From Historynet: Today in History January 15

1624          Riots flare in Mexico when it is announced that all churches are to be closed.

1811           In a secret session, Congress plans to annex Spanish East Florida.

1865          Union troops capture Fort Fisher, North Carolina.

1913          The first telephone line between Berlin and New York is inaugurated.

1919          Peasants in Central Russia rise against the Bolsheviks.

1920          The Dry Law goes into effect in the United States. Selling liquor and beer becomes illegal.

1920          The United States approves a $150 million loan to Poland, Austria and Armenia to aid in their war with the Russian communists.

1927          The Dumbarton Bridge opens in San Francisco carrying the first auto traffic across the bay.

1929          The U.S. Senate ratifies the Kellogg-Briand anti-war pact.

1930          Amelia Earhart  sets an aviation record for women at 171 mph in a Lockheed Vega.

1936          In London, Japan quits all naval disarmament talks after being denied equality.

1944          The U.S. Fifth Army successfully breaks the German Winter Line in Italy with the capture of Mount Trocchio.

1949          Chinese Communists occupy Tientsin after a 27-hour battle with Nationalist forces.

1965          Sir Winston Churchill  suffers a severe stroke.

1967          Some 462 Yale faculty members call for an end to the bombing in North Vietnam.

1973          US President Richard Nixon  announces the suspension of offensive action by US troops in Vietnam.

1973          Four of six remaining Watergate defendants plead guilty.

1975          The Alvor Agreement is signed, ending the Angolan War of independence and granting the country independence from Portugal.

1976          Sara Jane Moore  sentenced to life in prison for her failed attempt to assassinate 

US President Gerald Ford .

1991          UN deadline for Iraq to withdraw its forces from occupied Kuwait passes, setting the stage for Operation Desert Storm.

1991          Britain's Queen Elizabeth II  approves Australia instituting its own Victoria Cross honors system, the first county in the British Commonwealth permitted to do so.

1992          Slovenia and Croatia's independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is recognized by the international community.

2001          Wikipedia goes online.