TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – JAN 15
1559 Queen Elizabeth I was crowned in Westminster Abbey.
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.
1780 Continental Congress establishes court of appeals
1811 In a secret session, Congress plans to annex Spanish East Florida.
1844 The University of Notre Dame received its charter from the state of Indiana.
1870 The donkey was first used as symbol of the Democratic Party in Harper’s Weekly.
1892 The rules of Basketball are published
1895 Tchaikovsky’s ballet “Swan Lake” premieres, St Petersburg
1919 2 million gallons of molasses “Tidal wave” Boston MA, drowning 21
1922 Irish Free State forms; Michael Collins becomes 1st premier
1936 The first, all glass, windowless building was completed in Toledo, OH. The building was the new home of the Owens-Illinois Glass Company Laboratory.
1943 The world’s largest office building, the Pentagon, was completed.
1951 Supreme Court rule “clear & present danger” of incitement to riot is not protected speech & can be a cause for arrest
1967 The first National Football League Super Bowl was played. The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League. The final score was 35-10.
1973 Nixon orders ceasefire in Vietnam
1986 President Reagan signed legislation making Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday a national holiday to be celebrated on the third Monday of January.
1988 Arab uprising in Israel begins
1988 Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder makes racist remarks about black athletes
1992 The European Community recognized Croatia and Slovenia as separate states, effectively ending the Yugoslav federation, founded in 1918.
2001 Wikipedia goes online The online encyclopedia has since become the largest reference work on the internet.
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 **
