Today in History

Dec 30th
1953
RCA begins selling color TV sets,price $ 1,175
1968
Frank Sinatra records "My Way' lyrics written by Paul Anka based on French song'Comme d'Habitude'
 
Today in 1460...the Battle of Wakefield, one of the most decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses. The Act of Accord had just been passed allowing the crown of England to pass to Richard Duke of York on the death of the mentally unstable King Henry VI, rather than to the king's son. However this did not take into account Henry's ambitious wife Margaret of Anjou, who took an army to Wakefield to fight for her son's birthright. The Lancastrians won the battle: Richard of York and his son were killed and the Yorkist army destroyed.
 

Dec 31st
1695
A window tax was imposed in England which led many shop keepers to brick their windows to avoid the tax
1907
A ball was dropped in NYC to signal the New Year for 1st time
1929
Guy Lombardo& his Royal Canadians played'Auld Lang Syne' as a New Year's Eve song for 1st time
 
Today in 1660...Samuel Pepys records the first entry in his famous diary. Kept between 1660 and 1669, Pepys' diary gives us not only a great insight into life in Restoration England, but also eyewitness accounts of events such as the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London.
 
Jan 1st
1892
Ellis Island opens as a U.S. immigration station,became gateway for more than 12 million people
1934
Alcatraz officially becomes a federal prison
1954
The Rose and Cotton Bowls were shown in color for the 1st time
 
1492 - Moorish Granada falls, completing the reconquest of Spain by Christian monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella.

Born today in 1727...Major General James Wolfe, perhaps best known for his victory in 1759 over the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Quebec. However the battle would cost both Wolfe and the French commander Marquis de Montcalm their lives.

1905 - The Russian Fleet at Port Arthur, China, surrenders to the Japanese.
 
1906
engineer,Willis Carrier receives U.S. patent for world's 1st air condtioner
1929
U.S.&Canada agree to preserve Niagara Falls
1938
book publishers Simon&Shuster founded
 
Today in 1911...the Siege of Sidney Street. Two armed anarchists are holed up at 100 Sidney Street, London. Surrounded by police, a fierce gun battle breaks out. Home Secretary Winston Churchill gives permission for the army to be deployed and at noon Churchill himself comes to watch the action, putting himself at risk by taking up a position close to the firing line. Three police officers are killed.

1924 A precious treasure was found located near Luxor, Egypt, where King Tut's tomb was discovered two years prior. This special object was a stone sarcophagus, which contained a mummy inside of Pharaoh Tutankhamen of Egypt.


1946 - William Joyce, (Lord Haw Haw), was hanged in Britain for high treason. He had broadcast Nazi propaganda telling the British and American soldiers to surrender with the first words of every broadcast beginning with the words "Germany calling, Germany calling, Germany calling".
 
1885
the drinking straw was patented by Marvin Stone
1977
Steve Wozniak&Steve Jobs incorporated Apple Computer,Inc
1987
Aretha Franklin becomes the 1st female artist to be inducted in Rock n Roll Hall of Fame
1993
Bflo Bills,QB,Frank Reich lead the Bills from a 32 point deficit to defeat the Houston Oilers 41-38 in OT playoff game.This was the greatest come back in pro football history
 
Jan 4th
1847
inventor/industralist,Samuel Colt sells his 1st revolver pistol to U. S. Gov't
1936
the 1st pop music chart based on national sales was published by Billboard Magazine
1984
NBC's sitcom'Night Court' '84-'92 debuts,starring late Harry Anderson as the presiding judge,"Harry Stone',John Larroquette as assistant DA,Richard Moll as tall,bald baliff,"Bull'.I remember watching this show,it was funny
 
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1642...King Charles I, accompanied by armed soldiers, enters the House of Commons and tries to arrest members of the Long Parliament for treason. This act is the catalyst for the English Civil War and no monarch has entered the House of Commons since.

1948 - Burma gains independence from the United Kingdom.
 
Jan 5th
1925
Nellie Taylor Ross become the 1st woman governor in U.S. in Wyoming
1959
Buddy Holly releases his last record'It Doesn't Matter' tragically 29 days later he dies in plane crash,he was 22
 
Jan 6th
1941
Pres. Franklin D.Roosevelt makes his'4 Freedoms' speech 'freedom of speech&worship,freedom from want&fear during his U.S.State of Union address
1975
game show,'Wheel of Fortune' debuts with original host,Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford.They are replaced in '83 in nightime version with Pat Sadjak and Vanna White.The show was created by late Merv Griffin
1994
ice skater,Nancy Kerrigan attacked by rival,Tonya Harding's body guard
 
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Today in 1540...marriage of King Henry VIII to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. It was a very brief marriage and never consummated, as when Henry finally met Anne, there was no physical attraction, indeed he is reputed to have bellowed "You have sent me a Flanders mare!". Anne did not contest the subsequent annulment and received a generous settlement. She and Henry became good friends, he referring to her as 'the King's Beloved Sister'.
 
7th January.

1558...England loses Calais, her last foothold on the continent, to the French. Edward III had captured Calais in 1347 during the Hundred Years War and the town had become an important trading port.
The story goes that a few months later on her death bed, Queen Mary I is reputed to have said: "When I am dead and cut open, they will find Philip and Calais inscribed on my heart."

1610 Galileo Galilei discovers the first three moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa and Ganymede.

1785 First balloon flight across English Channel by Jean Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries.
 
1890
William Purvis receives patent for fountain pen
1927
commerical transatlantic telephone service between NYC &London started
2010
Steve Jobs unveiled Apple iPad
 
Jan 8th
1833
The 1st U. S. music school,Boston Academy of Music is established
1835
The first and only time the U.S. National Debt was at $ 0
1993
Elvis Presley commorative postage stamp goes on sale
 
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1/8/63 For the first time in history Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece The Mona Lisa is exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. . The loan of painting was made by the government of the French Republic from 8th to February 3rd at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C and from February 7th to March 4th at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. During it's brief time in the US over 1 million people viewed the painting in Washington and New York.
 
January 9th

1768... Englishman Philip Astley stages the first modern circus in London. Trick riders, acrobats, clowns, trained animals, and other familiar components of the circus have existed throughout recorded history, but it was not until the late 18th century that the modern spectacle of the circus was born.

1806... State Funeral of Horatio Lord Nelson, naval commander and one of Britain's most heroic figures, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar. The funeral procession is so long that by the time the front of the column arrives at St Paul's Cathedral, the funeral carriage has still not left the Admiralty.

2007 ... Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone—a touchscreen mobile phone with an iPod, camera and Web-browsing capabilities, among other features—at the Macworld convention in San Francisco.
 
1942
U.S. Chief Joints of Staff created
1959
CBS 's western 'Rawhide' '59-'64 debuts,starring Clint Eastwood as'Rowdy Gates',late Eric Fleming as trail boss,'Gil Favor'.
1986
Kodak lost its patent battle with Polaroid,had to cease production of its instant camera business
1991
MLB offically bans Cincinatti Reds player,Pete Rose from being elected to Baseball Hall of Fame for betting on games
 

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