This Day in History for January 5

1925, Nellie T. Ross succeeded her late husband as governor of Wyoming, becoming the first female governor in US history

In 1895, French Captain Alfred Dreyfus, convicted of treason, was publicly stripped of his rank. (He was ultimately vindicated.)

In 1933, the 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, died in Northampton, Massachusetts, at age 60.

In 1943, educator and scientist George Washington Carver died in Tuskegee, Alabama, at age 81.

In 1949, in his State of the Union address, President Truman labeled his administration the "Fair Deal."
In 1589, Catherine de Medici of France died at age 69.

In 1970, Joseph A. Yablonski, an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the United Mine Workers, was found murdered with his wife and daughter at their Clarksville, Pennsylvania, home.

In 1972, President Nixon ordered development of the space shuttle.

In 1975, "The Wiz," a musical version of L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" featuring an all-black cast, opened on Broadway.

In 1994, Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, former speaker of the US House of Representatives, died in Boston at age 81.

In 1998, Sonny Bono, the 1960's pop star-turned-politician, died in a skiing accident in South Lake Tahoe, California; he was 62.