1473 Nicolaus Copernicus (born), Polish mathematician and astronomer (died 1543)
1526 Charles de L’Ecluse (born), Flemish botanist (died 1609)
1553 Erasmus Reinhold (died), German astronomer and mathematician (born 1511)
1600 The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America.
1605 Orazio Vecchi (died), Italian composer (born 1550)
1622 Henry Savile (died), English scholar and politician (born 1549)
1660 Friedrich Hoffmann (born), German physician and chemist (died 1742)
1674 England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, and it is renamed New York.
1804 Baron Carl von Rokitansky (born), German physician (died 1878)
1807 Former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason in Wakefield, Alabama and confined to Fort Stoddert in southern Alabama.
1819 British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands, and claims them in the name of King George III.
1837 Thomas Burgess (died), English bishop, author, and philosopher (born 1756)
1843 Adelina Patti (born), Spanish opera singer (died 1919)
1846 In Austin, Texas the newly formed Texas state government is officially installed. The Republic of Texas government officially transfers power to the State of Texas government following the annexation of Texas by the United States.
1847 The first group of rescuers reaches the Donner Party.
1859 Daniel E. Sickles, a New York Congressman, is acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary insanity. This is the first time this defense is successfully used in the United States.
1861 Serfdom is abolished in Russia.
1865 Sven Hedin (born), Swedish geographer and explorer (died 1952)
1877 Gabriele Münter (born), German painter (died 1962)
1878 Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.
1884 More than sixty tornadoes strike the Southern United States, one of the largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history.
1893 Cedric Hardwicke (born), English actor (died 1964)
1915 World War I: The first naval attack on the Dardanelles begins when a strong Anglo-French task force bombards Ottoman artillery along the coast of Gallipoli.
1916 Eddie Arcaro (born), American jockey (died 1997)
1916 Ernst Mach (died), Austrian-Czech physicist and philosopher (born 1838)
1917 Carson McCullers (born), American author (died 1967)
1924 Lee Marvin (born), American actor (died 1987)
1930 John Frankenheimer (born), American director and producer (died 2002)
1936 Billy Mitchell (died), American general (born 1879)
1936 Charles Harding Firth (died), English historian (born 1857)
1940 Smokey Robinson (born), American singer-songwriter and producer (The Miracles)
1942 World War II: nearly 250 Japanese warplanes attack the northern Australian city of Darwin killing 243 people.
1942 World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese-Americans to internment camps.
1943 Tim Hunt (born), English biochemist, Nobel laureate
1945 World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima about 30,000 United States Marines land on the island of Iwo Jima.
1946 Karen Silkwood (born), American technician and activist (died 1974)
1948 Mark Andes (born), American singer-songwriter and bass player (Spirit, Firefall, Jo Jo Gunne, and Heart)
1948 Pim Fortuyn (born), Dutch sociologist and politician (died 2002)
1948 Tony Iommi (born), English guitarist and songwriter (Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, Velvett Fogg, and Mythology)
1949 Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.
1951 Stephen Nichols (born), American actor
1952 Amy Tan (born), American author
1953 Censorship: Georgia approves the first literature censorship board in the United States.
1955 Jeff Daniels (born), American actor, singer, and playwright
1956 Roderick MacKinnon (born), American biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
1959 The United Kingdom grants Cyprus independence, which is then formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.
1961 Andy Wallace (born), English race car driver
1961 Benoît Chamoux (born), French mountaineer (died 1995)
1962 Georgios Papanikolaou (died), Greek-American pathologist, invented the Pap smear (born 1883)
1962 John Laroche (born), American horticulturalist
1963 The publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique reawakens the Feminist Movement in the United States as women’s organizations and consciousness raising groups spread.
1965 Jon Fishman (born), American drummer (Phish, Pork Tornado, and Surrender to the Air)
1967 Benicio del Toro (born), Puerto Rican actor
1976 Executive Order 9066, which led to the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps, is rescinded by President Gerald R. Ford’s Proclamation 4417
1977 Andrew Ross Sorkin (born), American journalist and author
1980 Bon Scott (died), Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter (AC/DC, The Valentines, The Spektors, and Fraternity) (born 1946)
1986 The Soviet Union launches its Mir spacecraft. Remaining in orbit for 15 years, it is occupied for 10 of those years.
1997 Deng Xiaoping (died), Chinese politician, 1st Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China (born 1904)
1997 Leo Rosten (died), Polish-American author and academic (born 1908)
2001 Stanley Kramer (died), American director and producer (born 1913)
2001 The Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.
2002 NASA’s Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.
2006 A methane explosion in a coal mine near Nueva Rosita, Mexico, kills 65 miners.
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
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- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017