Today in History: January 3, the ‘Curse of the Bambino’ begins

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Today is Saturday, Jan. 3, the third day of 2026. There are 362 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 3, 1920, Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold the contract of Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees, beginning a championship era for the Yankees and decades of heartache for Red Sox fans. (The Red Sox would ultimately break the “curse” in 2004, winning their first World Series in 86 years.)

Also on this date:

In 1777, Gen. George Washington’s army routed British troops in the Battle of Princeton, New Jersey, a key turning point in the Revolutionary War.

In 1861, more than two weeks before Georgia seceded from the Union, the state militia seized Fort Pulaski, in the coastal area east of Savannah, at the order of Gov. Joseph E. Brown.

In 1959, Alaska was officially admitted as the 49th U.S. state.

In 1977, Apple Computer, months after its founding, was incorporated in Cupertino, California, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Mike Markkula (MAHR’-kuh-luh) Jr.

In 1990, ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces, 10 days after taking refuge in the Vatican’s diplomatic mission.

In 2022, a jury in San Jose, California, convicted Elizabeth Holmes of duping investors into believing that her startup company Theranos had developed a revolutionary medical device that could detect diseases and conditions from a few drops of blood.

In 2025, two bombs exploded in the Iranian city of Kerman, killing at least 84 people and wounding hundreds during a commemoration for Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force who was killed in a U.S. drone strike four years earlier; the Islamic State would claim responsibility for the bombings.

Today’s Birthdays: Musician Stephen Stills is 81. Musician John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) is 80. Actor and entrepreneur Victoria Principal is 76. Actor-director Mel Gibson is 70. Basketball Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller is 62. Singer and television personality Kimberley Locke is 48. Former NFL quarterback Eli Manning is 45. R&B singer Lloyd Polite Jr. is 40. Actor Florence Pugh is 30. Environmental activist Greta Thunberg is 23.