TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – JAN 13
532 Nika riots begin in Contaninople, revolt against Emperor Justinian, prompted by chariot racing
1128 Pope Honorius II granted a papal sanction to the military order known as the Knights Templar. He declared it to be an army of God.
1397 John of Gaunt marries Katherine Rouet.
1846 President James Polk dispatches General Zachary Taylor and 4,000 troops to the Texas Border as war with Mexico looms.
1854 Anthony Faas of Philadelphia, PA, was granted the first U.S. patent for the accordion. He made improvements to the keyboard and enhanced the sound.
1862 President Lincoln names Edwin M. Stanton Secretary of War.
1888 National Geographic Society founded in Washington, D.C.
1906 Telimco makes the 1st ever advertisment for a radio set, by advertising a $7.50 set in the “Scientific American” which claimed to receive signals for up to one mile
1919 California votes to ratify the prohibition amendment.
1923 Hitler denounces the Weimar Republic as 5,000 storm troopers demonstrate in Germany.
1927 A woman takes a seat on the NY Stock Exchange breaking the all-male tradition.
1928 Ernst F. W. Alexanderson gave the first public demonstration of television
1937 The United States bars Americans from serving in the Civil War in Spain.
1942 Henry Ford patented the plastic automobile referred to as the “Soybean Car.” The car was 30% lighter than the average car.
1945 The Red Army opens an offensive in South Poland, crashing 25 miles through the German lines.
1947 British troops replace striking truck drivers.
1966 Robert C. Weaver became the first black Cabinet member when he was appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by U.S. President Johnson.
1968 Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom State Prison
1980 The United States offers Pakistan a two-year aid plan to counter the Soviet threat in Afghanistan.
1982 Air Florida Flight 90 Boeing 737 jet crashes into Washington, D.C.’s 14th Street Bridge shortly after takeoff, then plunges into the Potomac River; 78 people, including 4 motorists, are killed.
1992 Japan apologized for forcing tens of thousands of Korean women to serve as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II.
2000 Microsoft chairman Bill Gates steps aside as chief executive and promotes company president Steve Ballmer to the position
2002 U.S. President George W. Bush fainted after choking on a pretzel.
2004 Joseph Darby, a U.S. soldier at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, reported U.S. abuses of Iraqi prisoners to the Army’s Criminal Investigations Division..
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
