Event:
1st living person identified on a U.S. coin (Thomas E Kirby) on the Alabama Centennial half-dollar
More Notable Events on January 3: 1997 Bryant Gumbel co-hosted his final Today show on NBC-TV
1962 Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro
1959 Alaska admitted as 49th U.S. state
1958 Edmund Hillary reaches South Pole overland
1521 Martin Luther excommunicated by Roman Catholic Church
