Event:
The Ezadeen, an abandoned ship carrying 450 Syrians, is rescued from choppy waters and brought safely to shore in Italy; the ship is the second to be abandoned by human traffickers off the nation's coast in the last four days
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
