954 Louis IV of France (died) (born 920)
1207 Rumi, Persian mystic and poet (born) (died 1273)
1227 Pope Nicholas IV (born) (died 1292)
1399 Henry IV is proclaimed King of England.
1530 Girolamo Mercuriale (born), Italian philologist and physician (died 1606)
1541 Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto and his forces enter Tula territory in present-day western Arkansas, encountering fierce resistance.
1550 Michael Maestlin (born), German astronomer and mathematician (died 1631)
1572 Francis Borgia (died), 4th Duke of Gandía, Spanish priest and saint, 3rd Superior General of the Society of Jesus (born 1510)
1689 Jacques Aubert (born), French violinist and composer (died 1753)
1715 Étienne Bonnot de Condillac (born), French epistemologist and philosopher (died 1780)
1791 The first performance of The Magic Flute, the last opera by Mozart to make its debut, took place at Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, Austria.
1791 The National Constituent Assembly in Paris is dissolved; Parisians hail Maximilien Robespierre and Jérôme Pétion as “incorruptible patriots”.
1800 Decimus Burton (born), English architect, designed the Pharos Lighthouse (died 1881)
1813 John Rae (born), Scottish physician and explorer (died 1893)
1832 Ann Jarvis (born), American activist, co-founded Mother’s Day (died 1905)
1860 Britain’s first tram service begins in Birkenhead, Merseyside.
1861 William Wrigley, Jr. (born), American businessman, founded Wrigley Company (died 1932)
1882 Hans Geiger (born), German physicist (died 1945)
1882 Thomas Edison’s first commercial hydroelectric power plant (later known as Appleton Edison Light Company) begins operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States.
1888 Catherine Eddowes (died), English victim of Jack the Ripper (born 1842)
1888 Elizabeth Stride (died), Swedish victim of Jack the Ripper (born 1843)
1895 Madagascar becomes a French protectorate.
1905 Michael Powell (born), English director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1990)
1907 McKinley National Memorial, the final resting place of assassinated U.S. President William McKinley and his family, is dedicated in Canton, Ohio.
1915 Lester Maddox (born), American politician, 75th Governor of Georgia (died 2003)
1917 Buddy Rich (born), American drummer, bandleader, and actor (died 1987)
1921 Deborah Kerr (born), Scottish-English actress and singer (died 2007)
1924 Truman Capote (born), American author (died 1984)
1927 Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 60 home runs in a season.
1928 Elie Wiesel (born), Romanian-American holocaust survivor and author, Nobel Prize laureate
1931 Angie Dickinson (born), American actress
1935 Johnny Mathis (born), American singer-songwriter and actor
1935 The Hoover Dam, astride the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada, is dedicated.
1938 The League of Nations unanimously outlaws “intentional bombings of civilian populations”.
1939 NBC broadcasts the first televised American football game between the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets and the Fordham Rams. Fordham won the game 34-7.
1940 Dewey Martin (born), Canadian-American drummer (Buffalo Springfield and The Standells) (died 2009)
1943 Franz Oppenheimer (died), German-American sociologist and economist(born 1864)
1943 Marilyn McCoo (born), American singer and actress (The 5th Dimension)
1945 Ehud Olmert (born), Israeli politician, 12th Prime Minister of Israel
1946 Jochen Mass (born), German race car driver
1947 Marc Bolan (born), English singer-songwriter and guitarist (T. Rex and John’s Children) (died 1977)
1947 The Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Yemen join the United Nations.
1947 The World Series, featuring the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, is televised for the first time.
1949 The Berlin Airlift ends.
1953 Deborah Allen (born), American singer-songwriter and producer
1954 The U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus is commissioned as the world’s first nuclear reactor powered vessel.
1955 Andy Bechtolsheim (born), German engineer, co-founded Sun Microsystems
1955 Film star James Dean (born 1931) dies in a road accident aged 24.
1957 Fran Drescher (born), American actress, producer, and screenwriter
1961 Eric van de Poele (born), Belgian race car driver
1962 James Meredith enters the University of Mississippi, defying segregation.
1962 Mexican-American labor leader César Chávez founds the National Farm Workers Association, which later becomes United Farm Workers.
1964 Robby Takac (born), American singer-songwriter and bass player (Goo Goo Dolls and Amungus)
1964 Trey Anastasio (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Phish, Oysterhead, Dave Matthews & Friends, Phil Lesh and Friends, Surrender to the Air, and SerialPod)
1965 Matt Fallon (born), American singer-songwriter (Skid Row and Anthrax)
1965 The 30 September Movement attempts a coup against the Indonesian government, which is crushed by the military under Suharto and leads to a mass anti-communist purge, with over 500,000 people killed.
1965 The Lockheed L-100, the civilian version of the C-130 Hercules, is introduced.
1967 BBC Light Programme, Third Programme and Home Service are replaced with BBC Radio 2, 3 and 4 Respectively, BBC Radio 1 is also launched with Tony Blackburn presenting its first show.
1972 Roberto Clemente records the 3,000th and final hit of his career.
1974 Daniel Wu (born), American–Hong Kong actor, director, and producer
1977 Mary Ford (died), American singer and guitarist (born 1924)
1977 Nick Curran (born), American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (The Fabulous Thunderbirds) (died 2012)
1978 Edgar Bergen (died), American actor and ventriloquist (born 1903)
1980 Ethernet specifications are published by Xerox working with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation.
1982 Cyanide-laced Tylenol kills six people in the Chicago area. Seven are killed in all.
1984 Renee Richards (born), English porn actress
1985 Charles Francis Richter (died), American seismologist and physicist (born 1900)
1985 Simone Signoret (died), German-French actress (born 1921)
1986 Mordechai Vanunu, who revealed details of Israel’s covert nuclear program to British media, is kidnapped in Rome, Italy by the Israeli Mossad.
1988 Al Holbert (died), American race car driver (born 1946)
1994 Aldwych tube station (originally Strand Station) of the London Underground closes after eighty-eight years in service.
1994 André Michel Lwoff (died), French microbiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1902)
1994 Ongar railway station, the furthest London Underground from Central London, closes.
1996 The United States Congress passes an Amendment that bars the possession of firearms for people who were convicted of domestic violence, even misdemeanor level.
2004 The first images of a live giant squid in its natural habitat are taken 600 miles south of Tokyo.
2005 The controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
2009 The 2009 Sumatra earthquakes occur, killing over 1,115 people.
2010 Stephen J. Cannell (died), American actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1941)
2013 Ramblin’ Tommy Scott (died), American singer and guitarist (born 1917)
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
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- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017