2002 – The first prisoners arrive in Guantanamo Bay, Following reports of torture, Amnesty International called the situation at the US detention camp a “human rights scandal”.
1378 – Earliest record in Durham, England of ‘Plough Monday’, the first Monday after the Feast of Epiphany (Jan 6) when agricultural work could restart
1569 – England’s first state lottery was held.
1571 – Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II grants Austrian nobility freedom of religion
1599 – Jacob van Neck’s fleet leaves Bantam, Java in modern day Indonesia with 1 million pounds of pepper and cloves and a further half a ship full of nutmeg, mace and cinnamon
1693 – Most powerful earthquake in Italian recorded history strikes Sicily and Southern Italy with an estimated magnitude of 7.4. Tsunamis followed and devastated coastal villages on the Ionian Sea and the Straits of Messina.
1770 – The first shipment of rhubarb was sent to the United States from London.
1774 – Charles Messier adds M51 (spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici) to his catalog
1775 – Francis Salvador becomes 1st Jew elected to office in America (SC)
1787 – Titania and Oberon, moons of Uranus, discovered by William Herschel
1794 – U.S. Marshal Robert Forsyth is killed in Augusta, Georgia, trying to serve court papers, first US marshal to die carrying out his duties https://www.usmarshals.gov/who-we-are/about-us/history/roll-call-of-honor/roll-call-of-honor/line-of-duty
1805 – The Michigan Territory was created.
1861 – Alabama seceded from the United States.
1867 – Benito Juarez returned to the Mexican presidency, following the withdrawal of French troops and the execution of Emperor Maximilian.
1878 – In New York, milk was delivered in glass bottles for the first time by Alexander Campbell.
1879 – Anglo-Zulu War begins as British Lt-General Chelmsford invades Zululand in South Africa
1902 – “Popular Mechanics” magazine was published for the first time.
1912 – Bread & Roses Strike begins in Lawrence, Massachusetts following a pay cut
1913 – The first sedan-type car was unveiled at the National Automobile Show in New York City. The car was manufactured by the Hudson Motor Company.
1919 – 3 year old German communist party (Spartacus) crushed
1919 – Romania annexes Transylvania
1922 – At Toronto General Hospital, Leonard Thompson became the first person to be successfully treated with insulin.
1938 – In Limerick, ME, Frances Moulton assumed her duties as the first woman bank president.
1942 – Japan declared war against the Netherlands. The same day, Japanese forces invaded the Dutch East Indies.
1943 – The United States and Britain signed treaties relinquishing extraterritorial rights in China.
1946 – Enver Hoxha declares People’s Republic of Albania with himself dictator
1957 – Mass-murderer Jack Gilbert Graham is executed via the Gas Chamber.
1961 – Racial riot at University of Georgia
1962 – A massive landslide kills 4,000 in Peru, Nine villages in the Río Santa Valley were engulfed by a 12-meter wall of rock and ice.
1964 – U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry released a report that said that smoking cigarettes was a definite health hazard.
1964 – Panama ends diplomatic relations with US
1970 – Irish republican political party Sinn Féin party splits between those in favor of abstentionism (of not taking any seats won in the parliaments) and those where against
1973 – Owners of American League baseball teams voted to adopt the designated-hitter rule on a trial basis.
1977 – France released Abu Daoud, a Palestinian suspected of involvement in the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
1984 – Supreme Court reinstated $10M award to Karen Silkwood’s family
1986 – Author James Clavell signed a 5$ million deal with Morrow/Avon Publishing for the book “Whirlwind”. The book is a 2,000 page novel.
1988 – U.S. Vice President George Bush met with representatives of independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh to answer questions about the Iran-Contra affair.
1989 – 140 nations agree to ban chemical weapons (poison gas, etc)
1989 – Kindergarten student caught with loaded handgun at Bronx school
1991 – An auction of silver and paintings that had been acquired by the late Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, brought in a total of $20.29 million at Christie’s in New York.
1991 – Congress empowers Bush to order attack on Iraq
1991 – Soviets storm buildings in Vilnius to block Lithuania independence
1996 – Ryutaro Hashimoto become Japan’s prime minister. He replaced Tomiichi Murayama who had resigned on January 5, 1996.
1998 – Sidi-Hamed massacre takes place in Algeria, over 100 people are killed.
2001 – The Texas Board of Criminal Justice released a review of the escape of the “Texas 7.” It stated that prison staff missed critical opportunities to prevent the escape by ignoring a fire alarm, not reporting unsupervised inmates and not demanding proper identification from inmates.
2002 – The first prisoners arrive in Guantanamo Bay, Following reports of torture, Amnesty International called the situation at the US detention camp a “human rights scandal”.
2003 – Outgoing Illinois governor George Ryan cleared the state’s death row by commuting the sentences of 167 inmates.
2011 – The Arab Spring movement begins in Tunisia when demonstrators take to the streets to protest chronic unemployment and police brutality.
2018 – In China’s first significant #MeToo moment Beihang University in Beijing fires a professor for sexual misconduct
2018 – US President Donald Trump causes worldwide controversy when it is reported he called African countries “shitholes” during immigration meeting
2022 – Quebec announces it will impose a healthcare tax on unvaccinated adults who are accounting for 50% of ICU cases (scrapped Feb 2022)
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
