Local History

50 years ago: John Diedenhofen, Terence Dempsey, Dale Oswald and James Senske were honored as outstanding men in their profession by the New Ulm Jaycees.

10 years ago: District 88 School Board decided to close the New Ulm Middle School and transfer students in 7th and 8th grade to the New Ulm High School building.

5 years ago: By unanimous decision, the Gibbon Fairfax Winthrop (GFW) School Board approved making High School Principal Jeff Bertrang the district’s new superintendent.

One year ago: New Ulm finished on a 25-5 run to win 54-41 against Sleepy Eye in a nonconference girl’s basketball game.

And elsewhere…

Today is Thursday, Jan. 26, the 26th day of 2017. There are 339 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight:

On Jan. 26, 1942, the first American Expeditionary Force to head to Europe during World War II arrived in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

On this date:

In 1784, in a letter to his daughter Sarah, Benjamin Franklin expressed unhappiness over the choice of the bald eagle as the symbol of America, and stated his own preference: the turkey.

In 1939, during the Spanish Civil War, rebel forces led by Gen. Francisco Franco captured Barcelona.

In 1950, India officially proclaimed itself a republic as Rajendra Prasad took the oath of office as president.

In 1998, President Bill Clinton forcefully denied having an affair with a former White House intern, telling reporters, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”

Today’s Birthdays: Sportscaster-actor Bob Uecker is 82. Activist Angela Davis is 73. Actor David Strathairn is 68. Rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen is 62. Actress-comedian-talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is 59. Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky is 56. Actress Sarah Rue is 39. Country musician Michael Martin (Marshall Dyllon) is 34.

Thought for Today: “Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet, dramatist and author (1749-1832).