Today In History for January 17th

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The federal holiday was enacted to commemorate Dr King and is observed on the third Monday in January. King was the chief spokesman for non-violent activism during the civil rights movement. The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. In 1983 Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law. The first observation of MLK Day was on January 1986 and was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.

Also on this day back in 1773, Captain James Cook and his crew became the first Europeans to sail below the Antarctic Circle.

The Battle of Cowpens occurred during the Revolutionary War on this day back in 1781. Continental troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeated British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the battle in South Carolina.