Today in History

1759
British Museum opens to the public in Montague House, London,dedicated to human history
1861
steam elevator is patented by Elias Otis
1942
Chicago Cubs drop plan to install lights at Wrigley field due to military's need for materials. 35 yrs later the lights are installed
1981
acclaimed police drama'Hill St. Blues' debuts on NBC,set at a police station in an unnamed East Coast city
theme score written by Mike Post w Larry Carlton on guitar was hit single on the music charts at #10. In the show's 1st yr it won 8 Emmys,in total won 26 Emmys thru its run '81-'87
2009
U.S. Air pilot,Chesley Sullenberger lands U.S. Air Flight # 1549 on the Hudson River shortly after takeoff from La Guardia Airport,all 155 passengers/ crew survived. The movie version' Sully' starring Tom Hanks as Sullenberger was released in 2016
2019
according to a report by world Economic Forum by the year 2050 plastic will outweigh fish in the world's oceans
 

Jan 15th Birthdays:
1906
Aristotle Onassis- Greek shipping tycoon
1909
Gene Krupa- jazz&big band drummer with Benny Goodman orchestra
1929
Martin Luther King, Jr- civil rights activist
1979
Drew Brees- retired NFL QB with New Orlean Saints, won Super Bowl '09 MVP
Deaths:
1915
Fannie Farmer- U.S. culinary pioneer 57
1987
Ray Bolger- dancer/ singer/ actor best known movie role' Scarecrow' in "Wizard of Oz' 83
1994
Harry Nillson- singer/ songwriter' Everybody's Talkin, One, "Without You' 52{heart attack}
2018
Edwin Hawkins- U.S gospel choir master/composer' Oh Happy Day' 74
 
On This Day In History, January 16th

2005 Adriana Iliescu gives birth at the age of 66
The Romanian university lecturer broke the record for the world's oldest birth mother.

1992 The civil war in El Salvador ends
The war lasted over 12 years and left more than 75,000 people dead.

1979 The Shah of Iran flees the country
As a consequence, Ayatollah Khomeini later took power and proclaimed the Islamic Republic.

1919 Prohibition begins in the United States
The 18th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors.

27 The Roman Empire is established
One of the events marking the beginning of the Imperium Romanum was the Roman Senate's granting of the honorific Augustus to Octavian on this day.
 

Births On This Day, January 16th 🎂

1974 Kate Moss
English model

1959 Sade Adu
Nigerian/English singer-songwriter, producer

1948 John Carpenter
American director

1933 Susan Sontag
American author

1932 Dian Fossey
American zoologist

Deaths On This Day, January 16th 🪦

2009 John Mortimer
English lawyer, author

1986 Herbert W. Armstrong
American evangelist, author, publisher

1979 Ted Cassidy
American actor

1957 Arturo Toscanini
Italian conductor

1917 George Dewey
American Admiral
 
1868
refrigerator car is patented by fish dealer, William Davis in Detroit, MI
1938
1st jazz concert at Carneige Hall in NYC featured Benny Goodman &his band
1954
Richard Rodgers&Oscar Hammerstein's musical' South Pacific' starring Mary Martin&Ezio Pinza closes after 1,928 performances, it won 10 Tony Awards, Pulitzer Prize
1973
series finale of NBC's Western' Bonanza',the series started in 1959 was set in Virginia City during& after the Civil War. The story of family of ranchers, The Cartwrights
1979
BBC landmark nature series' Life on Earth' with host/film maker, David Attenborough is 1st shown on BBC 1
 
Jan 16th Birthdays:
1902
Eric Liddell- Scottish 400m runner/ Christian missionary won gold medal at 1924 Summer Olympics, his story is depicted in movie' Chariots of Fire'
1932
Dian Fossey- U.S zoologist, working for National Geographic travels to Africa to document vanishing breed of mountain gorillas. Her story is basis of '88 movie' Gorillas in the Mist' starring Sigourney Weaver
1948
John Carpenter- film director' Halloween, The Thing'
1959
Sade- British singer/ songwriter' Soldier of Love, Smooth Operator'
1980
retired MLB 1st baseman, Albert Pujolis, who became the 4th man to hit 700 hrs in his career, played for St Louis Cardinals, Calif Angels, LA Dodgers
Deaths:
1906
Marshall Field- U.S. businessman founder of Marshall Field&Co an upscale dept store in Chicago 71
1942
Carol Lombard- actress 'My Man Godfrey,To Be Or Not to Be' 33{plane crash} wife of actor, Clark Gable
1979
Ted Cassidy- actor best known TV role' Lurch' the butler on ABC sitcom' The Addams Family' 46
2014
Russell Johnson- actor best known TV role' Professor' on CBS sitcom' Gilligan's Island 89
 
On This Day In History, January 17th

1995 The Great Hanshin earthquake hits Kobe, Japan
6,434 people lost their lives during the quake, according to estimates.

1991 The Gulf War in Iraq begins
“Operation Desert Storm”, launched in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, resulted in about 100,000 civilian deaths.

1961 Patrice Lumumba is murdered with support from western governments
An independent commission concluded that Lumumba, the first democratically elected leader of the Congo, died at the hands of his domestic adversaries with the assistance of the Belgian government and the CIA.

1946 The UN Security Council holds its first session
The UNSC is the most powerful organ of the United Nations and it is charged with upholding international peace and security.

1945 Soviet and Polish forces liberated Warsaw during World War II
About 85% of the city was destroyed at that point.
 
Births On This Day, January 17th 🎂

1962 Jim Carrey
Canadian/American actor, producer

1942 Muhammad Ali
American boxer

1927 Eartha Kitt
American actress, singer

1899 Al Capone
American Gangster

1706 Benjamin Franklin
American politician, scientist, publisher, 6th President of Pennsylvania

Deaths On This Day, January 17th 🪦

2008 Bobby Fischer
American chess player

1961 Patrice Lumumba
Congolese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

1936 Mateiu Caragiale
Romanian author

1893 Rutherford B. Hayes
American politician, 19th President of the United States

1468 Skanderbeg
Albanian lord
 
Jan 17th
1917
U.S. pays Denmark $25 million for Virgin Islands
1943
In the U.S. 'Tin Can Drive' collection of salvage for the war effort
1974
Asylum Records release 'Joni Mitchell's Court& Spark' her 6th album which become her best selling one. It features hit singles' Help Me, Free Man In Paris'
1984
U. S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision ruling private use of home VCR"s to tape TV shows for later viewing does not violate federal copyright laws
1991
a U.S. led coalition launches air strikes at targets in Kuwait&Iraq which begins the Persian Gulf War
 
Jan 17th Birthdays:
1706
Benjamin Franklin- one of U.S founders/inventor/ writer"Poor Richard's Almanac'
1880
Mack Sennett- Canadian film director'Keystone Kops'
1922
Betty White- comedic actress,best known TV roles 'Sue Ann Nivens' on Mary Tyler Moore Show' Rose Nyland' The Golden Girls, she won 3 Emmy awards: '86 lead actress{comedy} Golden Girls, '96, guest actress on John Larroquette Show, 2010 for hosting Saturday Night Live
1931
James Earl Jones- multi talented actor on stage/TV/ movies voice of' Mufasa' in animated movie' The Lion King, voice of'Darth Vader' in Star Wars movie franchise,Field of Dreams, Coming to America
won Honorary Oscar in 2011, 4 Tony awards, 2 Emmy awards,1 Grammy for 'best spoken word album, I Golden Globe
1956
Paul Young- British singer' Every time you Go Away'
1969
Naveen Andrews- British actor best known TV role' Sayid' in ABC adventure show' Lost' 04-'10
Deaths:
1927
Juliette Gordon Low- founder of Girl Scouts in U.S. 66
1972
Betty Smith- author' A Tree grows in Brooklyn' 75
2005
Virigina Mayo- actress 'The Best Years of our Lives, Out of the Blue 84
2008
Bobby Fischer- U.S. chess player, world champion '72-'75 64{cancer}
 
On This Day In History, January 18th

2002 The Sierra Leone Civil War ends
The conflict lasted 11 years and left over 50,000 dead.

1997 Børge Ousland becomes the first person to cross Antarctica alone and unaided
The Norwegian polar explorer walked 3000 km (1864 miles) across the Earth's southernmost continent.

1943 Insurgents in the Warsaw Ghetto take up arms against the German oppressors
This led to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the largest single revolt by Jews during World War II.

1919 The Paris Peace Conference opens
The aim of the conference was to set peace terms after World War I, resulting in the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

1886 Modern hockey is born
The foundation of The Hockey Association in England formalized a modern version of the game that had already been played in ancient times.
 
Births On This Day, January 18th 🎂

1955 Kevin Costner
American actor, singer, director, producer

1913 Danny Kaye
American actor

1892 Oliver Hardy
American comedian, actor

1882 A. A. Milne
English author

1689 Montesquieu
French philosopher

Deaths On This Day, January 18th 🪦

2011 Sargent Shriver
American politician, 21st United States Ambassador to France

1956 Konstantin Päts
Estonian politician, 1st President of Estonia

1952 Curly Howard
American actor, comedian

1936 Rudyard Kipling
English author, poet, and Nobel Prize laureate

1862 John Tyler
American lawyer, politician, and 10th President of the United States
 
1944
Metropoltian Opera House in NYC hosts a jazz concert for the 1st time featuring Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Lionel Hampton via remote hookup, Benny Goodman
1964
The Beatles single' I Want to Hold Your Hand' debuts on Billboard Music Chart at #45
1991
Eastern Airlines goes out of business due to financial problems after 62 yrs
1993
Martin Luther King, Jr federal holiday is observed for the 1st time in all 50 U.S. states
2013
ex mayor of New orleans, Roy Nagin is indicted on corruption charges stemming from post Katrina business contracts&bribes. He is convicted on 20 counts goes to prison for 10 yrs
 
Jan 18th Birthdays:
1882
A.A. Milne- British author of' Winnie-the Pooh' books
1904
Cary Grant- British actor{ real name Archibald Leach} Arsenic&Old Lace, The Philadelphia Story,North by Northwest,Charade, Father Goose
1933
Ray Dolby- U.S. engineer, sound expert, inventor of Dolby noise reduction
1955
Kevin Costner- actor "No Way Out, Silverado, Bull Durham, Dances with Wolves{ has 2 Oscars, director/best pic} Field of Dreams, The Bodyguard, stars in Paramount Network Western' Yellowstone'
Deaths:
1936
Rudyard Kipling- British author' Jungle Book, Gunga Din 70
1954
Sydney Greenstreet- British actor Casablanca, Maltese Falcon 74
1990
Rusty Hammer- actor best known TV role played Danny Thomas's son' Rusty in sitcom 'Make Room For Daddy' 52
1996
Minnesota Fats- billiard hustler 82
2016
Glenn Fry- singer/ songwriter, guitarist with 'The Eagles' 'Take It Easy,Heartache Tonight, Tequila Sunrise' 67
 
On This Day In History January 19th

2007 Turkish journalist Hrant Dink is assassinated
The murderer was a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist who disagreed with Dink's view on the Turkish denial of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

1983 Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie is arrested in Bolivia
Barbie was known as the “Butcher of Lyon”.

1966 Indira Gandhi becomes India's first female prime minister
She was assassinated on October 31, 1984.

1915 Georges Claude patents his neon discharge tube
Neon lighting soon became popular for outdoor advertising.

1829 Goethe's “Faust” (Part 1) is premiered
The work is considered one of the greatest works of German literature.
 
Births On This Day, January 19th 🎂

1946 Dolly Parton
American singer-songwriter, actress

1943 Janis Joplin
American singer-songwriter

1839 Paul Cézanne
French painter

1809 Edgar Allan Poe
American author, poet

1807 Robert E. Lee
American general


Deaths On This Day, January 19th 🪦

2015 Adam Yahiye Gadahn
American terrorist

2007 Hrant Dink
Turkish/Armenian journalist

1990 Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
Indian mystic, guru, educator

1874 August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben
German poet

1865 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
French politician, philosopher, economist
 
1825
Ezra Daggett&his nephew, Thomas Kensett patent food storage in tin cans
1935
Coopers Inc in Chicago sells the world's 1st men's briefs calling them' Jockey'
1977
a trace to 2 inches of snow falls in Miami, Fla for the 1st time in recorded history
2013
cyclist, Lance Armstrong finally admits to doping in all of his 7 Tour de France victories
 
Jan 19th Birthdays:
1839
Paul Cezanne- French Post Impressionist painter
1921
Patrica Highsmith- novelist' Strangers on a Train, The Talented Mr. Ripley
1923
Jean Stapleton- actress, best known TV role' Edith Bunker' in CBS classic sitcom' All In The Family'
1930
Tippi Hedren- actress/animal rights activist 'The Birds, Marni'
1942
Michael Crawford{ Michael Patrick Smith} British actor on London/Broadway stage best known role 'Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical' Phantom of the Opera' He won 1988 Tony Award
1966
Stefan Edberg- retired Swedish tennis player, won 6 Grand Slam titles, an award was named in his honor starting in 1996, Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship award goes to the player who plays fairly on the court,promotes the game of tennis off the court as well. This award is voted by fellow ATP players
Deaths:
1980
William O. Douglas- U.S. Supreme Court Justice '39-'75 81
1997
James Dickey- author' Deliverance' 73
2006
Wilson Pickett- r&b singer 'In the Midnight Hour, Funky Broadway' 64{heart attack}
2008
Suzanne Pleshette- actress best known TV role' Emily Hartley' played Bob Newhart's 1st TV wife in'Bob Newhart Show' '72-'78 71
 
On This Day In History, January 20th

2009 Barack Obama is sworn in as U.S. president
Obama became the country's first black president.

1981 The Iran hostage crisis ends
52 U.S. citizens were released after 444 days at the hands of a group of Islamists.

1969 The killing of a student activist sets the stage for the Bangladesh Liberation War
The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the establishment of Bangladesh as a sovereign nation.

1942 Nazi officials meet to organize the extermination of Jews
During the Wannsee Conference in Berlin, the Nazis discussed what they called the “Final Solution to the Jewish question”.

1934 Fujifilm is founded
The Japanese photography and electronics company soon became a global player in its
 

Births On This Day, January 20th 🎂

1971 Gary Barlow
English singer-songwriter, pianist, producer

1956 Bill Maher
American comedian, actor, television host

1946 David Lynch
American director

1930 Buzz Aldrin
American pilot, astronaut

1920 Federico Fellini
Italian director

Deaths On This Day, January 20th 🪦

2012 Etta James
American singer-songwriter

1993 Audrey Hepburn
Belgian/English actress, singer

1936 George V
of the United Kingdom

1900 John Ruskin
English author

1837 John Soane
English architect
 


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