Event:
Syria frees captured U.S. pilot after appeal from Jesse Jackson
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
