1. On January 4, 1861, Alabama seceded from the United States, becoming the fourth state to do so. The state joined the Confederacy during the Civil War and played a pivotal role in the conflict.

2. In 1944, the S.S. Tuscania, a British liner carrying American soldiers, was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of Ireland by a German U-boat. Among the dead were 16 soldiers from Alabama, who are remembered on a monument in Mobile.

3. On January 4, 1961, Governor George Wallace delivered his infamous "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" speech during his inauguration. The speech became a rallying cry for segregationists but drew condemnation from civil rights activists.

4. In 1998, NASA astronaut Don L. Lind, a graduate of the University of Alabama, flew on the Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-95. During the mission, Lind helped conduct research on aging and the effects of spaceflight on the human body.

5. On January 4, 2018, the Atlanta Falcons announced that Steve Sarkisian, a former University of Alabama offensive coordinator, would become their new offensive coordinator. Sarkisian had previously served as the head coach at USC and Washington.