it was "discontinuing its aggressive style" of investing in the stocks, bonds and bank debt of weak and insolvent companies. "Today, aggressive investing can require a large ownership position and involvement in the reorganization process, including sitting on boards of directors and seeking to effect management changes," said Perry Chlan, a Fidelity spokesman. "Those are not consistent with our approach to investment management."
Music on My Birthday
The Top 50 albums for the chart week of January 17, 1996, covering January 19, 1996.
Soundtrack
Mariah Carey
Alanis Morissette
Hootie & The Blowfish
Garth Brooks
1996Jakub Jankto, Czech footballer[†]
Jakub Jankto is a Czech professional footballer who plays for Serie A club Cagliari, and the Czech Republic national team. A versatile player, Jankto can play as a full-back, left midfielder or left winger.
1996Don Simpson, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1943)[†]
Donald Clarence Simpson was an American film producer, screenwriter, and actor, known for his work in blockbuster films of the 1980s and '90s. Simpson entered the film industry in the 1970s and worked at Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures. He eventually began a professional partnership with Jerry Bruckheimer, and together, they produced hit films such as Flashdance (1983), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Top Gun (1986), and The Rock (1996). As his stature in Hollywood grew, Simpson became notorious for his debauched lifestyle, which included severe and longstanding substance abuse, and he ultimately died from heart failure caused by an overdose of cocaine and prescription drugs. By the time of his death, his and Bruckheimer's films had grossed over $3 billion worldwide.
1996The barge North Cape oil spill occurs as an engine fire forces the tugboat Scandia ashore on Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown, Rhode Island.[†]
The North Cape oil spill took place on January 19, 1996, when the tank barge North Cape and the tug Scandia grounded on Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, after the tug caught fire in its engine room during a winter storm. An estimated 828,000 US gallons (3,130 m3) of home heating oil was spilled. Oil spread throughout a large area of Block Island Sound, including Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge, resulting in the closure of a 250-square-mile (650 km2) area of the sound for fishing.
In 1996, the world population was approximately 5,842,055,734 people[†]