TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – JAN 18
532 Nika uprising against Emperor Justinian in Constantinople fails, 30,000 killed by troops loyal to the Emperor in the Hippodrome
1486 Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York.
1591 King Naresuan of Siam kills Crown Prince Minchit Sra of Burma in single combat, date is now observed as Royal Thai Armed Forces day
1671 Pirate Henry Morgan defeats Spanish defenders, captures Panamá
1701 Frederick III, the elector of Brandenburg, becomes king of Prussia.
1733 The first polar bear was exhibited in America, in Boston.
1778 Captain James Cook discovers the Hawaiian Islands, naming them the ‘Sandwich Islands’ after the First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Sandwich.
1788 The First Fleet, carrying convicts and sheep, arrived in Australia’s Botany Bay.
1836 Jim Bowie arrives at the Alamo to assist its Texas defenders.
1854 Filibuster William Walker proclaims Republic of Sonora in NW México
1862 Confederate Territory of Arizona is formed
1902 The Isthmus Canal Commission in Washington shifts its support from Nicaragua to Panama as a favored canal site.
1943 The Nazi siege of Leningrad was broken.
1943 Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto begin resistance of Nazis
1943 Presliced bread sale banned to reduce bakery demand for metal parts
1948 Gandhi breaks a 121-hour fast after halting Muslim-Hindu riots.
1962 The United States begins spraying foliage with herbicides in South Vietnam, in order to reveal the whereabouts of Vietcong guerrillas.
1964 Plans are disclosed for the World Trade Center in New York.
1967 Albert DeSalvo (Boston Strangler) sentenced to life in prison
1971 Ivan Koloff beats Bruno Sammartino in NY, to become WWF champ
1974 Israel & Egypt sign weapons accord
1975 “The Jeffersons” spin-off from “All in the Family” premieres on CBS
1978 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) isolate the cause of Legionnaire’s disease.
1980 Studio 54 owners Steve Rubell & Ian Schrager sentenced to 3½ years in prison for tax evasion & fined $20,000
1981 Iran accepts US offer of $7.9 billion in frozen assets
1990 Washington DC, Mayor Marion Barry arrested in drug enforcement sting
1991 Iraq starts firing Scud missiles at Israeli cities.
1991 US acknowledges CIA and US Army paid Noriega $320,000 over his career
2002 The Sierra Leone Civil War ends The conflict had lasted 11 years and left over 50,000 dead.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
