1849 – Elizabeth Blackwell becomes 1st woman in the US to earn a medical degree graduating from New York’s Geneva Medical College
1855 – 1st bridge over the Mississippi River in what is now Minneapolis, Minnesota, opens; today made by the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge
1879 – US National Archery Association forms in Crawfordsville, Indiana
1958 – “Body Beautiful” opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 60 performances
1958 – Dictator Marcos Perez Jiménez flees Venezuela, Larrazabal takes power
1962 – British intelligence officer Kim Philby defects to USSR
1976 – The results to U.S. advice columnist Ann Landers’ question (if they could do it all over, would parents still become parents) state that 70% of 10,000 responding parents were negative about being parents
1993 – Indian Airlines B737 crashes at Aurangabad, killing 61
1998 – Michael Jordan scores in double figures for 800th consecutive game in a 100-98 OT win over New Jersey; adds 40 more double-figure scoring games to his NBA record before retiring for the second time (1998)
2018 – American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond abruptly retires from touring after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease
Category: Historical Events
Historical Events for 22nd January 2024
1472 – Great comet of 1471 (C/1471 Y1) becomes the closest comet in modern times, coming within 10 million kilometers of Earth
1517 – Ottoman forces take Cairo, capital of the Mamluk Sultanate
1931 – Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia
1945 – Burma highway reopens
1953 – 1953 NFL Draft: Harry Babcock from University of Georgia first pick by San Francisco 49ers
1969 – Orbiting Solar Observatory 5 launched into earth orbit
1987 – Pennsylvania politician R. Budd Dwyer shoots and kills himself at a press conference on live national television, leading to debates on boundaries in journalism
1994 – 51st Golden Globes: Schlinder’s List, Tom Hanks, and Holly Hunter win
1998 – STS 89 (Endeavour 12) launches into orbit
2018 – Netflix becomes the largest digital media and entertainment company in the world worth $100 billion
Historical Events for 21st January 2024
1793 – Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine in Paris, following his conviction for “high treason” by the newly created French Parliament (Convention nationale), during the French Revolution
1908 – “Sullivan Ordinance” is passed in NYC, making it illegal for a woman to smoke in public places. It was vetoed 2 weeks later by mayor George B. McClellan Jr.
1930 – Boston Bruins become first team in NHL history to score 100 goals in a season, in a 5-1 win over Chicago at Boston Garden; Cooney Weiland scores Bruins’ 100th goal in their 26th game of the year
1941 – Australian and British troops attack Tobruk, Libya
1961 – “Conquering Hero” closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 8 performances
1973 – 23rd NFL Pro Bowl, Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas: AFC beats NFC, 33-28; MVP: O. J. Simpson, Buffalo Bills, RB
1980 – Gold hits record $850 an ounce
1992 – Bill Cowher becomes the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, becoming only the second head coach of the team since 1970 (Chuck Noll)
2010 – LA Lakers forward Kobe Bryant becomes the youngest NBA player to reach 25,000 career points at 31 years, 151 days; beats Wilt Chamberlain by 35 days
2013 – 30 people are killed in a car bombing in Salamiyeh, Syria
Historical Events for 20th January 2024
1840 – Dutch King Willem II crowned
1840 – Dumont D’Urville discovers Adélie Land, Antarctica
1868 – Florida constitutional convention meets in Tallahassee
1910 – Stanley Cup, Dey’s Arena, Ottawa, ON: Ottawa Senators outclass Edmonton HC, 13-7 for a 2-0 sweep of challenge series
1925 – The Soviet and Japan sign a convention resuming relations: Russia agrees to limit revolutionary activity of the Third Communist International, while Japan agrees to leave the Sakhalin
1949 – J. Edgar Hoover gives Shirley Temple a tear gas fountain pen
1953 – 1st US telecast transmitted to Canada from Buffalo, New York
1982 – Piet Dankert elected chairman of European Parliament
1989 – George H. W. Bush inaugurated as 41st US President, Dan Quayle becomes 44th Vice President
2013 – NFC Championship, Georgia Dome, Atlanta: San Francisco 49ers beat Atlanta Falcons, 28-24
Historical Events for 19th January 2024
1885 – Battle of Abu Kru (Battle of Gubat), Sudan: British Desert Column defeat Mahdist forces: 121 British and untold Mahdists killed
1903 – French newspaper L’Auto announces new 5-stage, long distance bicycle race, “Tour de France”
1918 – Soviets disallow a Constitution Assembly
1950 – Maiden flight by Canada’s Avro Canada CF-100 military plane
1971 – “No, No Nanette” opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 861 performances
1991 – Iraq files SCUD missiles at Tel Aviv and other cities in Israel during the Gulf War
1992 – Cerebral Palsy telethon raises $23.5 million
1994 – -36°F (-38°C) in New Whiteland, Indiana (state record)
2003 – NFC Championship, Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia: Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10
2023 – Cyclone Cheneso makes landfall in northern Madagascar, killing at least 25 people and leaving about 40,000 homeless
Historical Events for 18th January 2024
1776 – James Wright, Royal Governor of Georgia, is placed under house arrest by Major Joseph Habersham
1840 – The Electro-Magnet, and Mechanics Intelligencer, 1st US electrical journal, appears
1919 – The Paris peace conference (aka the Versailles peace conference) opens to draw up the treaties formally ending the Great War (WWI)
1941 – World War II: A counter-offensive is launched by the British against the Italians in East Africa
1962 – Southern University, Baton Rouge, closed due to demonstrations
1964 – Plans for World Trade Center announced (NYC)
1977 – Pakistan cricket all-rounder Imran Khan takes 6 for 63 in the Australian 2nd innings for a match total of 12 to lead his side to an easy 8 wicket 3rd Test win in Sydney
1979 – Peter Jenkins finishes “A Walk Across America” at Florence, Oregon
1995 – Kumble takes 16-99 in match for Karnataka v Kerala
1997 – Boerge Ousland of Norway becomes the first person to cross Antarctica alone and unaided
Historical Events for 17th January 2024
1718 – Avalanche destroys every building in Leukerbad, Switzerland; kills 53
1904 – Anton Chekhov’s play “Cherry Orchard” opens at Moscow Art Theater
1959 – “Say, Darling” closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 332 performances
1966 – B-52/KC-135 tankers crash near Spanish coast at Palomares, 7 die
1973 – New Philippine constitution names Marcos president for life
1973 – City of Amsterdam decides to support Hanoi
1978 – After a tumultuous final tour the Sex Pistols break up as a band, which is announced the following day
1991 – Operation Desert Storm begins, with US-led coalition forces bombing Iraq, during the Gulf War
2012 – LeBron James becomes youngest player in NBA history to record 20,000 career points during the Miami Heat’s 92-75 victory over Golden State; James, 28 years, 17 days, passes Kobe Bryant, 29 years, 122 days
2016 – Fourth Democratic presidential candidates debate: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders clash over healthcare and gun control in Charleston, South Carolina
Historical Events for 16th January 2024
929 – Caliphate of Cordoba is established by Emir Abd-al-Rahman III
1501 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral and 6 ships set off from Kannur, India, on their return voyage to Lisbon
1905 – Stanley Cup, Dey’s Arena, Ottawa, ON: Ottawa Senators rout Dawson City (Yukon), 23-2 for 2-0 series sweep; most lopsided challenge playoff game in history; Frank McGee 14 goals
1918 – Austria and Germany are disrupted by strikes as people express impatience with leaders continuing the war
1945 – Scottish 52nd land division and 1st Commando brigade-assault at Heinsberg
1963 – Tennessee Williams’ play “Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore” premieres in America on Broadway, NY
1976 – “Donny and Marie” [Osmond] musical variety show premieres on ABC TV
1979 – Bakhtiar government established by the Shah in Iran, will preside until unrest in the country subsides
2002 – UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and freezes assets of Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaida, and the members of the Taliban
2005 – 62nd Golden Globes: “The Aviator”, Leonardo DiCaprio and Hilary Swank win
Historical Events for 15th January 2024
1559 – Elizabeth I crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey
1586 – Battle at Boxum: Spanish troops under Tassis beat state army
1927 – Tennessee Supreme Court overturns (on a technicality) John T. Scopes’ guilty verdict for teaching evolution in the “Scopes monkey trial”, but the law itself remains in force
1935 – Clifford Odets’ first produced play “Waiting for Lefty” premieres in NYC
1936 – Nonprofit Ford Foundation incorporates
1943 – 1,000 workers complete air conditioning system for Pentagon
1965 – Soviet underground nuclear test creates the atomic lake Chagan, Kazakhstan
1972 – TV drama “Emergency” with Randolph Mantooth and Robert Fuller premieres on NBC TV
1986 – Living Seas opens (Disneyland)
2021 – Global death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic passes 2 million (true total likely much higher)
Historical Events for 14th January 2024
1746 – “Bonnie Prince Charlie”, Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s Jacobite army leaves Glasgow, Scotland [OS=Jan 3]
1794 – Dr Jessee Bennet of Edom, Virginia, performs 1st successful Cesarean section operation in the US on his wife
1874 – I. D. Shadd elected Speaker of lower house of Mississippi legislature
1929 – Afghan King Amanullah forced to resign
1969 – Soyuz 4 launched; rendezvous with Soyuz 5 two days later
1972 – WMAU TV channel 17 in Bude, Mississippi (PBS) begins broadcasting
1976 – “The Bionic Woman” with Lindsay Wagner debuts on ABC (later NBC)
1996 – “Swinging On a Star” closes at Music Box Theater NYC after 97 performances
2001 – NFC Championship, Giants Stadium, East Rutherford: New York Giants beat Minnesota Vikings, 41-0
2013 – Mike Pence sworn in as 50th governor of Indiana