Today’s Important Historical Events

1656 Oldest surviving commercial newspaper begins (Haarlem, Netherlands)

1790 1st US President George Washington delivers 1st state of the union address

1835 US national debt is $0 for the first and only time in history

1912 Chiefs, representatives of people’s and church organisations, and other prominent individuals form the African National Congress and declare its aim to bring all Africans together as one people to defend their rights and freedoms

1916 WWI: ANZAC forces withdraw from the Gallipoli Peninsula after Ottoman forces successfully defend access to Constantinople

1926 Abdulaziz Ibn Saud becomes King of Nejd and Hejaz; forerunner of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Today’s Historical Events

871 Battle of Ashdown: Ethelred I of Wessex and his brother Alfred the Great beat invading Danish army

1198 Lotario di Segni elected Pope Innocentius III

1297 Monaco gains its independence.

1558 French troops under Duc de Guise occupy Calais

1598 Jews are expelled from Genoa, Italy

1610 Simon Marius. a German astronomer, independently discovers the first three moons of Jupiter one day after Galileo

1656 Oldest surviving commercial newspaper begins (Haarlem, Netherlands)

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1929 CBS radio network buys WABC in NYC

1955 WUNC TV channel 4 in Chapel Hill, NC (PBS) begins broadcasting

1966 The Who and The Kinks perform on the last “Shindig” TV show on ABC

1978 TV series “All Creatures Great and Small” debuts on BBC TV, based on the books by James Herriot, starring Robert hardy and Christopher Timothy

1991 “Davis Rules” with Jonathan Winters & Randy Quaid premieres on ABC-TV

1993 NBC offers “The Tonight Show” to David Letterman

1993 Robert Rodriguez‘s “El Mariachi” debuts at the Toronto Film Fetsival – will become lowest-budgeted film ever to gross $1 million

2008 34th People’s Choice Awards: Johnny Depp & Reese Witherspoon win (Movie Star) and Patrick Dempsey & Katherine Heigl win (TV)

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1705 George Frideric Handel‘s 1st opera “Almira” premieres in Hamburg, Germany

1734 Premiere of George Frideric Handel‘s opera “Ariodante” at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London

1833 Boston Academy of Music, 1st US music school, established

1949 “Make Mine Manhattan” closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 429 performances

1949 “My Romance” closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 95 performances

1949 “Small Wonder” closes at Coronet Theater NYC after 134 performances

1954 Jerry Vivino, American rock and R&B saxophonist (Max Weinberg 7; Vivino Brothers), born in Paterson, New Jersey

1956 Elvis Presley‘s “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Hound Dog” single goes #1 and stays #1 for a record 11 weeks (for a single)

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1913 Frank Chance becomes NY Yankees manager

1925 England cricket opening batsman Herbert Sutcliffe follows his 1st innings 176 with 127 in the 2nd innings but his team cannot avoid an 81 run defeat to Australia in the 2nd Test in Melbourne

1945 University of Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team sets an NCAA record by holding Arkansas State to 6 points in a 75-6 win

1947 Toronto Maple Leaf rookie Howie Meeker scores 5 goals in a game

1955 Furman sets NCAA basketball single-game scoring record with 154 pt

1955 Georgia Tech ends Kentucky’s 130-game home basketball win streak

1962 21 year old future Hall of Fame golfer Jack Nicklaus makes his first professional appearance; tied 50th in Los Angeles Open

1972 NCAA announces freshman can play on teams starting in fall

Today’s Important Historical Events

1912 Geophysicist and meteorologist Alfred Wegener presents his controversial theory of continental drift in a lecture at the Geological Association (Geologischen Vereinigung) at the Senckenberg-Museum, Frankfurt

1941 US President Franklin Roosevelt makes his “Four Freedoms” speech (freedom of speech and worship; freedom from want and fear) during his US State of Union address

1987 Astronomers at University of California see 1st sight of birth of a galaxy

2021 Supporters of President Donald Trump storm US Capitol in Washington during congressional certification of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris‘s win, resulting in five deaths and prompting evacuation of lawmakers and vice-president Mike Pence

Today’s Historical Events

1017 Cnut the Great crowned King of England in London by Lyfing, Archbishop of Canterbury

1066 King Harold I of England crowned

1099 Henry V crowned German king

1205 Philip of Swabia becomes King of the Romans

1227 Ferrand of Portugal freed from the Louvre

1322 Stephen Uros III becomes King of Serbia

1352 French King Jean II introduces Order of the Star

1355 Charles I of Bohemia is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1953 WKBN TV channel 27 in Youngstown, OH (CBS) begins broadcasting

1956 KGNS TV channel 8 in Laredo, TX (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting

1957 Elvis Presley makes his 7th & final appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show”

1958 WIPR TV channel 6 in San Juan, PR (PBS) begins broadcasting

1963 “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” with Marlin Perkins begins on NBC

1967 “Milton Berle Show” last airs on ABC-TV

1967 KHTV TV channel 39 in Houston, TX (IND) begins broadcasting

1969 The Supremes release single “I’m Livin’ In Shame”

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1900 Maurice Ravel‘s “Albaradode Gracioso” premieres in Paris

1906 Maurice Ravel‘s “Miroirs” premieres in Paris

1924 Francis Poulenc’s ballet “Les Biches”, choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska, and danced by the Ballets Russe, premieres in Monte Carlo

1950 “Happy As Larry” opens at Coronet Theater, NYC, runs for 3 performances

1951 “Pardon Our French” closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 100 performances

1963 “Oliver!” opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 774 performances

1964 Rolling Stones’ 1st tour as headline act (with Ronettes)

1968 Th Beatles’ album “Magical Mystery Tour” goes #1 & stays #1 for 8 weeks

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1681 First recorded boxing match is engineered by Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle; his butler vs his butcher

1883 Ontario Rugby Football Union forms

1896 1st US women’s 6-day bicycle race starts, Madison Square Garden

1925 Paavo Nurmi, sets indoor record, 4:13.6 mile & 14:44.6 5,000m

1930 Australian cricket icon Don Bradman scores 452 not out for New South Wales v Queensland in Sydney; then world record individual score in a first-class match; runs scored in 415 minutes

1937 Bradman scores 270 Aust v England at the MCG, incl 110 singles

1942 Bob Feller, enlists in Navy & reports for duty to Norfolk Virginia

1951 Indianapolis Olympians beat Rochester Royals, 75-73 in NBA-record 6 overtimes; also the longest game in NBA history

Today’s Important Historical Events

1477 Battle of Nancy, Burgundy vs Switzerland, 7,000 + killed including their leader Charles Duke of Burgundy

1781 British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold burns Richmond, Virginia

1919 German Workers’ Party forms, precursor to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi)

1930 Mao Zedong writes “A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire”

1949 US President Harry Truman labels his administration the “Fair Deal”

Today’s Historical Events

1349 Margaretha of Bavaria names her son Willem V Earl of Holland and Zealand

1438 Pope Eugenius IV deallocated council of Basel to Ferrara

1463 French poet Francois Villon banished from Paris

1477 Battle of Nancy, Burgundy vs Switzerland, 7,000 + killed including their leader Charles Duke of Burgundy

1500 Duke Ludovico Sforza‘s troops reconquer Milan

1527 Felix Manz, a leader of the Anabaptist congregation in Zürich, is executed by drowning. (b. 1498)

1554 Great fire in Eindhoven, Netherlands

1593 William Louis of Nassau becomes governor/viceroy of Drenthe

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1927 Fox Studios exhibits Movietone

1933 “Cavalcade” based on the play by Noël Coward, directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Diana Wynyard and Clive Brook premieres in New York (Best Production/Picture 1934)

1945 Pepe LePew debuts in Warner Bros cartoon “Odor-able Kitty”

1955 KMSP TV channel 9 in Minneapolis-St Paul, MN (IND) 1st broadcast

1967 KLXA (now KTBN) TV channel 40 in Fontana-San Ana, CA (IND) begins

1970 KPTS TV channel 8 in Hutchinson-Wichita, KS (PBS) begins broadcasting

1970 Soap Opera “All My Children” premieres on ABC

1974 Raul Julia appears on “The Bob Newhart Show” in “Oh, Brother”

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1649 Francesco Cavalli’s opera “Giasone” premieres in Venice (the most popular opera of the 17th century)

1866 Bedřich Smetana’s first opera “Branibori v Cechach” (“The Brandenburgers in Bohemia”) premieres in Prague

1875 Charles Garnier’s new Opera opens in Paris

1896 Isaac Albéniz’ opera “Pepita Jiminez” premieres in Barcelona

1946 “Show Boat” opens at Ziegfeld Theater NYC for 417 performances

1959 Buddy Holly releases his last record “It Doesn’t Matter”; he was killed in a plane crash 29 days later

1962 Tony Sheridan & Beatles record “My Bonnie” & “The Saints”, produced by Bert Kaempfert, in Hamburg, Germany

1963 Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s musical “Camelot”, starring Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, and Robert Goulet, closes at Majestic Theater, NYC, after 873 performances and winning 4 Tony Awards

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1859 1st steamboat the North Star sails up the northern Red River, America

1895 Victor Trumper makes first-class debut for NSW 17 yrs 64 days

1925 French Baseball Federation awards silver medals to John McGraw, Charlie Comiskey, & Hugh Jennings

1925 England cricket openers Herbert Sutcliffe (176) and Jack Hobbs (154) display heroics in their 1st innings but the tourists sink to an 81 run defeat in the 2nd Test against Australia in Melbourne; Sutcliffe also adds 127 in the England 2nd innings

1927 Judge Landis begins 3-day public hearing on charges that 4 games played between Chicago & Detroit in 1917 had been thrown to White Sox

1931 1st woman to purchase a baseball team Lucille Thomas purchases Topeka franchise in the Western League

1934 National & American baseball leagues select a uniform ball

1937 Australian cricket batsmen Jack Fingleton (136) and Don Bradman (out 270 the following day) make then record stand of 346 for 6th wicket in 3rd Test vs England in Melbourne

Today’s Important Historical Events

1847 Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government

1865 New York Stock Exchange opens its 1st permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad St, near Wall Street in New York City

1959 Luna 1 (Mechta) becomes 1st craft to leave Earth’s gravity

1961 Longest recorded strike ends as the Danish barbers’ assistants end a 33 year strike

2007 The 110th United States Congress convenes and elects Nancy Pelosi as the 1st female Speaker of the House

2021 1st Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines given to the general public with 82 year old Brian Pinker in the UK first to be jabbed [1]

Today’s Historical Events

46 BC Julius Caesar defeats Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina

274 St Eutychian begins his reign as Catholic Pope

871 Battle at Reading: Ethelred of Wessex defeated by Danish invasion army

1490 Anna of Brittany announces that all those who would ally with the king of France will be considered guilty of the crime of lese-majesty.

1519 -6] 1st Altenburger sermon (Luther & Karl von Miltitz)

1570 Spanish viceroy Alva banishes Zutphen City’s only physician, Joost Sweiter, “because he is a Jew”

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1896 AFL charters Actors’ National Protective Union, NYC

1903 Topsy the Elephant is Electrocuted by her owners at Luna Park, Coney Island and filmed by Edison Manufacturing movie company [1]

1934 1st Dutch talkie movie, Jan Teunissen’s “Willem of Orange” premieres

1935 Bob Hope 1st heard on network radio as part of “The Intimate Revue”

1953 KTSM TV channel 9 in El Paso, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting

1954 Soap Opera “The Brighter Day” premieres

1957 “Blondie” situation comedy premieres on NBC TV (later on CBS)

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1881 Johannes Brahms‘ “Academic Festival Overture” premieres in Breslau

1923 1st broadcast of “Barn Dance Show” (WBAP – Fort Worth Texas)

1936 Billboard magazine publishes its 1st music hit parade

1947 “Park Avenue” closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 72 performances

1947 “Show Boat” closes at Ziegfeld Theater NYC after 417 performances

1954 Elvis Presley records his 1st demo for Sun Records at a recording studio in Memphis, “It Wouldn’t Be The Same Without You” and “I’ll Never Stand In Your Way”

1969 “Fig Leaves Are Falling” closes at Broadhurst NYC after 4 performances

1970 Beatles last recording session at EMI studios

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1883 Ontario Rugby Football Union (forerunner of CFL) forms

1887 Thomas Stevens is 1st man to bicycle around the world (San Francisco to San Francisco)

1902 Australian cricket spin bowler Hugh Trumble dismisses England batsmen Arthur Jones, John Gunn and Sydney Barnes in successive balls to complete 2nd Test rout by 229 runs in Melbourne; Trumble’s first of 2 Test hat-tricks

1904 Stanley Cup, Aberdeen Pavilion, Ottawa, ON: Ottawa HC beats Winnipeg Rowing Club, 2-0 for 2-1 challenge series victory

1920 1st Black baseball league, National Negro Baseball League, organizes

1942 4th NFL All Star Game, Polo Grounds, NYC: Chicago Bears beat NFL All-Stars, 35-24

1942 7 x NL batting champion Rogers Hornsby is 14th player selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

1957 Dodgers buy 44 passenger twin-engine airplane for $775,000

Today’s Important Historical Events

45 BC The Julian calendar takes effect for the first time

630 Prophet Muhammad sets out with an army 10,000 strong to conquer Mecca

1758 The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature establish the “starting point” for standardized species names across the animal kingdom, based on the binomial nomenclature by Carolus Linnaeus 10th edition of Systema Naturae

1863 Emancipation Proclamation issued by Abraham Lincoln to free slaves in US confederate states

1892 Ellis Island opens as a US immigration inspection station – it would go on to be the gateway to the US for more than 12 million people

1896 German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen announces his discovery of x-rays

1958 European Economic Community, better known as the European Common Market starts operation

Today’s Historical Events

153 BC Roman consuls begin their year in office

45 BC The Julian calendar takes effect for the first time

1 Origin of the Christian Era

69 Roman garrison of Mainz uprising

89 Governor Lucius Antonius Saturninus of Germany becomes emperor of Rome

104 Triumphal procession for the Roman General Gaius Marius with the defeated Numidian King Jugurtha led in chains though Rome

177 Commodus, son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius becomes consul for the first time – at 15 then youngest ever in Roman history

313 Start of Roman (Pontifical) Indiction

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1944 1st feature-length foreign movie “African Journey”, shown on TV, NYC

1947 WTTG TV channel 5 in Washington, D.C. (MET) begins broadcasting

1949 KPRC TV channel 2 in Houston, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting

1949 KTTV TV channel 11 in Los Angeles, CA (MET) begins broadcasting

1953 WBRE TV channel 28 in Wilkes-Barre Scranton, PA (NBC) 1st broadcast

1953 The first TV detector van, used to track down users of unlicensed television sets, begins operation in the UK

1954 KSLA TV channel 12 in Shreveport, LA (CBS) begins broadcasting

1954 WWTV TV channel 9 in Cadillac-Traverse City, MI (CBS) 1st broadcast

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1770 Date of action in the opera “Madeleine”

1863 Franz Schubert‘s “Missa Solemnis,” premieres in Leipzig

1879 Johannes Brahms‘ Violin Concerto in D major premieres in Leipzig

1952 Dmitri Shostakovich completes his 5th string quartet

1957 Benjamin Britten‘s ballet “Prince & the Pauper,” premieres in London

1960 Johnny Cash plays first of many free concerts behind bars at San Quentin Prison, California; Merle Haggard among the inmate audience

1962 Beatles’ Decca Records audition is unsuccessful – they are told “guitar groups are on the way out…”

1964 Top of the Pops, British pop music television program premieres; acts performing include Dusty Springfield; The Rolling Stones; Dave Clark Five: The Hollies; Swinging Blue; and The Beatles

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1838 1st official horse race in South Australia-Adelaide

1902 1st Rose Bowl, Tournament Park, Pasadena, California: Michigan beats Stanford, 49-0; MVP: Neil Snow, Michigan, FB

1907 Joe Gans lands a devastating right to the head of Canadian challenger Kid Herman to retain his world lightweight boxing title with an 8th round knockout in Tonopah, Nevada

1908 Jack Hobbs makes his international debut in England’s 2nd Test win over Australia at the MCG, scoring 83 and 28 in his two innings. Goes onto become the leading run scorer and century maker in 1st-class cricket history.

1909 American Robert Fowler runs then world record marathon (2:52:45.4) at Yonkers, NY

1910 England cricket underhand bowler George Simpson-Hayward takes 6-43 on debut with underarm lobs in 1st Test against South Africa in Johannesburg; SA wins by 19 runs

1913 Australasian Championships Men’s Tennis, Hastings, NZ: Irishman James Cecil Parke beats Alfred Beamish of England 3-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, 7-5

1916 2nd Rose Bowl, Tournament Park, Pasadena, California: Washington State beats Brown, 14-0; MVP: Carl Dietz, Washington State

Today’s Important Historical Events

406 80,000 Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine at Mainz, beginning invasion of Gallia

1744 English astronomer James Bradley announces discovery of Earth’s nutation motion (wobble)

1775 Battle of Quebec in American Revolutionary War; Americans defeated trying to take British stronghold

1861 22,990mm of rain falls in Cherrapunji Assam in India in 1861, a world record

1958 Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista tells his Cabinet he is fleeing the country

Today’s Historical Events

192 Roman Emperor Commodus survives poisoning attempt by his mistress only to be strangled in the bath in assassination plot

406 80,000 Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine at Mainz, beginning invasion of Gallia

535 Byzantine General Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating Ostrogothic garrison of Syracuse, and ending his consulship for the year

765 Coffin of Ho-tse Shen-hui interred in a stupa built in China

870 Skirmish at Englefield: Ethelred of Wessex beats Danish invasion army

1229 James I of Aragon the Conqueror enters Medina Mayurqa (Palma) consummating Christian conquest of the island of Majorca

1492 100,000 Jews expelled from Sicily

1502 Cesare Borgia (son of pope Alexander VI) occupies Urbino

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1923 BBC begins using Big Ben chime ID

1943 NYC’s Times Square greets Frank Sinatra at Paramount Theater

1953 WFBC (now WYFF) TV channel 4 in G’ville-Spartanburg, SC (NBC) begins

1962 “Match Game” debuts on NBC with host Gene Rayburn

1963 Dear Abby show premieres on CBS radio (runs 11 years)

1971 KAID TV channel 4 in Boise, ID (PBS) begins broadcasting

1981 CNN Headline News debuts

1982 CBS Mystery Theater final episode on radio after 8 years

Today’s Historical Music Events

1680 Amsterdam opera at Leidsegracht opens

1879 Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera “Pirates of Penzance” premieres in NYC

1923 Harry Tierney and Joseph McCarthy’s musical “Kid Boots,” premieres in New York City

1955 “Vamp” closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 60 performances

1961 “lrma La Douce” closes at Plymouth Theater NYC after 527 performances

1963 Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir play music together for the 1st time

1966 Monkee’s “I’m a Believer” hits #1 & stays there for 7 weeks

1967 “Henry, Sweet Henry” closes at Palace Theater NYC after 80 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1906 Australasian Championships Men’s Tennis, Christchurch, NZ: All-NZ final; Antony Wilding beats Francis Fisher 6-0, 6-4, 6-4

1918 Kid Gleason replaces Pants Rowland as Chicago White Sox manager; reach World Series but lose in the “Black Sox” betting scandal; Gleason not involved

1920 Victorian all-rounder Roy Park makes Test cricket debut for Australia v England in 2nd Test in Melbourne; bowled by Harry Howell for a first ball ‘golden duck’ in his first and only Test innings

1920 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Auckland, NZ: Bill Johnson & Bill Tilden (US) beat Norman Brookes & Gerald Patterson (Australasia) 6-4, 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 for an unassailable 3-0 lead; ends 5-0

1921 Australasian Championships Men’s Tennis, Perth: Australian Rhys Gemmell beats countryman Alf Hedeman 7-5, 6-1, 6-4

1945 Before the biggest Adelaide Oval crowd of the season, batting maestro Don Bradman scores his first post-WWII century; 112 for South Australia v Australian Services

1950 American thoroughbred jockeys Bill Shoemaker and Joe Culmone end the year tied, leading the nation with record 388 wins

1952 Davis Cup Men’s Tennis, Memorial Drive, Adelaide: Vic Seixas beats Ken McGregor in 4 sets but Australia retains title for third straight year; beats US, 4-1 in Adelaide