Today in History

December 31st
1695 The window tax was imposed in Britain. It resulted in many being bricked up, evidence which remains to this day



1759 Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum and started brewing Guinness at the St. James's Gate Brewery, Dublin. Ten years later Guinness exported his ale for the first time, when six and a half barrels were shipped to Britain.




1892 The first hostel for homeless men, Rowton House, opened in Bond Street, Vauxhall. There was strict discipline, with rules against cooking, card playing, etc.




1923 The chimes of Big Ben were broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC.




31 Dec 1962
During his first visit to the UK Bob Dylan played at the King And Queen pub in London. Dylan had arrived in the UK on 17th Dec after British TV director Philip Saville had heard Dylan perform in Greenwich Village, and had invited him to take part in a BBC television drama: The Madhouse On Castle Street.



2022 Scarborough cancelled its New Year’s Eve fireworks display because a sleepy walrus (named Thor) decided to 'take a break' for almost 24 hours on the seaside town's slipway, on his journey to the Arctic. By the time that the fireworks should have started, Thor had moved on, continuing his journey north!

31st December

1951 After a delay of 24 hours, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden set sail to America on the Queen Mary for talks with President Truman. The departure had been delayed due to a jammed anchor.

1964 Donald Campbell broke the world water speed record, becoming the first man to break the world land and water speed records in the same year.

1987 Zeebrugge heroes honoured. Belgians and Britons who displayed heroism during the rescue operation of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster were recognised in the New Year's Honours List.

1999 Boris Yeltsin announced his resignation as Russian president, taking the country and the rest of the world completely by surprise. He said Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would take over as acting president

1st January

1856 - Van Dieman's Land becomes Tasmania

1901 - The Commonwealth of Australia is proclaimed.

1950 - Gene Autry's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, is #1 on the Billboard singles chart.

1953 - Hank Williams died of heart failure. Ironically, he had the number 1 song that week on the Country chart called, "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive".

1964 - The British TV program, The Top of the Pops, aired its first show, featuring The Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield and The Dave Clark Five, all miming their latest releases.

1980 - Cliff Richard is awarded the MBE by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the British Empire

1999 - Tom Jones and Dusty Springfield receive the Order of the British Empire for their services to music

2005 - Roger Daltrey, lead singer of English rock band, The Who, was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.

2019 - Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason was named a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to music.

1845
Cobble Hill Tunnel in Brooklyn,NY becomes the world's 1st subway tunnel
1925
Norway's capital,Christiana changes name to Oslo
1934
Hewitt-Packard is founded by electrical engineers, Bill Hewitt&Dave Packard in Palto Alto,Calif
1958
European Common Market is established
1966
all cigarette packs in U.S. have to state 'caution: cigarette smoking is hazardous to your health'
1990
David Dinkins is sworn in as NYC"s 1st African American mayor,he served 3 yrs
1999
Euro currency is introduced to world financial markets
2018
Calif becomes the largest U.S. state to legalize cannabis for recreational use

2nd January
1822 - A penal settlement is established on Macquarie Harbour on the remote west coast of Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania)

1913 - The first Australian definitive stamp series, The Kangaroo and Map design, comprising fifteen stamps was issued.

1929 - Canada and the US agree to a plan to preserve Niagara Falls.

1961 - Oral contraceptive pill first sold in Australia.

1971 - 66 people die in a crowd crush at a football match in Scotland.

1979 - For the first time ever, China invited A US ping pong team to visit.

1990 - Sharon Pratt Dixon became the mayor of Washington, DC, first African-American woman to do so.

2007 - Stardust, the NASA spacecraft, flew past the comet 81P/Wild and collected samples of rock and comet dust which were returned to Earth 14 days later.

January 2nd1757Robert Clive (also known as Clive of India) captured Calcutta. It had been seized by the Nawab of Bengal, who imprisoned 146 British in the infamous ‘black hole’. Only 23 survived. Clive established the military and political supremacy of the East India Company in Bengal and also the wealth that followed, for the British crown. Together with Warren Hastings (the first Governor-General of India) he was one of the key figures in the creation of British India.

1769The Royal Academy, founded through a personal act of King George III on 10th December 1768, was opened On This Day in Piccadilly, London, with English painter Sir Joshua Reynolds as president. Its purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts through exhibitions, education and debate.

1788Named after King George II, Georgia becomes the fourth state of the U.S.A.


2 Jan 1969
Filming began at Twickenham studios in England of The Beatles rehearsing for the 'Let It Be' album. The project ran into several problems including George Harrison walking out on the group on January 10th.

January 3rd – On this Day in History

69: The Roman legions on the Rhine refuse to declare their allegiance to Galba, instead proclaiming their legate, Aulus Vitellius, as emperor

This event marks a significant moment in the Roman Empire’s history, known as the Year of the Four Emperors. The refusal of the legions to support Galba and their proclamation of Vitellius as emperor was a pivotal move in the civil wars that plagued Rome in 69 AD.





1911 Police, with the army in attendance, stormed a house in London's East End where it was thought a gang of wanted anarchists were hiding. Newspapers dubbed the incident 'The Siege of Sidney Street'. When the fugitives shot at police, the Scots Guards were summoned from the Tower of London, and Winston Churchill, who was then Home Secretary, arrived on the scene to find the house in flames. No firefighters were sent in to put out the blaze, and the house eventually collapsed, burning the anarchists to death.



1957 – The first electric watch is available
The Hamilton Electric 500 came in “modern” asymmetrical designs to reflect the revolutionary technology.



3 Jan 1969
Appearing live on The Lulu show on UK TV, The Jimi Hendrix Experience were booked to perform two songs, 'Voodoo Child', (which was performed in full), then Hendrix stopped performing his new single 'Hey Joe' after a verse and chorus and instead launched into a version of the Cream song 'Sunshine Of Your Love' as a tribute to the band who had split a few days earlier. Hendrix then proceeded to continuing jamming, running over their allocated time slot on the live show, preventing the show's host Lulu from closing the show properly.



3 Jan 1967
Having received a US army draft notice, Beach Boy Carl Wilson refused to be sworn in, saying he was a conscientious objector.




3 Jan 1967
The Bee Gees set sail from Australia, where they had been living for the past nine years, and head to England, the land of their birth, where they arrived five weeks later. A few weeks after arriving in England, the family received a phone call from Robert Stigwood, the partner of Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Stigwood had heard tapes of the Gibbs and requested a meeting.



3 Jan 1964
The Beatles were seen for the second time on US TV when a clip from the BBC's 'The Mersey Sound' showing the group playing 'She Loves You' was shown on The Jack Paar Show. The first US airing showing The Beatles was on Nov 18, 1963, on the NBC news program "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" (albeit pre-recorded) of The Beatles in concert.

3rd January

1929 - Australia cricketer Don Bradman scores his first test century in the third test at Adelaide against England.

1924 - British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor, Egypt.

1957 - "Fats" Domino's car broke down one day. A member of the public saw him and shouted "Hey, look at "Fats" Domino, He's walking!"
He went home that day and wrote the song, "I'm Walkin'"
He recorded the song on 3rd Jan 1957

1959 - Alaska becomes the 49th US state.

2001 - Hillary Clinton was sworn in as a U.S. senator from New York, having become the first First Lady in U.S. history to win elective office.

2004 - The U.S. Mars Explorer Rover, Spirit landed on Mars.

2019 - The Chinese lunar probe Chang'e 4, carrying the Yutu-2 rover, landed on the moon's far side, the first spacecraft to do so.

1853
Solomon Northrup in memoir 'Twelve Years a Slave' is freed after 7 illegal yrs as a slave with help from Gov. of New York State, Washington Hunt
1929
27 yrs old, William S. Paley becomes President of CBS network, for 18yrs
1948
Canada&U.S. acquire air bases in Newfoundland on a 99yr lease
1958
mountaineer/explorer, Edmund Hillary & his team became the 1st to reach the South Pole by land since 1912
1977
Steve Wozinak&Steve Jobs incorporate Apple Computer,Inc
1987
soul singer, Aretha Franklin becomes the 1st woman inducted in to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
2022
Elizabeth Holmes, founder of blood testing startup 'Theranos' is found guilty on 4 counts of conspiracy&defrauding investors.She is sentence to 11yrs in prison,started her sentence in 2023

4th January

1688 - English sea explorer first lands on Australian soil.

1912 - The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the Commonwealth.

1958 - Edmund Hillary reaches the South Pole.

1959 - USSR's Lunar 1 becomes the first spacecraft to escape earth's gravity.

1953 - 20,000 people line the streets for Hank Williams funeral.

1968 - Leo Fender sells Fender Guitars for $13 million to CBS

1989 - George H W Bush, became the first sitting Vice President to declare himself the officially elected president of the USA

2007 - Nancy Pelosi is elected as the first female Speaker of the House.

2024 - "Hutch" of Starsky and Hutch - David Soul, passes away at the age of 80.

January 4th1932Gandhi was arrested and his National Congress of India declared illegal by the British administration.The warrant for Gandhi's arrest merely said that he was being arrested 'for good and sufficient reasons.'





1938Bertram Mills’ Circus became the first circus to be shown on television. This was also the first time that a paying audience for any event had been televised, and audience members were informed that they could request seats out of range of the cameras. Originally from Paddington, London, his circus became famous in Britain for its Christmas shows at Olympia in West London and his troupe were the last to perform with live animals on the Drury Lane Theatre stage.





1957A dissatisfied plastic surgeon patient was sentenced in London to ten years’ imprisonment, after he had threatened his surgeon with a gun, complaining that his nose was too short.




1967Donald Campbell, 46 year old son of Sir Malcolm Campbell, died in his attempt to break his own world water speed record on Coniston Water in the Lake District.




1970the Who’s Keith Moon accidentally runs over his chauffeur, Neil Boland, killing him. Apparently, Moon's car was under attack from some unruly teenagers, and when Boland jumped out to get them to move, Moon, in a panic, got behind the wheel to drive the car away himself. Unfortunately, the crowd had since pushed Boland under the car.

1967the Doors break on through with their eponymous debut album. The Doors is a hit with listeners and critics alike and produces the single " Light My Fire ," which quickly hits #1 in the US.

January 5th


The arrival of the Great Frost
Europe's coldest Winter in 500 years began to take hold on this day in 1709. It would kill hundreds of thousands of people, make travel and trade nearly impossible, and disrupt two wars. Climatologists are still trying to understand the cause of what became known as the Great Frost.

1960The last journey of the Mumbles Railway, the oldest in the world. It was set up in 1804 as a goods railway running from Swansea to Mumbles Head, Wales, and began carrying passengers in 1807. The railway still holds the record for the highest number of forms of traction of any railway in the world - horse-drawn, sail power, steam power, electric power, petrol and diesel.


5 January 1962: Tony Sheridan & Beatles released "My Bonnie" & "The Saints". It was the first time the group's name appeared on a record. It is a traditional Scottish folk song, and many early recordings were recorded under the title "Bring Back My Bonnie to Me". The single is said to have been instrumental in bringing the Beatles to the attention of Brian Epstein (even though Epstein was likely to have been aware of the group before then), when a customer requested the record at his music store NEMS in Liverpool. Epstein subsequently went to see the Beatles at The Cavern Club and became their manager.




1971One-day International cricket was born when 46,000 turned up to watch England play Australia at Melbourne. The test match had been rained off for several days previously. Australia won by 5 wickets (with 42 balls remaining)

6th January

1912 - Australia had its first aircraft crash when on a demonstration flight in a biplane piloted by William Hart, hit a signal box and flipped, coming to rest in a field. The two people on board were uninjured.

1947 - Pan American Airlines offers a round-the-world ticket. The first commercial airline to do so.

1968 - First cardiac transplant performed by Dr Norman E Shumway of the USA.

2019 - A record 333 million yen, US$3.1 million, was paid for a 278 kg Blue Fin Tuna at Tokyo's Toyosu fish market.

On This Day - 6th January1066The coronation of Harold II, the last Anglo-Saxon King of England, succeeding Edward the Confessor. He reigned for ten months before he died at the Battle of Hastings, fighting the Norman invaders led by William the Conqueror. Harold was the first of only three Kings of England to have died in battle; the other two being Richard I and Richard III.




1540King Henry VIII married ‘the Flanders Mare’, Anne of Cleves, his fourth wife. The King found her so different from her picture that he swore they had brought him a Flanders mare. She was Queen of England from 6th January 1540 to 9th July 1540. The marriage was never consummated, and, following the annulment of their marriage, Anne was given a generous settlement by the King and was referred to thereafter as the King's Beloved Sister. She lived to see the coronation of Henry's daughter, (Mary I) and outlasted all of Henry's wives.





1927US military intervention in Nicaragua: On January 6, 1927, the United States intervened militarily in Nicaragua amidst ongoing civil unrest. This intervention was part of a broader strategy to maintain stability in Central America and protect American interests in the region. source: loc.gov
Nothing changes!




1928 Charlie Chaplin's 'The Circus' premieres in New York: Charlie Chaplin's silent comedy film 'The Circus' premiered at the Strand Theatre in New York City on January 6, 1928. The film was well-received and is considered one of Chaplin's notable works. source: en.wikipedia.org





1928Four people were drowned, and many paintings in the basement of the Tate Gallery were severely damaged, when the Thames flooded. The water was deep enough to fill the moat of the Tower of London.




6 Jan 1964
The first night of a 14 date UK tour 'Group Scene 1964', featuring The Rolling Stones , The Ronettes, Marty Wilde, The Swinging Blue Jeans and Dave Berry and The Cruisers, played at the Granada Theatre, Harrow on The Hill, Middlesex.

january 7th

1558: The French recaptured Calais, the last English possession on mainland France, marking the end of England’s continental holdings after more than two centuries.



1325: Afonso IV became King of Portugal, beginning a reign that would last until 1357.




1610: Galileo Galilei made his first recorded observation of Jupiter’s four largest moons—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto—though he was unable to distinguish all four until the following night. This discovery was pivotal in the development of modern astronomy.




1790: During the French Revolution, a riot broke out in Versailles as people demanded cheaper bread, reflecting the widespread social unrest of the era.




1904 The Marconi company suggested the use of CQD for a distress signal, a derivation of CQ commonly used by telegraphers and wireless operators to address all stations at once. CQ followed by D meant distress. It lasted just two years before being replaced with SOS.




1927www.beautifulbritain.co.ukA telephone service began operating between London and New York. A three-minute call cost £15. Nevertheless 31 different people made a call on the firstday.






1964: The Beatles recorded for the BBC program Saturday Club, performing Chuck Berry's "Johnnie B. Goode", along with "All My Loving", "Money", "The Hippy Hippy Shake", "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "Roll Over Beethoven", and "I Wanna' Be Your Man". It was the group's fourth appearance on the show.




2012 Casualty, the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world, was broadcast from Cardiff's Roath Lock studios in the Porth Teigr area of Cardiff Bay
for the first time. For 25 years the fictional Holby City Hospital’s emergency department had been staged in studios in Bristol.
(I was once surrounded by the cast of Casualty when it was filmed next to the cricket ground in Bristol and they came to watch during a filming break)

January 8th

871
Alfred the Great leads a West Saxon army to repel an invasion by Danelaw Vikings.



1297
François Grimaldi, disguised as a monk, leads his men to capture the fortress protecting the Rock of Monaco, establishing his family as the rulers of Monaco.




1800 London opened its first soup kitchens for the poor.




1815 Britain lost the last battle it ever fought against the US in the War of 1812 when General Sir Edward Pakenham and his men were defeated at New Orleans.








1921 David Lloyd George became the first Prime Minister to reside in Chequers, a country mansion in Buckinghamshire which had been given by Lord Lee of Fareham as a gift to the nation.



1957

Bill Haley And His Comets kick off a world wide tour in Sydney Australia, playing two sold out concerts, each attended by over 7,000 fans.



1967 The Forsyte Saga, the television adaptation of Galsworthy’s novel, screened its first episode. It was so popular that for the six months of its run, many churches had to change the times of their services!

8th January
1804 - The first recorded cricket match in Australia takes place in the colony of New South Wales

1878 - The Telephone is used for the first time in Melbourne, Australia.

1931 - The largest gold nugget found in Western Australia is found in Kalgoorlie. Dubbed The Golden Eagle, it weighed 31.5kg and today would be worth $5.9 million.

1958 - Last Australian servicemen return to Australia from Korea.

1994 - Russian cosmonaut, Valeri Polyakov begins his record spaceflight. He would remain in space for 437 days.

1959
Charles de Gaulle becomes President of France for 10 yrs
1966
The Beatles album'Rubber Soul' hits #1 on music charts, stays there for 6 weeks
1978
BBC TV series' All Creatures Great & Small' based on the books by James Herriot debuts starring Robert Hardy & Christopher Timothy. It runs from 1978-1990
The updated version starring Samuel West& Nicholas Ralph debuted on PBS in 2021
2004
RMS Queen Mary2,largest passenger ship ever built is christened by her grand daughter, Queen Elizabeth II
2024
U. S. Army veteran, Henry Robinson{ age 98} is awarded France's Medal of Honor for his service in WW II by French Ambassador to U.S. Robinson worked as a scout behind enemy lines,fought in Battle of the Bulge, served as a guard during Nuremburg Trials

January 9th


1768 – Philip Astley opens the world's first modern circus
The British equestrian, who is considered the father of modern circus, opened a riding school in London where he also performed tricks for an audience in the afternoons.




1431 – The trial against Joan of Arc begins



She was executed on May 30, 1431, exonerated in 1456, and canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.



1799 Income tax was introduced into Britain by William Pitt the Younger, to raise funds for the Napoleonic War. The rate was two shillings in the pound.







1816 Sir Humphry Davy tested his Davy safety lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery. In January 1819, Davy was awarded a baronetcy, at the time the highest honour ever conferred on a man of science in Britain. A year later he became President of the Royal Society.




1854 The first free lending Library opened, on Marylebone Road, London.





1970 – On Jimmy Page‘s 26th Birthday, Led Zeppelin performed at The Royal Albert Hall in London during their UK 1970 tour. The show was recorded but it was released three decades later in 2003 as part of the double DVD set that contains footage of the band’s concerts from 1969 to 1979.

January 10th



1863 The London Underground, the world’s oldest underground railway, opens between London Paddington station and Farringdon station.




On January 10, 1793 – Jean Pierre Blanchard made the first successful balloon flight in the United States, from Philadelphia, PA to Woodbury, NJ. When he took off, his witnesses included President George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe



1920 League of Nations established: The League of Nations was established on January 10, 1920, as part of the Treaty of Versailles. It aimed to promote peace and cooperation among countries in the aftermath of World War I. source: britannica.com




1918 The House of Lords gave its approval to the Representation of the People Bill, which gave woman over the age of 30 the right to vote, as recognition of the contribution made by women defence workers during the First World War. However, women were still not politically equal to men, who could vote from the age of 21. Full electoral equality wouldn't occur until the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act of 1928.






1922 BBC Radio Service launches in the United Kingdom: The BBC Radio Service officially launched on January 10, 1922, marking the beginning of regular broadcasting in the UK. This service would evolve into the British Broadcasting Corporation, a major global media organization. source: bbc.co.uk


10 Jan 1965
John Lennon appeared on the UK TV Peter Cook and Dudley Moore show, 'Not Only But Also.' Lennon appeared in a sketch in which he played Dan, the doorman of a trendy nightclub situated in an underground men’s lavatory.

1870
Standard Oil Company created by John D. Rockefeller, his brother& 4 other partners.It then controlled 10% of world's oil
1949
creator of'Star Trek', Gene Roddenberry joins the Los Angeles Police Dept from 1949- 1956. He was a speech writer,public information officer for Chief William S. Parker. He left the force to focus on his writing career
1967
PBS National Education TV begins as a 70 station network
1990
China lifts martial law,imposed after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre
2022
U.S. Mint issues quarter coins commemorating author,poet,activist, Maya Angelou,1st black woman to be depicted
2025
climate scientists reported 2024 was the Earth's hottest year on record

January 11th

On January 11, 532 , the seeds of a riot broke out in the capital of the Byzantine Empire (spawn of the Eastern Roman Empire), Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) over competing support of chariot racing teams.



1569 The first state lottery took place in England. Lots were sold at the West Door of St Paul’s Cathedral. National lotteries continued until 1826 when it was felt that " the inducement to gambling held out by lotteries is a great moral evil, helping to impoverish many and diverting attention from the more legitimate industrial modes of moneymaking."





1838Samuel Morse sent the first telegraph message using Morse code across two miles of wire in New Jersey, USA.




1954 All Comet airliners were grounded. The day before, 35 people had died in a mysterious crash off the island of Elba. In 1953, another Comet had crashed inexplicably near Calcutta when 'it fell out of the sky for no apparent reason’. The cause was finally traced to a structural fault, with serious consequences for British aviation.




1954 George Cowling, a 34-year-old meteorologist, gave the first televised weather broadcast.


11 Jan 1975
The Alan Freeman BBC Radio 1 show broadcast a Pink Floyd show recorded at the Empire Pool, Wembley, London, England on 16th Nov 1974. The band had played four nights at Wembley on their Dark Side of the Moon tour and tapes from these shows have been remixed.



11 Jan 1975
Led Zeppelin played their first concert in 18 months when they appeared at the Ahoy, Rotterdam, Holland, playing one of two warm-up shows for their forthcoming North American tour. The set list included some new songs: 'Sick Again', 'The Rain Song', 'Kashmir', 'No Quarter' and 'Trampled Under Foot'.

January 12th
1510Henry VIII, then just 18 years old, appeared incognito in a jousting tournament at Richmond Park, and was applauded for his jousting before he revealed his true identity.





1866 - The Royal Aeronautical Society was founded in London.



1875 - Kwang-su was made emperor of China.



1879 - The British-Zulu War began when the British invaded Zululand.



1882 - Thomas Edison's central station on Holborn Viaduct in London began operation.



1895 - The first performance of King Arthur took place at the Lyceum Theatre.





1899 Unable to launch their lifeboat at Lynmouth because of heavy storms, the crew, horses and helpers dragged their 10 ton lifeboat Louisa and carriage, in the dark, the 15 miles overland to Porlock Weir. The 11 hour journey across Exmoor included a haul over Countisbury Hill (gradient 25% : 1 in 4) followed by descending another 1 in 4 hill down into Porlock where the corner of a househad to be demolished to gain access. Their rescue of the 18 crew from Forrest Hall was successful. The journey was re-enacted in daylight on 12th January 1999.

a later reenactment



1990 Bob Dylan plays the longest show of his career, performing 50 songs over four hours and 20 minutes at the club Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut. One of the songs in his set is " Dancing In The Dark ," the only time Dylan covered a Springsteen song.

January 13th


The threat of alchemy
King Henry IV of England outlawed Alchemy on this day in 1404. By preventing the creation of gold from base metals—the goal of alchemy—Henry was trying to prevent challenges to his reign. His law was eventually repealed in 1688.

1652, George Fox climbed Pendle Hill in Lancashire, where he had a vision of a "great people to be gathered", leading to the beginning of the Quaker movement.)
…..


Samuel Pepys' Diary. 13th January 1660. Friday. Coming in the morning to my office, I met with Mr. Fage and took him to the Swan .He told me how high Haselrigge (age 59), and Morly (age 43), the last night began at my Lord Mayor's (age 27) to exclaim against the City of London, saying that they had forfeited their charter.

And how the Chamberlain of the City did take them down, letting them know how much they were formerly beholding to the City, &c.



He also told me that Monk's (age 51) letter that came to them by the sword-bearer was a cunning piece, and that which they did not much trust to; but they were resolved to make no more applications to the Parliament, nor to pay any money, unless the secluded members be brought in, or a free Parliament chosen.


Thence to my office, where nothing to do. So to Will's with Mr. Pinkney, who invited me to their feast at his Hall the next Monday. Thence I went home and took my wife and dined at Mr. Wades, and after that we went and visited Catan.





From thence home again, and my wife was very unwilling to let me go forth, but with some discontent would go out if I did, and I going forth towards Whitehall, I saw she followed me, and so I staid and took her round through Whitehall, and so carried her home angry.





Thence I went to Mrs. Jem, and found her up and merry, and that it did not prove the smallpox, but only the swine-pox; so I played a game or two at cards with her. And so to Mr. Vines, where he and I and Mr. Hudson played half-a-dozen things, there being there Dick's wife and her sister



. After that I went home and found my wife gone abroad to Mr. Hunt's, and came in a little after me. So to bed.

….



1830 The Great Fire of New Orleans begins


1893 The birth of a new political party in Britain when James Keir Hardie and others formed the Independent Labour Party. It was an action that worried the Liberals, who were afraid that the new party might, at some point in the future, win the working-class votes that they traditionally received.



1915 – The worst earthquake in Italian history kills 30,000
The quake hit the town of Avezzano, about 100 km (60 m) east of Rome..




1950 – Thames Estuary Submarine DisasterBritish submarine
HMS Truculent collided with an oil tanker in the Thames Estuary, resulting in the tragic loss of 64 lives. This maritime disaster highlighted the dangers of submarine operations in busy shipping lanes.The collision demonstrated the need for improved navigation safety protocols in congested waterways. The tragedy led to enhanced submarine safety procedures and better coordination between military and civilian vessels.


13 Jan 1984
BBC Radio 1 announced a ban on 'Relax' by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, after DJ Mike Read called it 'obscene', a BBC TV ban also followed. The song went on to become a UK No.1 and spent a total of 48 weeks on the UK chart.