Today in History

On This Day In History, January 26th

2001 A massive earthquake hits Gujarat, India
About 20,000 people died and over 160,000 people were injured.

1998 In a TV statement, Bill Clinton denies having had “sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky”
On August 17, 1998, Clinton admitted to having had an “improper physical relationship” with Monica Lewinsky.

1950 India becomes a republic
The Constitution of India came into effect that day.

1905 The world's largest diamond is found in South Africa
The Cullinan Diamond weighed 3106.75 carats (621.35 g or 1.37 lb) and has an estimated value of 2 billion USD.

1788 The first Europeans settled in Australia
The first element of the British “First Fleet” arrived in Sydney Harbour on January 18.
 

Births On This Day, January 26th 🎂

1961 Wayne Gretzky
Canadian ice hockey player, coach

1958 Ellen DeGeneres
American comedian, actress, talk show host

1955 Eddie Van Halen
Dutch/American guitarist, songwriter, producer

1925 Paul Newman
American actor, director, race car driver, and businessman, co-founded Newman's Own

1918 Nicolae Ceaușescu
Romanian politician, 11th President of Romania

Deaths On This Day, January 26th 🪦

1992 José Ferrer
Puerto Rican actor

1979 Nelson Rockefeller
American politician, 41st Vice President of the United States

1962 Lucky Luciano
Italian/American mobster

1952 Khorloogiin Choibalsan
Mongolian military officer, ruler

1948 John Lomax
American musicologist
 
1875
the electric drill patented by George F. Green
1887
ground broken/construction begins of Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. It would take 2 yrs, 2months,5 days to complete
1905
world's largest diamond 3,106 carat Cullinan found in South Africa
1931
movie' Cimarron' directed by Wesley Ruggles based on story by Edna Ferber is released. It stars Richard Dix, Irene Dunne,about a family building its empire in American West. It won 2 Oscars, Best pic{1st Western to win} screenplay
1970
Simon&Garfunkel's 5th & last album together'Bridge Over Troubled Waters' is released,hit singles inc title track,The Boxer, Cecilia, sold over 25 million copies won Grammy Album of the Year
2006
Western Union discontinues its telegram service
2015
Libby Lane is ordained as England's 1st female Bishop of Church of England
 

Jan 26th Birthdays:
1892
Bessie Coleman- U.S. aviator,1st African American woman to have a pilot's license
1905
Maria Von Trapp- Austrian singer who inspired movie' Sound of Music'
1913
Jimmy Van Heusen- award winning composer ' Come Fly With Me, All the Way,Love&Marriage
1925
Paul Newman- actor 'Hud, Hustler, The Sting, Color of Money{Best Actor Oscar}, Butch Cassidy&Sundance Kid, Mr &Mrs North,Absence of Malice
1958
Anita Baker-jazz&soul singer 'Giving You The Best That I Got, Sweet Love'
1961
Wayne Gretzky- Canadian Hall of Fame Hockey center with Edmonton Oilers, La.Kings
Deaths:
1973
Edward G.Robinson- actor 'Double Indeminity',The Stranger, The 10 Commandments 79
1979
Nelson Rockefeller- Gov of New York State 1959-1973 70 {heart attack}
2000
Don Budge- U.S. tennis player who won 6 Grand Slam Titles, in 1938 won all 4 titles 84
2017
Barbara Hale- actress best known TV role' Della Street' in CBS courtroom drama'Perry Mason' 94
 
On This Day In History, January 27th

1983 The first shaft of the world's longest tunnel is completed
The Seikan Tunnel, 53.85 km (33.46 mi) in length, connects the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido.

1967 U.S., U.K., and Soviet Union sign the Outer Space Treaty
The treaty bans the deployment of nuclear weapons in outer space and limits the use of the Moon for peaceful purposes.

1967 3 astronauts die in a cabin fire while preparing for the Apollo 1 mission
The accident was a blow to NASA's Apollo manned lunar landing program.

1945 Soviet forces liberate Auschwitz
The German Nazi regime murdered over 1.1 million people in the extermination camps near Oświęcim, Poland.

1944 Soviet forces liberate Leningrad
Die Siege of Leningrad lasted 872 days and left over 1 million people dead.
 
Births On This Day, January 27th 🎂

1974 Ole Einar Bjørndalen
Norwegian biathlete

1944 Mairead Maguire
Irish activist, Nobel Prize laureate

1859 Wilhelm II, German Emperor
1832 Lewis Carroll
English author

1756 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Austrian composer

Deaths On This Day, January 27th 🪦

2014 Pete Seeger
American singer-songwriter, guitarist

2009 John Updike
American author, poet, critic

2008 Suharto
Indonesian soldier, politician, 2nd President of Indonesia

1983 Louis de Funès
French actor, comedian

1901 Giuseppe Verdi
Italian composer
 
1888
National Geographic Society is founded in Washington,DC Its 1st magazine issue was published in Sept 1888
1956
RCA records release Elvis Presley's single' Heartbreak Hotel' which became his 1st million selling single
1967
3 U.S. astronauts,Gus Grissom, Ed White&Roger Chaffee tragically die during a rehearsal launch in Apollo1,when a fire consumed the capsule
 
Jan 27th Birthdays:
1756
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart- Austrian music prodigy/ composer' The Marriage of Figaro'
1850
Edward Smith- English Naval Captain of RMS Titanic
1931
Mordecai Richler- Candian author' Apprentice of Duddy Kravitz' movie version '74 starring Richard Dreyfuss
1955
John Roberts- 17th Chief U.S. Supreme Court Justice
1965
Alan Cummings- Scottish actor Broadway/TV "Caberet'{won Tony award as emcee} Three Penny Opera,best known TV role' Eli' on CBS legal drama' The Good Wife' 2010-2016
deaths:
1972
Mahalia Jackson -U.S. gospel singer' Whole World in His Hands' 60 {heart failure}
1994
Stanley Adams- lyricist/ composer'What a Difference a Day Makes 86
2010
J.D. Salinger- author' Catcher in The Rye' 91
2018
Mort Walker- cartoonist' Beetle Bailey, Hi&Lois 94
 
On This Day In History, January 28th

1986 Space Shuttle “Challenger” explodes
The orbiter broke apart 73 seconds after lift-off, killing all 7 astronauts on board.

1985 USA for Africa record “We Are the World”
Over 20 million copies of the charity single were sold.

1958 The Lego brick is patented
The Lego company has since produced 500 billion Lego elements, amounting to 10 lego towers from Earth to the Moon.

1820 Fabian von Bellinghausen discovers the Antarctic
The Baltic German explorer is believed to be the first person to sight the Earth's southernmost continent.

1813 Jane Austen's novel, Pride and Prejudice, is published
It is one of the best-known works of English literature and it was sold about 20 million times.
 
Births On This Day, January 28th 🎂

1978 Gianluigi Buffon
Italian footballer

1968 Sarah McLachlan
Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist, producer

1955 Nicolas Sarkozy
French politician, 23rd President of France

1912 Jackson Pollock
American painter

1853 José Martí
Cuban journalist, poet, theorist

Deaths On This Day, January 28th 🪦

2002 Astrid Lindgren
Swedish author, screenwriter

1975 Ola Raknes
Norwegian psychoanalyst, philologist

1939 W. B. Yeats
Irish poet, Nobel Prize laureate

1547 Henry VIII of England

814 Charlemagne
Frankish king
 
1813
Jane Austen's novel' Pride&Prejudice' is published in England
1915
U.S. Coast Guard is created by merging U.S.Life Saving Service&U.S. Revenue Cutter Service
1935
Iceland becomes the 1st country to legalize abortion
1958
Danish businessman, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen filed for patent describing a stud&hole toy brick design which became world's favorite toy,LEGO bricks
1986
Space Challenger explodes 73 secs after takeoff from Cape Canaveral,Fla all 7 astronauts were killed inc the 1st teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe
2019
U.S.&Afghan negotiators agree to end the 17yr conflict in Afghanstan
 
Jan 28th Birthdays:
1910
John Banner- Austrian born actor, best known TV role' Sgt Schultz' in CBS sitcom' Hogan Heroes'
1936
Alan Alda- actor/ writer/ director best known TV roles 'Hawkeye Pierce' in CBS sitcom 'M*A*S*H,
Sen Arnold Vinik in NBC politcal drama' The West Wing'
1968
Sarah McLachlan- Candian singer/ songwriter' I Will Remember You'
1981
Elijah Wood- actor The Good Son, Deep Impact, The Lord of the Rings, Happy Feet{voice}
Deaths:
1547
Henry VIII- King of England 1509-1547 55
1918
John McRae- Candian doctor/ soldier/ poet'In Flanders Field' 45
1938
W.B. Yeats- Irish poet 73
1996
Jerry Siegel- U.S. comic book writer, co creator with Joe Shuster 'Superman' 81
2016
Paul Kantner- singer/ guitarist with band Jefferson Airplane 74
 
On This Day In History, January 29th

2002 George W. Bush coins the term “axis of evil” as part of his State of the Union Address
The term used to describe “regimes that sponsor terror” became exemplary for the terminology used by the Bush administration to promote its “war on terror”.

1996 France stops nuclear testing
President Jaques Chirac announced the “definite end” to France's nuclear testing program just 1 day after the country exploded a nuclear device in the South Pacific.

1967 The Mantra-Rock Dance takes place in San Francisco
The event is considered to have been the major spiritual event of the San Francisco hippy era.

1886 German engineer Carl Benz patents the first modern automobile
His “Benz Patent-Motorwagen Nummer 1” was the first gasoline-driven car.

1845 Edgar Allan Poe's “The Raven” is published
The narrative poem first appeared in the New York Evening Mirror.
 

Births On This Day, January 29th 🎂

1954 Oprah Winfrey
American talk show host, actress, and producer, founded the OWN Network, Harpo Productions

1924 Luigi Nono
Italian composer

1862 Frederick Delius
English composer

1860 Anton Chekhov
Russian physician, author

1843 William McKinley
American politician, 25th President of the United States

Deaths On This Day, January 29th 🪦

2011 Milton Babbitt
American composer

2004 Janet Frame
New Zealand author

1963 Robert Frost
American poet, playwright

1941 Ioannis Metaxas
Greek general, politician, 130th Prime Minister of Greece

1820 George III of the United Kingdom
 
1892
Coca Cola Co is founded in Atlanta, Georgia
1924
ice cream cone rolling machine is patented by Carl Taylor in Cleveland, Ohio
1936
1st inductees to Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown,NY were :Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson,Christy Mathewson,Honus Wagner, more than 300 players&officals have joined since then
1978
Sweden became the 1st country to ban aerosol sprays due to harmful effect to ozone layer
2009
Rob Blagojevich, Gov of Ill was removed from office after being convicted of corruption charges, was sentenced to 14 yrs in prison
 
Jan 29th Birthdays:
1737
Thomas Paine- writer/ political essayist' Age of Reason, Common Sense'
1860
Anton Chekov- Russian playwright/author' Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya
1923
Paddy Chafesky- screenwriter- Marty, Network, The Hospital
1945
Tom Selleck- actor best known TV role' Thomas Magnum' in original CBS show' Magnum,PI
1960
Greg Louganis- retired U.S. spring board diver 3m&10m won 2 Olympic Gold Medals in '84,'88
Deaths
1964
Alan Ladd- actor Citizen Kane, Shane, The Carpetbaggers 50
2002
Harold Russell- Candian actor' Best Yrs of Our Lives{supp actor Oscar} Dogtown 88
2019
James Ingram- r&b singer 'Somewhere Out There{duet w Linda Rondstadt} Just Once 66 {brain cancer}
 
On This Day In History, January 30th

1982 The first computer virus is released “into the wild”
Elk Cloner was created by 15-year-old Richard Skrenta as a practical joke.

1972 On “Bloody Sunday”, British troops kill 13 unarmed protesters
It was one of the most significant events of the Northern Ireland conflict.

1969 The Beatles give their last public performance
The concert was played on the rooftop of the Apple Corps building at 3 Savile Row in London.

1945 9,400 people die in the deadliest maritime disaster in history
The “Wilhelm Gustloff” was sunk by a Soviet submarine during World War II.

1933 Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
The “Machtergreifung” marked the end of the Weimar Republic and the beginning of the “Third Reich”.
 
Births On This Day, January 30th 🎂

1951 Phil Collins
English singer-songwriter, producer, actor

1941 Dick Cheney
American politician, 46th Vice President of the United States

1937 Vanessa Redgrave
English actress

1882 Franklin D. Roosevelt
American politician, 32nd President of the United States

1852 Ion Luca Caragiale
Romanian playwright, poet

Deaths On This Day, January 30th 🪦

2001 Johnnie Johnson
English pilot

1963 Francis Poulenc
French composer

1951 Ferdinand Porsche
Austrian/German engineer, and businessman, founded Porsche

1948 Orville Wright
American aviation pioneer

1649 Charles I of England
 
1826
The world's 1st modern suspension bridge,Menai connected Isle of Anglesey to N.W. coast of Wales opens
1933
The Lone Ranger' begins its 21 yr run on ABC radio
1968
Bobby Goldsborough records "Honey' which becomes his biggest hit single,was #1 on music charts for 5wks
1975
inventor, Erno Rubik applies for patent to his invention'Magic Cube, name later changed to 'Rubik's Cube'
2003
British terriorist, Richard Reid who attempted to explode American Airlines flight with explosives in his shoes, is sentenced to life in prison
 
Jan 30th Birthdays:
1882
Franklin Roosevelt, 32nd U.S President 1933-1945
1922
Dick Martin-comedic actor who co hosted NBC comedy show with Dan Rowan'Rowan&Martin's Laugh In
1930
Gene Hackman- actor The French Connection, Bonnie &Clyde,CrimsonTide, Class Action,Young Frankenstein{ unbilled cameo as blind hermit} Unforgiven, Hoosiers,Mississippi Burning, has 2 Oscars, best actor'French Connection, supp actor for Unforgiven, retired from acting in 2004
1974
Christian Bale- British actor Empire of the Sun,Batman Returns, American Psycho,American Hustle,The Machinist,The Big Short
Deaths:
1948
Orville Wright- U.S. aviator 76
2007
Sidney Sheldon- novelist Master of the Game, Bloodline 89
2011
John Barry British film composer, Born Free, Dances With Wolves, Out of Africa 77
 
On This Day In History, January 31st

2011 Myanmar's first elected parliament in half a century convenes
The event underlined a general move towards democracy in the country.

2000 Alaska Airlines flight 261 crashes into the sea
The MD-83 experienced horizontal stabilizer problems before descending into the Pacific Ocean, killing all 88 on board.

1996 A suicide bombing in Sri Lanka kills 91 people
Separatist Tamil Tigers detonated a truck loaded with explosives in front of the central bank in Colombo.

1961 Ham the Chimp travels into outer space
The chimpanzee survived the US Mercury Program test flight with just a bruised nose.

1865 The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed
The Amendment, which officially abolished slavery, was adopted on December 6, 1865.
 
Births On This Day, January 31st 🎂

1982 Elena Paparizou
Greek/Swedish singer-songwriter

1975 Preity Zinta
Indian actress

1937 Philip Glass
American composer

1919 Jackie Robinson
American baseball player

1797 Franz Schubert
Austrian composer

Deaths On This Day, January 31st 🪦

1969 Meher Baba
Indian mystic

1956 A. A. Milne
English author

1954 Edwin Armstrong
American engineer invented FM radio

1888 John Bosco
Italian priest, educator

1606 Guy Fawkes
English soldier, planned the Gunpowder Plot
 
On This Day In History, February 1st

2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates on its way back to Earth
All 7 astronauts were killed in the disaster.

1979 Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 15 years in exile
His triumphant return marked the beginning of the Iranian Revolution.

1968 Eddie Adams takes one of the Vietnam War's best-known pictures
The image of the execution of a Vietcong officer in Saigon helped build opposition to the war.

1960 Four black students start the Greensboro sit-ins
Their refusal to leave a “whites only” lunch counter was a milestone in the fight against racial segregation in the United States.

1884 The first fascicle of the “Oxford English Dictionary” is published
The book contained entries A to Ant.
 
Births On This Day, February 1st 🎂

1946 Elisabeth Sladen
English actress

1931 Boris Yeltsin
Russian politician, 1st President of Russia

1901 Clark Gable
American actor

1894 John Ford
American director

1552 Edward Coke
English judge, politician

Deaths On This Day, February 1st 🪦

2002 Hildegard Knef
German actress

1981 Geirr Tveitt
Norwegian composer

1976 Werner Heisenberg
German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1966 Buster Keaton
American actor, director, producer

1851 Mary Shelley
English author
 
1862
Julia Howe publishes her song' Battle Hymn of Republic, was inspired after a visit to Union troops during the Civil War
1893
in West Orange, NJ, Thomas Edison completes the world's 1st movie studio
1949
RCA releases for 1st time 45 rpm single record,due to its size jukeboxes were made possible
1991
author John Grisham's 2nd novel'The Firm' was published sold over 7 mill copies, was on NYT best selling list for 47 weeks, #1 novel of the year.The movie version was released in '93 starring Tom Cruise, Gene Hackman, Holly Hunter, Ed Harris
 


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