1945 – Soviet troops arrive at Auschwitz to discover 7,600 survivors and 648 corpses. Most of the prisoners in Auschwitz had been sent out on a death march on Jan 18
1482 – “Pentateuch” the Jewish Bible is 1st printed as a book in Bologna, Italy
1500 – Vicente Yáñez Pinzón discovered Brazil.
1564 – The Council of Trent issued its conclusions in the Tridentinum, establishing a distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism
1565 – Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Islamic sultanates of the Deccan, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent.
1611 – Madame de Poutrincourt leaves Dieppe, France with Jesuits Pierre Biard and Enémond Masse and her son, Charles Biencourt; first titled lady, first Jesuits in Canada
1697 – Isaac Newton receives Jean Bernoulli’s 6 month time-limit problem, solves problem before going to bed that same night
1699 – Venice, Poland & Austria sign Treaty of Karlowitz with Ottoman Empire, ending the Great Turkish War (1683-97) – 1st time Ottomans concede significant territory
1736 – Stanislaus I formally abdicated as King of Poland.
1784 – In a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin expressed unhappiness over the eagle as the symbol of America. He wanted the symbol to be the turkey.
1788 – The first European settlers in Australia, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, landed in what became known as Sydney. The group had first settled at Botany Bay eight days before. This day is celebrated as Australia Day.
1802 – The U.S. Congress passed an act calling for a library to be established within the U.S. Capitol.
1827 – Peru seceded from Colombia in protest against Simón Bolívar’s alleged tyranny.
1837 – Michigan became the 26th state to join the United States.
1841 – Britain formally occupied Hong Kong, which the Chinese had ceded to the British.
1861 – In the U.S., Louisiana seceded from the Union.
1870 – The state of Virgina rejoined the Union.
1905 – The Cullinan diamond, at 3,106.75 carats, was found by Captain Wells at the Premier Mine, near Pretoria, South Africa.
1907 – The first federal corrupt election practices law passed
1914 – 600 Dutch textile workers go on strike
1915 – Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado established
1918 – President Hoover calls for “”wheatless”” & “”meatless”” days for war effort
1920 – Former Ford Motor Co. executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer.
1934 – The Apollo Theatre opened in New York City.
1936 – Joseph Stalin views Dmitri Shostakovich’s opera “Lady Macbeth” but he and his officials leave early and the play is denounced in state press
1939 – In the Spanish Civil War, Franco’s forces, with Italian aid, took Barcelona.
1940 – Nazis forbid Polish Jews to travel on trains
1942 – The first American expeditionary force to go to Europe during World War II went ashore in Northern Ireland.
1945 – Soviet troops arrive at Auschwitz to discover 7,600 survivors and 648 corpses. Most of the prisoners in Auschwitz had been sent out on a death march on Jan 18
1948 – Executive Order 9981, end segregation in US Armed Forces signed
1950 – India officially proclaimed itself a republic as Rajendra Prasad took the oath of office as president.
1952 – Black Saturday in Egypt: riots burn Cairo’s central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
1961 – U.S. President John F. Kennedy appointed Dr. Janet G. Travell as the first woman to be the “personal physician to the President”.
1962 – Bishop Burke of Buffalo Catholic dioceses declares Chubby Checker’s “”Twist”” is impure & bans it from all Catholic schools
1976 – Belgium catholic elite start amnesty campaign for war criminals
1979 – The ‘Gizmo’ guitar synthesizer was first demonstrated.
1980 – Prime Minister Joe Clark warns USSR that Canada will boycott Summer Olympics in Moscow if Soviet troops do not leave Afghanistan
1982 – Unemployment in UK reached 3 million in Britain (1 in 8 of working population)
1984 – US Federal government announces land claims settlement with Yukon first nations, who receive $620 million and title to 20,000 sq km
1992 – Russian president Boris Yeltsin announced that his country would stop targeting U.S. cities with nuclear weapons.
1993 – Former Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel was elected president of the new Czech Republic.
1994 – In Sydney, Australia, a young man lunged at and fired two blank shots at Britain’s Prince Charles.
1996 – U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton testified before a grand jury concerning the Whitewater probe.
1998 – U.S. President Clinton denied having an affair with a former White House intern, saying “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”
1999 – Saddam Hussein vowed revenge against the U.S. in response to air-strikes that reportedly killed civilians. The strikes were U.S. planes defending themselves against anti-aircraft fire.
2000 – Rap-metal band Rage Against the Machine plays in front of Wall Street, prompting an early closing of trading due to the crowds.
2004 – Mydoom, the most destructive computer worm (at the time), first sighted on computers in North America. Goes on to cause $38 billion in damages.
2005 – Condoleezza Rice is sworn in as U.S. Secretary of State, becoming the first African American woman to hold the post.
2009 – The Icelandic government and banking system collapsed. Prime Minister Geir Haarde resigned.
2010 – The World Health Organization rejects claims that it overstated the severity of the swine flu pandemic under pressure from vaccine companies
2013 – 30 people are killed during a violent protest in Port Said, Egypt
2016 – Leader of Oregon militia occupying Malheur wildlife refuge arrested and another killed in shoot-out with Federal agents
2023 – Five ex-Memphis police officers charged with murdering Tyre Nichols who they beat at a traffic stop on Jan 7
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
