Staff Reports
Anniversaries: Notable events in American History

     50 years ago:

      On Jan. 11, 1964, Dr. Luther Terry, then Surgeon General, released a landmark report – the first of its kind on smoking and health – concluding that smoking causes lung cancer, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

     “In the five decades since, we’ve learned: that smoking damages nearly every organ in the body; it is responsible for an enormous burden of disease, death and economic cost in the United States; and, exposure to secondhand smoke can have devastating health consequences,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a statement released by the department. “Yet, since this first report was released, we’ve also shifted the perception of smoking from an accepted national pastime to a discouraged threat to health – and more than halved smoking rates in this country.”
     Later this month, the department will release a new Surgeon General’s report on the progress of tobacco control, the statement said.

    20 years ago:

     On Jan. 11, 1994, the United States and the other allied nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) created the Partnership for Peace.
    “Based on a commitment to the democratic principles that underpin the alliance itself, the Partnership for Peace brings NATO together with 22 nations in Europe and Asia,” according to the State Department. “These countries partner together on operations that foster peace and security, as well as on increasing their own security capacity through defense reform, policy and planning, military-to-military cooperation and exercises.”