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January 20th
1892 ~ At the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, the first official basketball game was played.
1907 ~ Death of Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev, Russian chemist and inventor of the Periodic table. 1930 ~ Birthday of Buzz Aldrin, Astronaut. 1937 ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States. This was the first inauguration scheduled on January 20, following adoption of the 20th Amendment. Previous inaugurations were scheduled on March 4. 1942 ~ World War II: Nazis at the Wannsee conference in Berlin decided the "final solution to the Jewish problem". 1969 ~ The first pulsar is discovered, in the Crab Nebula. 1984 ~ Death of Johnny Weissmuller, Olympic swimming gold medalist & Actor (Tarzan). 1991 ~ Sudan's government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country's Muslim north and Christian south. 1993 ~ Death of Audrey Hepburn, actress. 2005 ~ George W. Bush inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States. |
January 21st
1561 ~ Birthday of Sir Francis Bacon, Philosopher, Statesman & Essayist.
1643 ~ Abel Tasman discovered Tonga. 1793 ~ After being found guilty for treason by the French Convention, Louis XVI of France was guillotined. 1899 ~ Opel Motors opened for business. 1924 ~ Death of Vladimir Lenin, first leader of the U.S.S.R. 1941 ~ Birthday of Plácido Domingo, opera singer. 1950 ~ Death of George Orwell, writer. 1950 ~ Alger Hiss was convicted of perjury. 1959 ~ Death of Cecil B. DeMille, Movie Director. 1977 ~ President Jimmy Carter pardoned nearly all Vietnam War draft evaders. |
January 22nd
1788 ~ Birthday of George Gordon, Lord Byron, Poet. 1840 ~ British colonists reached New Zealand. 1879 ~ Zulu troops achieved a Pyrrhic victory over British troops at the Battle of Isandlwana. 1899 ~ Leaders of six Australian colonies met in Melbourne to discuss confederation. 1901 ~ Death of Queen Victoria I of the United Kingdom. 1931 ~ Sir Isaac Isaacs sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia. 1953 ~ The Crucible, a drama by Arthur Miller, opened on Broadway. 1973 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court delivered its decision in Roe vs. Wade striking down state laws restricting abortion during the first six months of pregnancy. 1984 ~ The Apple Macintosh was introduced during Super Bowl XVIII with the famous television commercial "1984" (requires QuickTime and patience [but is generally considered one of the kickass commercials in history]). 1997 ~ Madeleine Albright became the first female secretary of state after confirmation by the United States Senate. |
January 23rd
1556 ~ The Shaanxi earthquake, the deadliest earthquake in history, occured with its epicenter in Shaanxi province, China. 830,000 people may have been killed.
1832 ~ Birthday of Edouard Manet, Impressionist artist. 1849 ~ Elizabeth Blackwell was awarded her MD by the Medical Institute of Geneva, New York, thus becoming the United States' first woman doctor. 1857 ~ Birthday of Andrija Mohorovičić, Croatian seismologist. 1862 ~ Birthday of David Hilbert, Mathematician. 1943 ~ World War II: Australian and American forces finally defeated the Japanese army in Papua. 1973 ~ U.S. President Richard Nixon announced that a peace accord has been reached in Vietnam. 1981 ~ Death of Samuel Barber, American composer. 1989 ~ Death of Salvador Dalí, Artist. 2002 ~ Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and subsequently murdered in Karachi, Pakistan. |
January 24th
41 ~ Death of Caligula, Emperor of Rome (AD 37-41) (assassinated by his own guards).
1776 ~ Birthday of E.T.A. Hoffmann, Poet, Composer & Painter 1848 ~ California gold rush: James W. Marshall found gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento. 1888 ~ Birthday of Ernst Heinkel, aircraft designer. 1908 ~ Robert Baden-Powell began the Boy Scout movement. 1962 ~ Brian Epstein signs to manage The Beatles. 1965 ~ Death of Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the U.K. 1987 ~ In Lebanon, gunmen kidnaped Alann Steen, Jesse Turner, Robert Polhill and Mitheleshwar Singh. 1993 ~ Death of Thurgood Marshall, United States Supreme Court justice. 2003 ~ The U.S. Department of Homeland Security officially began operation. |
January 25th
1627 ~ Birthday of Robert Boyle, Chemist.
1759 ~ Birthday of Robert Burns, Poet 1791 ~ The British Parliament split the old province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada. 1882 ~ Birthday of Virginia Woolf, Writer. 1890 ~ Nellie Bly completed her round-the-world journey in 72 days. 1924 ~ The 1924 Winter Olympics opened in Chamonix, France, inaugurating the Winter Olympic Games. 1947 ~ Death of Al Capone, Gangster. 1971 ~ Idi Amin lead a coup deposing Milton Obote and becomes Uganda's president. 1995 ~ The Norwegian Rocket Incident: Russia almost launched a nuclear attack after Black Brant XII, a Norwegian research rocket, was mistaken for a US Trident missile by the Olenegorsk early-warning radar station. 1999 ~ Death of Robert Shaw, American conductor |
January 26th
1785 ~ Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to his daughter expressing disappointment over the selection of the eagle as the symbol of the United States; he wanted the turkey.
1788 ~ A British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sailed into Sydney Harbour to establish the first permanent European settlement on the continent. Celebrated today as Australia Day. 1885 ~ Troops loyal to the Mahdi conquered Khartoum. 1905 ~ Birthday of Maria von Trapp, Singer 1925 ~ Birthday of Paul Newman, Actor. 1945 ~ Birthday of Jacqueline du Pré, Cellist 1972 ~ Death of Mahalia Jackson, Gospel Music singer. 1992 ~ Boris Yeltsin announced that Russia was to stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons. 1996 ~ Whitewater scandal: First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton testified before a grand jury. 1998 ~ Lewinsky scandal: On television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denied he had "sexual relations" with former intern Monica Lewinsky. Holidays and observances Australia ~ Australia Day Catholicism ~ Feast day of Ss. Timothy and Titus. India ~ Republic Day |
January 27th
1606 ~ Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators began and later ended in their execution on January 31
1756 ~ Birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer. 1832 ~ Birthday of Lewis Carroll, author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. 1901 ~ Death of Giuseppe Verdi, Composer. 1944 ~ World War II: The two year Siege of Leningrad was lifted. 1945 ~ World War II: The Red Army arrived at Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland and found the Nazi concentration camp where more than 1 million people were killed 1967 ~ Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee were killed in a fire during a test of the Apollo 1 spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center. 1978 ~ Lt Marilyn R. Koon, 161st Aerial Refueling Squadron, Arizona Air National Guard, became the first female Air National Guard Pilot. 1997 ~ It is revealed that French museums had retained nearly 2,000 pieces of art that were stolen by Nazis. 1998 ~ U.S. First Lady Hillary Clinton appeared on the “Today Show” calling the attacks against her husband part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy". |
January 28th
1596 ~ Death of Sir Francis Drake, Explorer & Soldier.
1788 ~ The first penal colony was founded at Botany Bay, Australia. 1833 ~ Birthday of Charles George 'Chinese' Gordon, British soldier and administrator. 1841 ~ Birthday of Henry Morton Stanley, Explorer & Journalist. 1887 ~ Birthday of Artur Rubinstein, Polish Pianist & Conductor. 1916 ~ Louis D. Brandeis became the first Jew appointed to the United States Supreme Court. 1935 ~ Iceland became the first country to legalize abortion. 1939 ~ Death of William Butler Yeats, Writer. 1986 ~ Space Shuttle Challenger exploded just after takeoff killing all seven astronauts onboard. 2004 ~ September Dossier: Lord Hutton published his report into the death of Dr. David Kelly. Holidays and observances Catholicism ~ Feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas. |
January 29th
1845 ~ ”The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe was published for the first time.
1856 ~ Queen Victoria instituted the Victoria Cross. 1862 ~ Birthday of Frederick Delius, Composer. 1880 ~ Birthday of W.C. Fields, Actor. 1933 ~ President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany. 1956 ~ Death of H. L. Mencken, Journalist. 1962 ~ Death of Fritz Kreisler, Austrian violinist. 1963 ~ Death of Robert Frost, Poet. 1986 ~ The Height 611 UFO Incident. 1996 ~ President Jacques Chirac announced a "definitive end" to French nuclear testing. |
January 31st
1606 ~ Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes was executed for his plotting against Parliament and James I of England.
1797 ~ Birthday of Franz Schubert, Composer. 1915 ~ World War I: Germany used poison gas against Russians. 1929 ~ The Soviet Union exiled Leon Trotsky. 1950 ~ President Harry S. Truman announced a program to develop the hydrogen bomb. 1956 ~ Death of A. A. Milne, author (Winnie the Pooh). 1958 ~ James Van Allen discovered the Van Allen radiation belt. 1968 ~ Viet Cong attacked the United States embassy in Saigon. 1996 ~ An explosives-filled truck rammed into the gates of the Central Bank in Colombo, Sri Lanka killing at least 86 and injuring 1,400. 2001 ~ In the Netherlands a Scottish court convicted a Libyan and acquitted another for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. |
February 1st
1851 ~ Death of Mary Shelley, English author (Frankenstein).
1896 ~ The opera La Bohème premiered in Turin. 1920 ~ The Royal Canadian Mounted Police began operations. 1929 ~ Frenchman Charles Rigoulet is the first weightlifter to lift over 400 pounds (181 kg) in the "clean and jerk" method. 1931 ~ Birthday of Boris Yeltsin, Russian president 1991-1999. 1978 ~ Director Roman Polanski skipped bail and fled to France after pleading guilty to charges of having sex with a 13-year-old girl. 1979 ~ Convicted bank robber Patty Hearst was released from prison after her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter. 2003 ~ Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas upon reentry killing all seven astronauts onboard. 2004 ~ At least 244 people trampled to death in a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. 2004 ~ Super Bowl XXXVIII: The New England Patriots defeated the Carolina Panthers, 32-29. During the half-time show Janet Jackson's right breast was bared. |
February 2nd
1650 ~ Birthday of Nell Gwynne, English actress, royal mistress.
1653 ~ New Amsterdam (later renamed New York City) was incorporated. 1709 ~ Alexander Selkirk was rescued from shipwreck on a desert island, inspiring the book “Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe. 1875 ~ Birthday of Fritz Kreisler, Austrian violinist. 1887 ~ In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day was observed. 1905 ~ Birthday of Ayn Rand, Author. 1947 ~ Birthday of Melanie, Singer. 1970 ~ Death of Bertrand Russell, Mathematician & Philosopher. 1982 ~ Hama Massacre: The government of Syria attacked the town of Hama and killed thousands of people 1989 ~ Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan: The last Soviet Union armored column left Kabul ending nine years of military occupation. Holidays and observances United States & Canada ~ Groundhog Day |
February 3rd
1468 ~ Death of Johannes Gutenberg, German publisher.
1783 ~ American Revolutionary War: Spain recognized United States independence. 1809 ~ Birthday of Felix Mendelssohn, Composer. 1870 ~ The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed. 1874 ~ Birthday of Gertrude Stein, American writer and patron of the arts. 1894 ~ Birthday of Norman Rockwell, American artist, illustrator 1916 ~ Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burned down. 1959 ~ Plane crash killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper. This date becomes known as "The Day The Music Died ". 1966 ~ The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft made the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon. 1969 ~ In Cairo, Yasser Arafat was appointed Palestinian Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress. |
February 4th
1789 ~ George Washington was unanimously elected to be the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.
1861 ~ American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama the Confederate States of America was formed by delegates from six break-away United States. 1894 ~ Death of Adolphe Sax, instrument maker, inventor of the saxophone. 1902 ~ Birthday of Charles Lindbergh, U.S. aviator. 1913 ~ Birthday of Rosa Parks, U.S. civil rights activist. 1927 ~ The first talkie was released – ‘The Jazz Singer’ starring Al Jolson. 1928 ~ Death of Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and Nobel laureate. 1974 ~ The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaped Patty Hearst in Berkeley, California. 1987 ~ Death of Liberace, U.S. musician. 1997 ~ O. J. Simpson was found to be civilly liable for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. |
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