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
Category: Historical Events
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
Historical Events for 13th January 2024
1695 – Jonathan Swift ordained an Anglican priest in Ireland
1911 – South Africa cricket team’s 1st win over Australia, at Adelaide
1968 – “Hallelujah, Baby!” closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 293 performances
1978 – NASA select its first American women astronauts
1986 – ABC’s TV premiere of “The Right of The People”, whose writer and director is said to have been inspired by the 14 December 1980 massacre at Bob’s Big Boy in Los Angeles
1989 – Ruins of Mashkan-shapir (occupied 2050-1720 BC) found in Iraq
1991 – UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar meets with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
2002 – 28th People’s Choice Awards: Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts win (Dramatic Motion Picture) and Kelsey Grammer, Ray Romano and Jennifer Aniston win (TV)
2021 – President Donald Trump is impeached by the US House of Representatives voting 232-197, for “incitement of insurrection”, first time in history a US President is impeached twice
2021 – Deadliest air raid by Israel on Syria since 2018, when 10 soldiers and 47 allied fighters killed in attacks on military positions
Historical Events for 12th January 2024
1924 – History of Science Society organized at Boston
1943 – Frankfurters replaced by Victory Sausages (mix of meat and soy meal)
1945 – German forces in Belgium retreat in Battle of Bulge
1950 – Swedish tanker rams British submarine Truculent in Thames, 64 die
1957 – Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) founded with Martin Luther King Jr. as leader at Ebenezer Church in Atlanta
1971 – Congressional Black Caucus organizes
1974 – “Joker” by Steve Miller Band peaks at #1
1998 – Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning.
2007 – Comet McNaught reaches perihelion becoming the brightest comet in more than 40 years.
2010 – Colombia officially leaves the recession after achieving 2% economic growth in the last quarter of 2009
Historical Events for 11th January 2024
1779 – Ching-Thang Khomba is crowned King of Manipur
1966 – “Daktari” African adventure series premieres on CBS TV
1967 – Romeinse Curie installs Council for Pontifical Study commission
1981 – “Tintypes” closes at John Golden Theater NYC after 93 performances
1985 – CDC MMWR publishes guidelines for screening U.S. blood supply for AIDS antibodies with ELISA test that would be available later that year
1987 – NFC Championship, Giants Stadium, East Rutherford: New York Giants beat Washington Redskins, 17-0
1998 – Sidi-Hamed massacre takes place in Algeria, over 100 people are killed.
1998 – 24th People’s Choice Awards: Harrison Ford and Julia Roberts win (Dramatic Motion Picture) and Tim Allen and Oprah Winfrey win (TV)
1999 – Marty Schottenheimer resigns as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs
2004 – 30th People’s Choice Awards: Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts win (Dramatic Motion Picture) and Ray Romano and Jennifer Aniston win (TV)
Historical Events for 10th January 2024
1863 – January uprising begins in Poland
1870 – Standard Oil Company created by John D. Rockefeller (30%), his brother and other business partners. Then controlled about 10% of world oil.
1943 – Soviet offensive against German 6th and 4th Armies near Stalingrad
1954 – Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to W H Auden
1965 – WKBD TV channel 50 in Detroit, Michigan (IND) begins broadcasting
1978 – Soyuz 27 launches, carrying 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6 space station
1993 – Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, musical “My Favorite Year”, adapted from the 1982 film, and starring Evan Pappas, Tim Curry, Andrea Martin, and Lainie Kazan, closes at Vivian Beaumont Theater, NYC, after 37 performances and a Tony Award for Martin
2004 – 9th Critics’ Choice Movie Awards: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King wins Best Film
2015 – 57 people are killed after an oil tanker collided with a passenger coach outside of Karachi, Pakistan
2022 – College Football, National Championship, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana: #3 Georgia beats #1 Alabama, 33-18
Historical Events for 9th January 2024
1760 – Afghans defeat the Indian Maratha Empire in the Battle of Barari Ghat
1792 – Russia and Turkey sign Peace of Jassy
1894 – New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
1908 – Muir Woods National Monument, California, established
1937 – Maxwell Anderson’s stage drama “High Tor” premieres at Martin Beck Theatre, NYC; runs for 171 performances, wins Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play
1945 – US soldiers led by General Douglas MacArthur invades Philippines
1951 – Washington Capitals NBA team folds
1977 – Australian Open Men’s Tennis: American Roscoe Tanner wins his first and only Grand Slam event; beats Guillermo Vilas of Argentina 6-3, 6-3, 6-3
2007 – 33rd People’s Choice Awards: Johnny Depp and Jennifer Aniston win (Movie Star) and Patrick Dempsey and Eva Longoria win (TV)
2021 – Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 crashes in the Java Sea just after take off from Jakarta, Indonesia, killing all 62 on board