TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – JAN 15
588 BC Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah’s reign. The siege lasts until July 23, 586 BC.
1535 Henry VIII declares himself head of the Church in England
1624 Riots flare in Mexico when it is announced that all churches are to be closed.
1777 The Republic of New Connecticut declared its independence. Six months later it was renamed Vermont.
1811 In a secret session, Congress plans to annex Spanish East Florida.
1870 A cartoon by Thomas Nast titled “A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion” appeared in “Harper’s Weekly.” The cartoon used the donkey to symbolize the Democratic Party for the first time.
1895 Tchaikovsky’s ballet “Swan Lake” premieres, St Petersburg (1/27 NS)
1919 Peasants in Central Russia rise against the Bolsheviks.
1920 The Dry Law goes into effect in the United States. Selling liquor and beer becomes illegal.
1920 The United States approves a $150 million loan to Poland, Austria and Armenia to aid in their war with the Russian communists.
1929 The U.S. Senate ratifies the Kellogg-Briand anti-war pact.
1943 The world’s largest office building, the Pentagon, was completed.
1951 Ilse Koch ( Witch of Buchenwald ) was tried for crimes against humanity at Nuremberg and sentenced to life in prison
1953 East German communist authorities begin a purge of senior officials including the Christian Democratic Foreign Minister and a number of Jewish politicians, accused of plotting against the state and spying for “imperialistic” powers.
1955 The first solar-heated, radiation-cooled house was built by Raymond Bliss in Tucson, AZ.
1967 In the first Super Bowl The Green Bay packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in Los Angeles
1967 Some 462 Yale faculty members call for an end to the bombing in North Vietnam.
1970 Muammar al-Qaddafi became Premier of Libya. He was the man who had deposed (removed from office) King Idris in 1969. Qaddafi’s political philosophies were a mixture of Orthodox Islam beliefs, revolutionary socialism, and Arab nationalism.
1973 US President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action by US troops in Vietnam.
1973 Four of six remaining Watergate defendants plead guilty.
1975 President Gerald Ford on his very first state of the union address painted a grim portrait of America’s economic woes. Millions of Americans are out of work. Recession and inflation are eroding the money of millions more. Prices are too high and sales are too low.
1976 Sara Jane Moore sentenced to life in prison for her failed attempt to assassinate US President Gerald Ford.
1986 President Reagan signed legislation making Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday a national holiday to be celebrated on the third Monday of January.
1991 UN deadline for Iraq to withdraw its forces from occupied Kuwait passes, setting the stage for Operation Desert Storm.
1997 Princess Diana angers defense ministers around the world after calling for an immediate international ban on land mines during a visit to Angola
2001 Wikipedia goes online.
2003 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Congress had permission to repeatedly extend copyright protection.
2009 After allegedly striking a flock of geese, US Airways Flight 1549, en route from La Guardia Airport, New York City, to Charlotte, N.C., is forced to land in the Hudson River. All 150 passengers and 5 crew members survived. The pilot, Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III, was hailed as the “Hero of the Hudson” for his quick thinking and deft landing of the plane.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
