On January 6, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses Congress in an effort to move the nation away from a foreign policy of neutrality. The president had watched with increasing anxiety as European nations struggled and fell to Hitler’s fascist regime and was intent on rallying public support for the United States to take a stronger interventionist role. In his address to the 77th Congress, Roosevelt stated that the need of the moment is that our actions and our policy should be devoted primarily–almost exclusively–to meeting the foreign peril. For all our domestic problems are now a part of the great emergency.

Roosevelt insisted that people in all nations of the world shared Americans’ entitlement to four freedoms: the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom to worship God in his own way, freedom from want and freedom from fear. After Roosevelt’s death and the end of World War II, his widow Eleanor often referred to the four freedoms when advocating for passage of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Mrs. Roosevelt participated in the drafting of that declaration, which was adopted by the United Nations in 1948.

Source: history. com

From Sat, Jan 6, 4:16 AM PST To Sun, Jan 7, 4:00 AM PST

Special Weather Statement issued January 6 at 4:16AM PST by NWS Seattle WA

…AFTER A RELATIVELY MILD WINTER THUS FAR, THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR THE COLDEST TEMPERATURES OF THE SEASON JANUARY 12-15, 2024…

An active weather pattern will continue to impact the region through at least the next week as a series of strong frontal systems bring additional rounds of lowland rain and mountain snow to Western Washington. Heavy snow will slowly decrease in intensity through the Olympics and Cascades this morning as snow transitions into snow showers. After a brief break Sunday into Sunday night, prolonged heavy snow is becoming increasingly likely Monday through Thursday as a series of systems move across the Pacific Northwest. Current forecast snowfall totals of 2 to 5 feet over 2000 feet will be possible through this timeframe.

Currently, there is a 50-80% chance for 48-hour snowfall totals in excess of 30 inches over the Cascades above 2500 feet, including Stevens and Snoqualmie passes. In addition, westerly winds will increase during this time, with gusts to around 40 mph and even higher over the high Cascades Tuesday with a 65% chance for peak wind gusts over 50 mph. Anyone with travel plans over the Cascade passes and/or through the rest of the Cascades and Olympic mountains will need to be well prepared for dangerous travel conditions due to a combination of heavy and blowing snow.

The potential also exists for much colder temperatures across Western Washington by the second half of the week as a much colder airmass settles into the Pacific Northwest. Uncertainty still exists in how cold this airmass will be with disagreement in how far south high pressure penetrates out of southern Canada.

Currently, there is a 50% chance for the low temperatures to drop below 20F Thursday night through Saturday night across the lowlands. After a relatively mild start to the winter season, these temperatures will come as a drastic change to many. While the details remain unclear, it is worth monitoring the forecast for potential changes and additional information over the next several days.

For more information about current conditions and forecasts, visit http://www.weather.gov/seattle.

The 104th Congress begins, becoming the first held entirely under Republican control since the Eisenhower era. The previous November, Newt Gingrich and his “Contract with America” gave the Republican Party the electoral boost it needed to win majority control of Congress for the first time in 40 years.

Source: CBS , history.com

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge in the 1990s against then President Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, he acknowledged in an interview with a conservative Christian group.

Senator Timothy Pickering, a Federalist from Massachusetts, becomes the first senator to be censured when the Senate approves a censure motion against him by a vote of 20 to seven. Pickering was accused of violating congressional law by publicly revealing secret documents communicated by the president to the Senate.

During the Revolutionary War, Pickering served as General George Washington’s adjutant general and in 1791 was appointed postmaster general by President Washington. In 1795, he briefly served as Washington’s secretary of war before being appointed secretary of state in 1795. He retained his post under the administration of President John Adams but was dismissed in 1800, when Adams, a moderate Federalist, learned that he had been plotting with Alexander Hamilton to steer the United States into war with revolutionary France. Returning to Massachusetts, he was elected a U.S. senator but resigned after he was censured for revealing to the public secret foreign policy documents sent by the president to Congress. An outspoken opponent of the War of 1812, Pickering was elected as a representative from Massachusetts in 1813 and served two terms before retiring from politics

for the complete article, please go to – history.com