On January 31st 1968, as part of the Tet Offensive, a squad of Viet Cong guerillas attacked the US Embassy in Saigon. The soldiers seized the embassy and held it for six hours until an assault force of US paratroopers… Read More ›
Month: January 2012
January 30 1948 Mahatma Gandhi Assassinated
On January 30th 1948, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the political and spiritual leader of the Indian independence movement, was assassinated in New Delhi by a Hindu fanatic. Born the son of an Indian official in 1869, Gandhi’s Vaishnava mother was deeply… Read More ›
January 29 1979 School Shooting In San Diego (I Don't Like Mondays)
On January 29th 1979, Brenda Spencer killed two men and wounded nine children as they entered the Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego. Spencer blazed away with rifle shots from her home directly across the street from the school…. Read More ›
January 28 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger Explodes
On January 28th, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Christa McAuliffe is on her way to becoming the first ordinary US civilian to travel into space. McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high school social studies teacher… Read More ›
January 27 1888 National Geographic Society Founded
On January 27th 1888, the National Geographic Society was founded in Washington, DC, for “the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge.” The 33 men who originally met and formed the National Geographic Society were a diverse group of geographers, explorers,… Read More ›
January 26 1788 First British Settlement In Australia
On January 26th 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip guided a fleet of 11 British ships carrying convicts to the colony of New South Wales, effectively founding Australia. After overcoming a period of hardship, the fledgling colony began to celebrate the anniversary… Read More ›
January 25 1919 The League Of Nations Formed
On January 25th 1919, the League of Nations, the forerunner to the United Nations, was formed. The league was formed out of the reconciliation process of World War I at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The use of such… Read More ›
January 24 1925 Alfred Hitchcock's First Film
On January 24 1925, Alfred Hitchcock’s first feature film, The Pleasure Garden. The film was a commercial failure, however it propelled the aspiring director into the thriller genre, which would make him one of the most influential directors of the… Read More ›
January 23 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Ends
On January 23rd 1943, the first armed insurgency orchestrated by the Jewish, as part of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, came to an end. The Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, Poland had been in existence since 1939 and was the largest such… Read More ›
January 22 1840 Annexation of New Zealand
On January 22nd 1840, New Zealand was officially annexed to Britain, marking the transformation of the country’s tribal society into a unified British colony. The annexation is historically significant not only for the country’s own pride, but also in terms… Read More ›
January 21 1977 President Carter Pardons Draft Dodgers
On January 21st 1977, US President Jimmy Carter granted an unconditional pardon to hundreds of thousands of men who evaded the draft during the Vietnam War. In total, some 100,000 young Americans went abroad in the late 1960s and early… Read More ›
January 20 1783 Cessation Of Hostilities Signed During American Revolutionary War
On January 20th 1783, the British and U.S. commissioners signed a preliminary “Cessation of Hostilities,” which led to the Treaty of Paris and Treaty of Versailles, thus ending the Revolutionary War. The agreement: Declarations for Suspension of Arms and Cessation… Read More ›
January 19 1809 Edgar Allan Poe Is Born
On January 19th 1809, poet, author and literary critic Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts. By the time he was three years old, both of Poe’s parents had died, leaving him in the care of his godfather, John… Read More ›
January 18 1919 Post World War I Peace Conference Begins In Paris
On January 18th 1919, in Paris, France, some of the most powerful people in the world met to begin the long, complicated negotiations that would officially mark the end of the First World War. Leaders of the victorious Allied powers… Read More ›
January 17 1950 Boston Thieves Commit Historic Robbery
On January 17th 1950, 11 men stole more than $2 million from the Brinks Armored Car depot in Boston, Massachusetts. It was almost the perfect crime, as the culprits weren’t caught until January 1956, just days before the statute of… Read More ›
January 16 1919 Prohibition Takes Effect
On January 16th 1919, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes,” is ratified, and becomes the law of the land. The movement for the prohibition of alcohol began… Read More ›
January 15 1967 Packers Face Chiefs In First Super Bowl
On January 15th 1967, at the Los Angeles Coliseum, the Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the first-ever world championship game of American football. In the mid-1960s, the intense competition for players and fans between the National… Read More ›
Ford B-Max
When the Ford B-Max goes on sale in early 2012 it will feature a new format of pillarless doors. On the outside the styling is the latest iteration of Ford’s ‘kinetic design’ DNA, and mixes different elements to create a… Read More ›
January 14 1875 Albert Schweitzer Born
On January 14th 1875, the theologian, musician, philosopher and Nobel Prize-winning physician Albert Schweitzer was born in Upper-Alsace, Germany (now Haut-Rhin, France). The son and grandson of ministers, Schweitzer studied theology and philosophy at the universities of Strasbourg, Paris and… Read More ›
January 13 1128 Pope Recognises Knights Templar
On January 13th 1128, Pope Honorius II granted a papal sanction to the military order known as the Knights Templar, declaring it to be an army of God. Led by the Frenchman Hughes de Payens, the Knights Templar organisation was… Read More ›
January 12 1926 Amos N Andy On Chicago Radio
On January 12th 1926, the two-man comedy series “Sam ‘n’ Henry” debuted on Chicago’s WGN radio station. Two years later, after changing its name to “Amos ‘n’ Andy,” the show became one of the most popular radio programs in American… Read More ›
January 11 1908 Grand Canyon Becomes National Monument
On January 11th 1908, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt declared the massive Grand Canyon in northwestern Arizona a national monument. Though Native Americans lived in the area as early as the 13th century, the first European sighting of the canyon wasn’t… Read More ›
January 10 1901 American Oil Industry Begins
On January 10th 1901, a drilling derrick at Spindletop Hill near Beaumont, Texas, produced an enormous gusher of crude oil, coating the landscape for hundreds of feet and signaling the advent of the American oil industry. The geyser was discovered… Read More ›
January 9 1493 Columbus Mistakes Manatees For Mermaids
On January 9th 1493, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, sailing near the Dominican Republic, saw three “mermaids” (in reality manatees) and describes them as “not half as beautiful as they are painted.” Six months earlier, Columbus (1451-1506) had set off from… Read More ›
January 8 1877 Crazy Horse Fights Last Battle
On January 8th 1877, Crazy Horse and his warriors, outnumbered, low on ammunition and forced to use outdated weapons to defend themselves fought their final losing battle against the US Cavalry in Montana. Six months earlier, in the Battle of… Read More ›
January 7 1789 First US Presidential Election
On January 7th 1789, America’s first presidential election was held, when voters cast ballots to choose state electors. Only white men who owned property were allowed to vote, and as expected, George Washington won the election and was sworn into… Read More ›
January 6 1838 Samuel Morse Demonstrates Telegraph
On January 6th 1838, Samuel Morse’s telegraph system was demonstrated for the first time at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, New Jersey. The telegraph, a device which used electric impulses to transmit encoded messages over a wire, would eventually… Read More ›
January 5 1918 Nazi Party Foundation Formed
On January 5th 1918, the formation of the German political party, “Freier Ausschuss für einen deutschen Arbeiterfrieden” took place. Translated, it means “Free Committee for a German Workers’ Peace.” While the name may not be of much significance by itself,… Read More ›
January 4 1642 First English Civil War Begins
On January 4th 1642, King Charles I attacked Parliament in an attempt to capture five members of Parliament, which is regarded as the official beginning of the English Civil War. The Civil War, essentially fought between Parliamentary supporters and Royalists,… Read More ›
January 3 1990 Noriega Surrenders To US
On January 3rd 1990, Panama’s General Manuel Antonio Noriega, after holing up for 10 days at the Vatican embassy in Panama City, surrendered to U.S. military troops to face charges of drug trafficking. Noriega was flown to Miami the following… Read More ›
January 2 1980 Jimmy Carter Postpones SALT II Nuclear Treaty
On January 2nd 1980, in a strong reaction to the December 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter asked the Senate to postpone action on the SALT II nuclear weapons treaty and recalled the U.S. ambassador to Moscow. These… Read More ›
January 1 1959 Batista Outed By Castro
On January 1st 1959, facing a popular revolution spearheaded by Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement, Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the island nation. Amid celebration and chaos in the Cuban capitol of Havana, the U.S. debated how best to… Read More ›
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