1380 Charles V of France (died) (born 1338)
1386 Henry V of England (born), (died 1422)
1615 Heinrich Bach (born), German organist and composer (died 1692)
1620 The Mayflower starts her voyage to North America
1651 Engelbert Kaempfer (born), German physician (died 1716)
1725 Nicolas Desmarest (born), French geologist (died 1815)
1736 Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (died), Polish-Dutch physicist and engineer, invented the thermometer (born 1686)
1776 American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.
1777 Nathan Mayer Rothschild (born), German-English banker and financier (died 1836)
1779 American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins.
1792 Nguyễn Huệ (died), Vietnamese emperor (born 1753)
1803 Nicolas Baudin (died), French explorer, hydrographer, and cartographer (born 1754)
1810 With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico’s fight for independence from Spain.
1812 The Fire of Moscow begins shortly after midnight and destroys three quarters of the city days later.
1819 John Jeffries (died), American physician and surgeon (born 1744)
1824 Louis XVIII of France (died) (born 1755)
1827 Jean Albert Gaudry (born), French geologist and palaeontologist (died 1908)
1846 Anna Kingsford (born), English activist (died 1888)
1853 Albrecht Kossel (born), German physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1927)
1863 Robert College of Istanbul-Turkey, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist.
1875 James Cash Penney (born), American businessman, founded J. C. Penney (died 1971)
1877 Jacob Schick (born), American-Canadian inventor and businessman, founded Schick Razors (died 1937)
1880 Alfred Noyes (born), English poet (died 1958)
1880 The Cornell Daily Sun prints its first issue in Ithaca, New York. The Sun is the nation’s oldest, continuously-independent college daily.
1893 Settlers make a land run for prime land in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma.
1898 H. A. Rey (born), American author and illustrator, co-created Curious George (died 1977)
1899 Hans Swarowsky (born), Hungarian-Austrian conductor (died 1975)
1903 Joe Venuti (born), American violinist (The Dorsey Brothers) (died 1978)
1908 The General Motors Corporation is founded.
1911 Edward Whymper (died), English-French mountaineer, explorer, and author (born 1840)
1914 Allen Funt (born), American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1999)
1919 Andy Russell (born), American singer (died 1992)
1919 Laurence J. Peter (born), Canadian-American hierarchiologist and educator (died 1990)
1919 The American Legion is incorporated.
1920 The Wall Street bombing: a bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J. P. Morgan building in New York City – 38 are killed and 400 injured.
1924 Lauren Bacall (born), American actress and singer
1925 B.B. King (born), American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1925 Charlie Byrd (born), American guitarist (died 1999)
1926 John Knowles (born), American author (died 2001)
1927 Peter Falk (born), American actor, singer, and producer (died 2011)
1928 The Okeechobee hurricane strikes southeastern Florida, killing upwards of 2,500 people. It is the third deadliest natural disaster in United States history, behind the Galveston hurricane of 1900 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
1931 K. D. Arulpragasam (born), Sri Lankan zoologist and academic (died 2003)
1934 Dick Heckstall-Smith (born), English saxophonist (Blues Incorporated, The Graham Bond Organisation, and Colosseum) (died 2004)
1935 Billy Boy Arnold (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1941 Joe Butler (born), American singer, autoharp player, and drummer (The Lovin’ Spoonful)
1941 World War II: Concerned that Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, is about to ally his petroleum-rich empire with Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union invade Iran in late August and force the Shah to abdicate in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
1942 Bernie Calvert (born), English bass player and keyboard player (The Hollies)
1945 World War II: The surrender of the Japanese troops in Hong Kong is accepted by Royal Navy Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt.
1946 James Hopwood Jeans (died), English physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (born 1877)
1948 Kenney Jones (born), English drummer (The Small Faces, Faces, The Who, The Law, and The Jones Gang)
1948 Rosemary Casals (born), American tennis player
1949 Ed Begley, Jr. (born), American actor and producer
1950 David Bellamy (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Bellamy Brothers)
1950 Henry Louis Gates (born), American educator, scholar, and author
1952 Mickey Rourke (born), American boxer, actor, and screenwriter
1955 A Soviet Navy Zulu class submarine becomes the first submarine to launch a ballistic missile.
1955 The military coup to unseat President Juan Perón of Argentina is launched at midnight.
1956 David Copperfield (born), American magician
1959 The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.
1960 Ean Evans (born), American bass player (Lynyrd Skynyrd and Outlaws) (died 2009)
1961 The United States National Hurricane Research Project drops eight cylinders of silver iodide into the eyewall of Hurricane Esther. Wind speed reduces by 10%, giving rise to Project Stormfury.
1963 Malaysia is formed from the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak. However, Singapore soon leaves this new country.
1965 Fred Quimby (died), American animator and producer (born 1886)
1966 The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber’s opera, Antony and Cleopatra.
1970 King Hussein of Jordan declares military rule following the hijacking of four civilian airliners by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). This results in the formation of the Black September Palestinian paramilitary unit.
1971 Amy Poehler (born), American actress, producer, and screenwriter
1971 Typhoon Nancy, with possibly the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, makes landfall in Osaka, Japan, killing 173 people.
1974 Julian Castro (born), American lawyer and politician, Mayor of San Antonio
1975 Papua New Guinea gains its independence from Australia.
1975 The Cape Verde Islands, Mozambique, and Sao Tome and Principe join the United Nations.
1975 The first prototype of the MiG-31 interceptor makes its maiden flight.
1977 Maria Callas (died), American-Greek soprano (born 1923)
1980 Jean Piaget (died), Swiss psychologist and philosopher (born 1896)
1980 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines join the United Nations.
1984 Louis Réard (died), French engineer and fashion designer, created the bikini (born 1897)
1987 The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.
1991 The trial of the deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega begins in the United States.
1992 Black Wednesday: the Pound Sterling is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the German mark.
1992 Millicent Fenwick (died), American journalist and politician (born 1910)
1992 Nick Jonas (born), American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (Jonas Brothers and Nick Jonas & the Administration)
1994 The British government lifts the broadcasting ban imposed against members of Sinn Féin and Irish paramilitary groups in 1988.
2005 Gordon Gould (died), American physicist, invented the laser (born 1920)
2007 Mercenaries working for Blackwater Worldwide allegedly shoot and kill 17 Iraqis in Nisour Square, Baghdad; all criminal charges against them are later dismissed, sparking outrage in the Arab world.
2009 Mary Travers (died), American singer-songwriter (Peter, Paul, and Mary) (born 1936)
2011 Willie “Big Eyes” Smith (died), American electric blues vocalist, harmonica player, and drummer (born 1936)
2013 A gunman kills twelve people at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.
2013 Patsy Swayze (died), American dancer and choreographer (born 1927)
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
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- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017