TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – JAN 13
532 Nika riots begin in Constantinople, revolt against Emperor Justinian, prompted by chariot racing
1610 Galileo Galilei discovers Callisto, 4th satellite of Jupiter
1794 Congress changes US flag to 15 stars & 15 stripes
1846 President James Polk dispatches General Zachary Taylor and 4,000 troops to the Texas Border as war with Mexico looms.
1854 Anthony Foss patents the accordion
1863 Thomas Crapper pioneers one-piece pedestal flushing toilet
1898 French writer Emile Zola published his “J’Accuse” letter, accusing the French of a cover-up in the Alfred Dreyfus treason case.
1900 To combat Czech nationalism, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary decrees German the official language of the Imperial Army.
1919 California votes to ratify the prohibition amendment.
1937 The United States bars Americans from serving in the Civil War in Spain.
1942 Henry Ford patents a method of constructing plastic auto bodies
1947 British troops replace striking truck drivers.
1955 Chase National and the Bank of Manhattan agree to merge resulting in the second largest U.S. bank.
1957 Wham-O Company produces the 1st Frisbee
1968 Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom State Prison
1970 Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu flees Biafra into exile, leaving his deputy Philip Effiong to surrender to the Nigerian army, unofficially ending the Nigerian Civil War
1980 The United States offers Pakistan a two-year aid plan to counter the Soviet threat in Afghanistan.
1986 Bloody coup overthrows government of South Yemen
1988 Supreme Court rules (5-3) public school officials have broad powers to censor school newspapers, plays & other expressive activities
1990 In Virginia, Douglas Wilder, the first African American elected governor of a US state, takes office.
1992 US serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer pleads guilty but insane
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 **
