Update - The museum in Charleston is still here, and the people that built it still control the town.

January 13th
 

Ukraine ~ "St. Melania's Day" Carollers go from house to house, playing pranks or acting out a small play. Bit chilly!! :)


1559 ~ Queen Elizabeth I of England was crowned in Westminster Abbey.


1898 ~ French writer Emile Zola published his "J'Accuse" letter, accusing the French of a cover-up in the Alfred Dreyfus treason case.


1941 ~ Novelist James Joyce died in Zurich.


1990 ~ Douglas Wilder of Virginia became the first elected African-American governor in the United States.


1999 ~ Michael Jordan announced his second retirement from the NBA. He would "unretire" again in 2001.


2002 ~ After 17,162 performances, The Fantasticks ended its almost 42-year off-Broadway run.

January 14th
 

Bosnia-Herzegovina ~ New Year (Orthodox!!) ANOTHER excuse for a good bevvy session. Slainte!!


1784 ~ The Untied States ratified treaty with England ending Revolutionary War.


1943 ~ President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill meet at the Casablanca Conference.


1953 ~ Tito formally became the first president of the Republic of Yugoslavia.


1954 ~ Marilyn Monroe married baseball legend Joe DiMaggio.


1963 ~ George Wallace sworn in as Alabama's governor, promising "segregation forever."


1973 ~ The Miami Dolphins became the first NFL team to go undefeated and have a perfect season by beating the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.


1990 ~ The Simpsons premiered on television. (Bart STILL doesn't look a day over 9, does he?!! :) )

January 15th
 

Malawi ~ "John Chilembwe's Day" A reverend, he led a revolt against the occupying British in 1914. He was shot, in keeping with British policy in those days!!


1759 ~ The British Museum opened.


1870 ~ The donkey was first used as symbol of the Democratic Party in Harper's Weekly.


1943 ~ The world's largest office building, the Pentagon, was completed.


1974 ~ Happy Days premiered on television.

1967 The first Super Bowl was played as the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League, 35-10.

January 16th
 

United States ~ "Prohibition Remembrance Day". A celebration of the Banning of Booze!!


1547 ~ Ivan the Terrible was crowned the first czar of Russia.


1883 ~ The U.S. Civil Service Commission established.


1920 ~ (Pursuant to #1!!) A year after it was ratified, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages, went into effect.


1942 ~ Actress Carole Lombard, the wife of actor Clark Gable, died in a plane crash.

1991 The White House announced the start of Operation Desert Storm to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

January 17th
 

Britain (kinda) ~ Captain Scott reached the South Pole today in 1912; only to find the Norwegian Flag of Roald Amundsen, who beat him to it!!


1706 ~ Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston.


1806 ~ James Madison Randolph, the grandson of Thomas Jefferson, became the first child born in the White House.


1893 ~ Hawaii's Queen Liliuokalani was forced to abdicate by a group of planters and businessmen.


1945 ~ Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg disappeared in Hungary while in Soviet custody.


1977 ~ Gary Gilmore became the first person executed in the U.S. since the death penalty was reintroduced.


1991 ~ Operation Desert Storm was launched against Iraq.


1998 ~ President Clinton became the first sitting U.S. president to testify as a defendant in a criminal or civil suit.


2001 ~ Gov. Gray Davis declared a state of emergency concerning California's electricity crisis.

January 18th
 

Peru ~ "Lima Foundation Day" All sorts of parades, dancing, fireworks..... the whole nine-yards!! :)


1733 ~ The first polar bear was exhibited in America, in Boston.


1778 ~ Captain James Cook came across the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii).


1782 ~ Daniel Webster was born in Salisbury, New Hampshire.


1788 ~ The First Fleet, carrying convicts and sheep, arrived in Australia's Botany Bay.


1912 ~ The ill-fated Scott expedition reached the South Pole, only to discover Amundsen had been there first. (typical, ain't it.... WE celebrate this a day EARLY!!)


1943 ~ The Nazi siege of Leningrad was broken.

Philippines ~ "AtiAtihan Festival" No-one seems to know WHAT they're celebrating......but who cares? Partay!! Any Filipino members here, who can enlighten us?


1915 ~ The electric neon sign was patented in the United States by George Claude of Paris, France.


1953 ~ Lucy Ricardo gave birth to baby Ricky on I Love Lucy. More people tuned in to watch the show than the inauguration of President Eisenhower.


1955 ~ President Eisenhower okayed the first filming of a news conference for television.


1966 ~ Indira Gandhi was elected prime minister of India.


1981 ~ The United States and Iran signed an agreement paving the way for the release of 52 Americans held hostage for more than 14 months.


1997 ~ Yasser Arafat returned to Hebron for the first time in 30 years, as Israel hands over control of the West Bank city to Palestinians.

On Jan. 19, 1937, millionaire Howard Hughes set a transcontinental air record by flying his monoplane from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.

January 20th
 

Laos ~ "Army Day" As 85% of the population peace-loving Buddhists, this is a fairly 'low-key' celebration!


1801 ~ John Marshall was appointed Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court


1885 ~ LaMarcus A. Thompson of Coney Island patented the roller coaster.


1942 ~ The Nazis formulated their "Final Solution" regarding the Jews at the Wannsee Conference.


1981 ~ President Reagan became the oldest president to take office (69 years and 349 days).


1981 ~ Same day!! 52 American hostages seized from the American Embassy in Tehran were released after 444 days in captivity.


1986 ~ Martin Luther King, Jr., day was celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.

January 21st
 

Barbados ~ "Errol Barrow Day" Commemorates the Island's first Prime Minister. His achievements include the introduction of free school meals.


1793 ~ King Louis XVI was guillotined for treason.


1915 ~ The first Kiwanis Club was founded in Detroit.


1924 ~ Vladimir Ilyich Lenin died in Moscow.


1950 ~ George Orwell died in London.


Also1950 ~ Former State department official Alger Hiss found guilty of perjury.


1954 ~ USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine was launched.


1977 ~ President Carter pardoned most Vietnam War draft evaders.


2003 ~ The U.S. Census Bureau reported that Hispanics had surpassed Blacks as the largest minority group.

January 22nd
 

China ~ First day of the "Year of the Monkey"!!


1901 ~ Queen Victoria of England died after reigning for 63 years (the 4th longest among longest-reigning monarchs and the longest for queens).


1905 ~ 500 workers were killed by the Czar's troops in "Bloody Sunday" in St. Petersburg.


1938 ~ Thornton Wilder's play Our Town first performed publicly in Princeton, N.J.


1973 ~ The Supreme Court legalized some abortions in Roe v. Wade.


1973 ~ (also today!!) Former President Lyndon B. Johnson died at age 64.


1997 ~ The U.S. Senate confirmed Madeleine Albright as the first female secretary of state.


2002 ~ Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped by the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty.




Hey guys..... anybody else got any interesting "daily" facts to post? I just LOVE all this stuff....... I can even remember some of it, when I "need" too!!!

DM

January 23rd
 

The WORLD!! ~ "The A-Team" made it's TV debut in 1983....... and a LEGEND was born!!


1556 ~ The deadliest earthquake on record killed 830,000 in Shansi, China.


1789 ~ Georgetown University established in what is now Washington, DC.


1849 ~ Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman physician in the U.S.


1964 ~ The 24th Amendment to the Constitution, barring poll taxes, was ratified.


1968 ~ North Korea seized the U.S. Navy ship Pueblo (the crew was released 11 months later.)


1973 ~ President Nixon announced that an accord had been reached to end the Vietnam War.


1989 ~ Salvador Dali died in Spain at age 84.