TODAY HISTORY LESSON: JANUARY 22
1517 Turks conquer Cairo
1689 England’s “Bloodless Revolution” reaches its climax when parliament invites William and Mary to become joint sovereigns.
1771 The Falkland Islands were ceded to Britain by Spain.
1807 President Thomas Jefferson exposes a plot by Aaron Burr to form a new republic in the Southwest.
1813 During the War of 1812, British forces under Henry Proctor defeat a U.S. contingent planning an attack on Fort Detroit.
1879 Battle of Rorke’s Drift: British garrison of 150 holds off 3,000-4,000 Zulu warriors. Eleven Victoria Crosses and a number of other decorations were awarded to the defenders.
1879 James Shields (D) elected US senator from Missouri after previously serving as US senator from Illinois & Minnesota
1901 Queen Victoria of England died after reigning for 63 years (the 4th longest among longest-reigning monarchs and the longest for queens).
1903 The Hay-Herrán Treaty was signed by United States Secretary of State John M. Hay and Colombian Chargé Dr. Tomás Herrán. The treaty granted the United States rights to the land proposed for the Panama Canal.
1905 In St Petersburg, Russia, a large demonstration of workers led by Father Gapon, march to the Winter Palace with a petition to the Tsar; troops fire on protesters in what becomes known as ‘Bloody Sunday’
1939 Aquatic Park, near Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco CA, is dedicated
1939 Uranium atom 1st split, Columbia University
1950 Alger Hiss, a former adviser to U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, was convicted of perjury for denying contacts with a Soviet agent. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
1957 Suspected “Mad Bomber” was arrested in Waterbury, CT. George P. Metesky was accused of planting more than 30 explosive devices in the New York City area.
1963 The Élysée Treaty formalizes the reconciliation between Germany and France
1968 “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” premieres on NBC
1973 The U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws that had been restricting abortions during the first six months of pregnancy. The case (Roe vs. Wade) legalized abortion.
1979 Abu Hassan, the alleged planner of the 1972 Munich raid, is killed by a bomb in Beirut.
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
1998 Theodore Kaczynski pled guilty to federal charges for his role as the Unabomber. He agreed to life in prison without parole.
2000 Elian Gonzalez’s grandmothers met privately with U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno as they appealed for help in removing the boy from his Florida relatives and reuniting him with his father in Cuba.
2002 Lawyers suing Enron Corp. asked a court to prevent further shredding of documents due to the pending federal investigation.
2006 Eco Morales becomes Bolivia’s first indigenous president
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
