971 – In China, the war elephant corps of the Southern Han are soundly defeated at Shao by crossbow fire from Song Dynasty troops. The Southern Han state is forced to submit
1002 – Otto III, German king/emperor 983/996-1002, dies at 21
1556 – Shaanxi Earthquake – deadliest ever recorded kills 830,000 in Shensi Province, China to the Song Dynasty, ending Southern Han rule, also first regular war elephant corps employed in Chinese army
1570 – James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, regent for the infant King James VI of Scotland, is assassinated by firearm, the first recorded instance of such. Civil war breaks out
1571 – Queen Elizabeth I of England opens Royal Exchange in London
1737 – John Hancock, American politician, 1st Governor of Massachusetts – merchant/statesman, (1st to sign Declaration of Independence), (d. 1793), [o.s. 1936-01-12] was born
1803 – Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer (b. 1725) Dies
1813 – George Clymer, US merchant (signed Decl of Independence), dies at 73
1849 – Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Geneva Medical College of Geneva, New York, becoming the United States’ first female doctor.
1803 – Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer, founded Guinness (b. 1725) died.
1810 – Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German chemist and physicist (b. 1776) died.
1832 – Edouard Manet, Paris, French impressionist painter (Olympia, The Luncheon on the Grass), (d. 1883) Born
1849 – Mrs Elizabeth Blackwell becomes 1st woman physician in US
1853 – John Wilkes Booth is baptized at St. Timothy’s Protestant Episcopal Church
1855 – The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens in what is now Minneapolis, Minnesota, a crossing made today by the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge.
1855 – John Browning, American weapons designer, founded the Browning Arms Company (d. 1926) was born.
1859 – Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii begins an eruption that lasts 300 days
1870 – In Montana, U.S. cavalrymen kill 173 Native Americans, mostly women and children, in what becomes known as the Marias Massacre.
1897 – Elva Zona Heaster is found dead in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The resulting murder trial of her husband is perhaps the only case in United States history where the alleged testimony of a ghost helped secure a conviction.
1909 – RMS Republic, a passenger ship of the White Star Line, becomes the first ship to use the CQD distress signal after colliding with another ship, the SS Florida, off the Massachusetts coastline, an event that kills six people. The Republic sinks the next day.
1912 – The International Opium Convention is signed at The Hague.
1912 – A new type of horn was created and patented on this day. This horn is called the “exhaust horn” which is a tail pipe shaped like a pipe organ that plays musical notes. This particular exhaust pipe was created by the Aermore Manufacturing Company.
1913 – The Young Turks lead a coup d’etat against the Turkish Government
1914 – Napoleon L Bonaparte, French pretender to the throne – Born
1920 – Dutch refuse to turn over ex-kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany to allies
1920 – Walter Frederick Morrison, American inventor, invented the Frisbee (d. 2010) was born.
1933 – The 20th Amendment to the US Constitution Is Ratified which establishes the beginning and ending of the terms of the elected federal officials.
1933 – Chita Rivera, Wash DC, actress (West Side Story, Sweet Charity) Born
1935 – Robert Parris Moses, American educator and activist was born.
1937 – In Moscow, 17 leading Communists go on trial accused of participating in a plot led by Leon Trotsky to overthrow Joseph Stalin’s regime and assassinate its leaders. ( Karl Radek & 16 others go on trial in Stalin’s great purge)
1940 – Johnny Russell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2001) was born.
1941 – Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.
1943 – Duke Ellington plays at Carnegie Hall in New York City for the first time.
1943 – Louis Jordan and His Timpany Five take the song “What’s the Use of Getting Sober (When You Gonna Get Drunk Again)” to the top chart spot. It only stays there for one week.
1944 – Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (The Scream), dies at 80
1944 – Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor (Blade Runner, Ladyhawke, Osterman Weekend) Born
1945 – Mike Harris, Canadian politician, 22nd Premier of Ontario was birthed.
1945 – Helmuth J Moltke, German politician (“July 20th Plot”), executed at 37
1946 – Zvonko Bušić, Croatian terrorist, hijacker of TWA Flight 355 (d. 2013) was birthed
1947 – Gatewood Galbraith, [Louis], Carlisle, Kentucky, Lawyer, American political activist, iconic Kentucky political figure, (Friend of Jack Blood) (d. 2012) Born
1950 – NFL rule changes open way for 2-platoon system (offense & defense) Up until then players played on BOTH offense and defense.
1950 – Israeli Knesset resolves Jerusalem is capital of Israel
1950 – Richard Dean Anderson, American actor, producer, and composer was born.
1950 – Bill Cunningham, American bass player and keyboard player (The Box Tops) was born
1950 – Danny Federici, American accordion player (E Street Band) (d. 2008) was born.
1950 – John Greaves, Welsh bass player and songwriter (Henry Cow, National Health, and The Lodge) was born.
1953 – Robin Zander, American singer and guitarist (Cheap Trick) was born.
1954 – Richard Finch, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (KC and the Sunshine Band) was born.
1954 – Edward Ka-Spel, English singer-songwriter (Legendary Pink Dots, The Tear Garden, and Mimir) was born.
1957 – American inventor Walter Frederick Morrison sells the rights to his flying disc to the Wham-O toy company, which later renames it the “Frisbee”.
1964 – The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in national elections, is ratified.
1967 – Milton Keynes (England) is founded as a new town by Order in Council, with a planning brief to become a city of 250,000 people. Its initial designated area enclosed three existing towns and twenty one villages.
1968 – North Korea seizes the USS Pueblo, claiming the ship had violated its territorial waters while spying. (Spy ship USS Pueblo & 83-man crew seized in Sea of Japan by North Korea)
1969 – Cream releases their last album “Goodbye”
1970 – Australia’s 1st amateur radio satellite (Oscar 5) launched (California)
1973 – President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord has been reached in Vietnam.
1973 – Alexander Onassis, Greek heir of the Onassis family (b. 1948) Dies
1975 – Tito Ortiz, American UFC fighter, Born
1977 – The Alex Haley book “Roots” is turned into a TV Mini Series of 8 episodes and the first episode is shown on 23rd January and the last episode shown on January 30th. The mini series made history when it won 9 Emmys, a Golden Globe, and a Peabody Award.
1978 – Vic Ames, American singer (Ames Brothers) (b. 1925) died
1978 – Terry Kath, rock guitarist (Chicago), accidently shot in head at 32
1978 – Jack Oakie, American actor (b. 1903) died.
1978 – Sweden becomes the first nation in the world to (Allegedly) ban aerosol sprays, believed to be damaging to earth’s ozone layer.
1983 – Russian radioactive satellite falls into Indian Ocean
1986 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts its first members: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.
1989 – Salvador Dalí, Catalan (Spain) artist (b. 1904) Dies at 85
1990 – Allen Collins, American guitarist and songwriter (Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rossington Collins Band, and Allen Collins Band) (b. 1952) died.
1991 – “Seinfeld” debuts on NBC-TV
1997 – Madeleine Albright becomes the first “woman” to serve as United States Secretary of State.
1997 – Laura “Dinky” Patterson, dies bungee jumping at Super Bowl rehearsal at 43
1997 – Richard Berry, lyricist (Louie Louie), dies at 61
1998 – Pope John Paul II condemns US embargo against Cuba
2001 – (False Flag): The Chinese Communist Party stages a self-immolation in Tiananmen Square to frame Falun Gong and escalate the persecution. – Five people attempt to set themselves on fire in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, an act that many people later claim is staged by the Communist Party of China to frame Falun Gong and thus escalate their persecution.
2002 – “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh returns to the United States in FBI custody.
2002 – Reporter Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan and subsequently murdered .
2004 – Helmut Newton, German-born photographer (b. 1920) Dies
2007 – E. Howard Hunt, American CIA officer (b. 1918) died.
2011 – Jack LaLanne, American fitness instructor, author, and television host (b. 1914) died.
2012 – A group of Gaddafi loyalists take control of part of the town of Bani Walid and fly the green flag after a battle with NTC forces left 5 dead and 20 injured.
2012 – European Union agrees to embargo Iranian oil in protest against Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program
2012 – Anthony Capo, DeCavalcante crime family hitman and informant, dies from heart attack at 52/53
2013 – 23 people are killed in a mosque suicide bombing in Tuz Khormato, Iraq
2013 – 18 people are killed in a market shooting in Damboa, Nigeria
2013 – US armed forces overturns 1994 ban on women serving in combat