A quick look at Today in History, check out some Celebrity Birthdays, and find out what Days of the Year to celebrate.
TODAY IN HISTORY:
1885 – The roller coaster was patented by L.A. Thompson.
1887 – The Senate approved an agreement to lease Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as a naval base.
1880 – The first international telephone line connected Detroit and Windsor.
1920 – The American Civil Liberties Union was formed.
1929 – The movie “In Old Arizona” was released. The film was the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors.
1936 – Edsel Ford started the Ford Foundation.
1937 – Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the first President to be inaugurated on January 20th. The 20th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution officially set the date for the swearing in of the President and Vice President.
1953 – Dwight D. Eisenhower was inaugurate as the 34th President of the United States.
1954 – The National Negro Network was established with forty charter member radio stations.
1958 – Elvis Presley got his orders to report to duty from the U.S. Army. He was allowed a 60-day deferment so he could finish the film “King Creole.”
1981 – Iran released 52 Americans that had been held hostage for 444 days. The hostages were flown to Algeria and then to a U.S. base in Wiesbaden, West Germany. The release occurred 20 minutes after Ronald Reagan was sworn in as President.
1982 – Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off of a bat in Des Moines, IA, and was hospitalized to undertake a series of rabies shots.
1985 – Super Bowl XIX was the most-watched Super Bowl game in history as an estimated 115.9 million people tuned in to watch the game. The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Miami Dolphins, 38-16. It also marked the first time that TV commercials sold for a million dollars a minute.
1986 – For the first time, the U.S. observed a federal holiday in honor of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
1986 – Britain and France announced their plans to build the Channel Tunnel.
1986 – New footage of the 1931 movie “Frankenstein” was found. The footage was originally deleted because it was considered to be too shocking.
1987 – NBC aired the TV show “Unsolved Mysteries” for the first time.
1987 – Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite was kidnapped in Beirut, Lebanon. He was there trying to negotiate the release of Western hostages. He was not freed until November 1991.
1989 – George H.W. Bush was inaugurated as President.
1993 – Bill Clinton was sworn in as President.
1994 – Shannon Faulkner became the first woman to attend classes at The Citadel in South Carolina. Faulkner joined the cadet corps in August 1995 under court order but soon dropped out.
1997 – Bill Clinton was inaugurated for his second term as President of the United States.
1998 – Jury selection began in the federal defamation trial that pitted Texas cattle producers against Oprah Winfrey. The suit concerned comments made during the taping of a 1996 show about dangerous foods that cattlemen say violated Texas’s “food disparagement” law and cost them millions in revenue.
1998 – American researchers announced that they had cloned calves that may produce medicinal milk.
1998 – The television teen drama “Dawson’s Creek” premiered on The WB.
2001 – George W. Bush was sworn in as the 43rd President.
2002 – Michael Jordan, of the Washington Wizards, played his first game in Chicago as a visiting player. The Wizards beat the Bulls 77-69.
2004 – Martha Stewart’s trial got under way.
2004 – The Salvation Army announced that the late Joan Kroc, widow of the founder of McDonalds, left the organization a bequest of $1.5 billion dollars.
2007 – The four-man team N2i, using only skis and kites, completed a 1,093 mile trek in to reach the Antarctic pole of inaccessibility for the first time since 1965 and for the first time without mechanical assistance.
2008 – The TV show “Breaking Bad” debuted.
2009 – Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, becoming the first African-American President.
2017 – Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States.
2020 – The first coronavirus case in the United States was confirmed.
2021 – Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States. At the age of 78, he is the oldest person to ever be inaugurated. Kamala Harris became the first female Vice President of the U.S.
BIRTHDAYS:
Ray Anthony – 102 years old (1922) – Bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter, actor (Glenn Miller Orchestra)
Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin – 94 years old (1930) – Astronaut (Second man to walk on the moon. TV’s “Dancing With the Stars: Season 10”)
David Lynch – 78 years old (1946) – TV and film director (“Blue Velvet”, “The Elephant Man”, “Eraserhead”, TV’s “Mulholland Drive”, “Twin Peaks”)
Ian Hill – 72 years old (1952) – Bassist (Judas Priest)
Paul Stanley – 72 years old (1952) – Guitarist, singer (KISS)
Bill Maher – 68 years old (1956) – Political comedian and TV host (TV’s “Real Time”, “Politically Incorrect”, movie “Religulous”)
Lorenzo Lamas – 66 years old (1958) – Actor (TV’s “The Bold and the Beautiful”, “Falcon Crest”, “Renegade”)
John Michael Montgomery – 59 years old (1965) – Singer (“I Love the Way You Love Me”, “Be My Baby Tonight”)
Rainn Wilson – 58 years old (1966) – Actor (TV’s “Backstrom”, “The Office”, “Six Feet Under”, movies “The Rocker”, “Juno”)
Stacy Dash – 57 years old (1967) – Actress (“Clueless”)
Melissa Rivers – 56 years old (1968) – TV host (E!, TV Guide Channel, TV’s “I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here”, “The Celebrity Apprentice: Season 2”)
Edwin McCain – 54 years old (1970) – Singer (“I’ll Be”)
Skeet Ulrich – 54 years old (1970) – Actor (“Scream”, “The Craft”, TV’s “Miracles”, “Jericho”, “Law and Order”)
TODAY IS:
International Day of Acceptance
For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.
