MOMENTS IN TIME
• On Jan. 3, 2000, the last daily "Peanuts" comic strip is published in 2,600 newspapers as Charles Schulz retires. "Peanuts" first appeared in Oct. 1950. Charles Schulz died on Saturday, Feb 12, 2000 -- on the eve prior to the publication of his final Sunday "Peanuts" strip. He was 77.
• On Jan. 4, 1935, Billboard magazine publishes its first pop music chart. A song called "Stop! Look! Listen!" by jazz violinist Joe Venuti topped the first chart.
• On Jan. 5, 1982, a series of landslides near San Francisco kills up to 33 people and closes the Golden Gate Bridge after the area received 24 inches of rain in two days. In all, about 7,800 homes and businesses were seriously damaged. Damages exceeded $100 million. Aerial surveillance showed that 18,000 separate slides occurred.
• On Jan. 6, 1838, Samuel Morse's telegraph system is demonstrated for the first time at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, N.J. In May 1844, Morse sent the first official telegram over the first telegraph line, with the message: "What hath God wrought!"
• On Jan. 7, 1999, the U.S. Senate begins its impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. The trial was the culmination of numerous scandals involving the president and first lady Hillary Clinton that included allegedly improper Arkansas real estate deals, suspected fundraising violations, claims of sexual harassment and accusations of cronyism involving the firing of White House travel agents.
• On Jan. 8, 1976, "Ragtime" by E.L. Doctorow is awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award. The book deals with race relations in the 1920s, mixing fictional characters with real figures from the era.
• On Jan. 9, 1984, Angelo Buono, one of the Hillside Stranglers, is sentenced to life in prison for the rape, torture and murder of 10 women in Los Angeles. Buono insisted on his innocence, pointing to the lack of physical evidence. Buono's house was so clean that investigators couldn't even find Buono's own fingerprints in the home.
