TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – JAN 26
66 5th recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet
1340 English king Edward III proclaimed king of France
1564 The Council of Trent issued its conclusions in the Tridentinum, establishing a distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism
1784 In a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin expressed unhappiness over the eagle as the symbol of America. He wanted the symbol to be the turkey.
1788 A fleet of ships carrying convicts from England lands at Sydney Cove in Australia. The day is since known as Australia’s national day
1802 Congress passed an act calling for establishment of a library within the US Capitol.
1808 Rum Rebellion, the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in Australia
1837 Michigan admitted as 26th US state
1838 Tennessee becomes 1st state to prohibit alcohol
1861 Louisiana secedes from the Union.
1863 American Civil War: Massachusetts Governor receives permission from Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent (54th Massachusetts Regiment)
1875 Pinkerton agents, hunting Jesse James, kill his 18-year-old half-brother and seriously injure his mother with a bomb.
1875 George F. Green patented the electric dental drill for sawing, filing, dressing and polishing teeth.
1907 1st US federal corrupt election practices law passed
1915 Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, is established
1918 Herbert Hoover, US Food Administrator, calls for “wheatless” & “meatless” days for war effort
1934 Nazi Germany & Poland sign non-attack treaty for 10 years
1947 “The Greatest Story Ever Told” was first heard on ABC radio.
1954 Ground breaking begins on Disneyland
1962 US launches Ranger 3, misses Moon by 22,000-mile (37,000-km)
1979 “The Dukes of Hazzard” premieres on US TV network CBS
1980 Israel & Egypt establish diplomatic relations
1989 US computer security expert warns of catastrophic virus
1993 Vaclav Havel was elected president of the new Czech Republic.
1996 U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton testified before a grand jury concerning the Whitewater probe.
2004 President Hamid Karzai signed the new constitution of Afghanistan.
2005 Condoleezza Rice is appointed to the post of secretary of state. The post makes her the highest ranking African-American woman ever to serve in a U.S. presidential cabinet.
2013 10 people are killed and 20 are injured by a suicide bombing in Kunduz, Afghanistan
2015 Libby Lane is ordained as the first female bishop of the Church of England
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
