On This Day January 17

1994
Danny Partridge and Donny Osmond slug it out: Danny Bonaduce (who played Danny Partridge on the TV series) wins a 2-1 decision over singer Donny Osmond in a charity boxing match.

1993
Jack in the Box food poisoning: The Washington State Health Department confirms that an outbreak of E. coli infections is linked to the fast-food restaurants. Three children died and more than 500 people were sickened by the outbreak.

1989
Patrick Edward Purdy, a former student, opens fire on the Cleveland Elementary School, killing five students, and later killing himself.

1986
Iran-Contra Affair: Pres. Reagan signs a secret order authorizing exceptions to the Iranian arms embargo.

1984
Recording TV broadcasts with your VCR is ruled legal by the U.S. Supreme Court.

1981
Pres. Reagan throws the most expensive inaugural celebration in American history, costing $11 million.

1950
Brink's robbery: They are robbed in Boston by masked bandits of $2.8 million of which $1.2 million was cash.

1917
Treaty purchasing the Virgin Islands from Denmark, for the sum of $25,000,000, is ratified by the U.S.

1871
Cable streetcar patented: Andrew Hallidie receives a patent for his streetcar; the first one went into operation 2½ years later in San Francisco.

1949 d. 1984
Andy Kaufman, American actor, comedian. TV: Taxi (Latka Gravas). He was banned from Saturday Night Live after losing a viewer phone-in vote by 26,358 votes.

1942
Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay), American boxer, three-time world heavyweight champion (1964-67, 74-78, 78-79). He was stripped of his title in 1967 for refusing to serve in the Vietnam War.

1939
Maury Povich, American TV host. TV: A Current Affair and The Maury Povich Show.

1934
Shari Lewis (Shari Hurwitz), American ventriloquist, with puppets Lamb Chomp and Charlie Horse.

1931
Lawrence Douglas Wilder, American politician. He was the first elected black U.S. state governor (1989, Virginia).

1931
James Earl Jones, American actor. Film: Star Wars (1977, voice of Darth Vader). TV: Tarzan (an African chieftain).

1922
Betty White, American Emmy-winning actress. TV: The Mary Tyler Moore Show (Sue Ann) and The Golden Girls (Rose).

1899 d. 1947
"Scarface" Al Capone, Italian-born American gangster. The FBI estimates that he made $105 million in 1927 alone. He was convicted of tax evasion and served time in Alcatraz (1931-39). Terminally ill with syphilis, he died penniless of a brain hemorrhage at home in Miami, Florida.

1884 d. 1960
Mack Sennett (Michael Sinnott), American director, producer, actor, creator of the Keystone Kops.

1869 d. 1927
Georg Clemens Perthes, German surgeon. He discovered that X-rays inhibit the growth of tumors (1903), and proposed the use of X-rays to treat cancer.

1867 d. 1939
Carl Laemmle, German-born American motion picture executive. He founded Universal Pictures (1912) and was one of the first to promote actors by their own names.

1860 d. 1904
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Russian author, The Three Sisters (1901) and The Cherry Orchard (1904).

1829 d. 1890
Catherine Booth, English preacher, Mother of the Salvation Army, which she and her husband William founded (1865).

1771 d. 1810
Charles Brockden Brown, American novelist, "The father of the American novel." Writings: Wieland (1798) and Ormond (1799).

1706 d. 1790
Benjamin Franklin, signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the U.S., and for whom the U.S. state of Franklin was named.

1504 d. 1572
Saint Pius V, Italian religious leader, 225th Pope (1566-72), canonized in 1712, excommunicated Elizabeth I of England, expelled the Jews from Church states and was dedicated to the extermination of the Huguenots.

1501 d. 1566
Leonhard Fuchs, German botanist for whom the shrub Fuchsia is named.

1981 b. 1908
Bernard Lee, British actor. Film: Bond's superior M in the first 11 James Bond movies.

1980 b. 1919
Barbara Britton, American actress. TV: Mr. and Mrs. North (Pamela North).

1977 b. 1940
Gary Gilmore, American criminal, executed by a Utah firing squad, the first execution in the U.S. since 1967.

1927 b. 1860
Juliette Low, American woman, founder of the Girl Scouts of America (1912).

1891 b. 1800
George Bancroft, American historian, Father of American History.

1870 b. 1775
Alexander Anderson, America's first wood engraver. He illustrated more than 100 volumes of English classics, including Bell's Anatomy and Webster's Spelling Book.

January 17

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Deaths