Today in History

Today is Tuesday, Jan. 31, the 31st day of 2012. There are 335 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 31, 1961, NASA launched Ham the Chimp aboard a Mercury-Redstone rocket from Cape Canaveral; Ham was recovered safely from the Atlantic Ocean following his 16�-minute suborbital flight.

On this date:

In 1606, Guy Fawkes, convicted of treason for his part in the "Gunpowder Plot" against the English Parliament and King James I, was executed.

In 1797, composer Franz Schubert was born in Vienna.

In 1865, Gen. Robert E. Lee was named general-in-chief of all the Confederate armies.

In 1917, during World War I, Germany …

Schnyder into 2nd round at Open GDF Suez

Patty Schnyder of Switzerland beat seventh-seeded Virginie Razzano of France 6-3, 7-6 (3) to reach the second round of the Open GDF Suez tournament on Tuesday.

Fourth-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy also advanced after routing Vesna Manasieva 6-0, 6-0. She broke the Russian player's serve six times and will next play Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic.

Schnyder pressured Razzano's serve, forcing 11 break points and converting three of them to edge through in a tight contest at the indoor tournament on hard courts at Stade Pierre de Coubertin.

Schnyder next plays Melanie Oudin of the United States, a U.S. Open quarterfinalist last year.

…

Navy chopper crashes in Gulf of Mexico

A U.S. Navy helicopter carrying six people crashed this morning inthe Gulf of Mexico off Corpus Christi, Texas. Two were rescued from araft, and the four others were missing, the Coast Guard said. The twowere taken to a Corpus Christi hospital. Their conditions were notimmediately known.

Piece of metal blamed in Concorde crash

Investigators in France said today that a strip of metal found onthe runway at Charles De Gaulle airport near Paris probably punctureda tire on an Air France Concorde jet as it took off on July 25,sending heavy chunks of rubber flying into the fuel tanks. After thetire burst, pieces of debris-some weighing nine pounds or more-wereprojected …

Fire managers confident Colo wildfire won't spread

BOULDER, Colorado (AP) — Fire teams battling a destructive wildfire near Boulder are growing increasingly confident that they have been able to stop it from spreading so that some 1,000 evacuees can soon return to their homes — or what remains of them.

But authorities warned that much of the area is dangerous because of downed power lines and poles, damaged roads and exposed mine shafts. Still, utility workers were restoring electricity to homes where about 2,000 residents have been allowed to return in the rugged foothills above Boulder.

Firefighter Steve Reece spent Saturday day digging out grass and cutting through roots with a tool that is part shovel, part hoe and part ax …

Pats QB Brady hurts knee in victory over Chiefs

Tom Brady went from the disappointment of a Super Bowl loss to the devastation of an injury that could keep him out for the rest of the season.

After missing the entire preseason with an unspecified foot injury, Brady left Sunday's season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs in the first quarter after being hit on the left leg by Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard. Coach Bill Belichick provided no information on the injury, but Pollard had a diagnosis of his own.

"He was in a lot of pain," he said. "When you hear a scream, you know that."

Various reports Sunday night said Belichick told the players that the injury was serious. The …

Real ales are a big hit with beer lovers

Hundreds of beer lovers descended on Bath to sample ales fromacross the country.

The Bath Beer Festival took place at the Pavilion at the weekend,organised by the Bath and Borders branch of the Campaign for RealAle (CAMRA).

More then 70 different ales were on offer, along with …

CuJo, Coyotes Shut Down Hurricanes 2-0

RALEIGH, N.C. - Curtis Joseph made 29 saves in his second straight shutout and the Phoenix Coyotes beat the slumping Carolina Hurricanes 2-0 on Thursday night.

Yanic Perreault and Ed Jovanovski each scored to lead the Coyotes to their season-best fourth straight win.

It was the 49th shutout and the 438th victory of Joseph's 17-year career. He surpassed Hall of Famer Jacques Plante for sole possession of fifth place on …