January 31, 1865

The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. It was ratified by the necessary number of states on December 6, 1865. The amendment abolished slavery in the United States.

January 30, 1649

England's King Charles I was beheaded.

January 29, 1854

Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" was published for the first time in the "New York Evening Mirror."

January 28, 1807

London's Pall Mall became the first street lit by gaslight.

Also :

1521 - The Diet of Worms began, at which Protestant reformer Luther was declared an outlaw by the Roman Catholic church.

1547 - England's King Henry VIII died. He was succeeded by his 9 year-old son, Edward VI.

1878 - The first telephone switchboard was installed in New Haven, CT.

1878 - "The Yale News" was published for the first time. It was the first, daily, collegiate newspaper in the U.S.

1909 - The United States ended direct control over Cuba.



January 27, 1926

John Baird, a Scottish inventor, demonstrated a pictorial transmission machine called television.

January 26, 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.

January 25, 1870

G.D. Dows patented the ornamental soda fountain.



Also on this day:

1533 - England's King Henry VIII secretly married his second wife Anne Boleyn. Boleyn later gave birth to Elizabeth I.

January 24, 1848

James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter's Mill in northern California. The discovery led to the gold rush of '49.

January 23, 1983

"The A-Team" debuted on TV.

January 22, 1984

Apple introduced the Macintosh during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII.

January 21, 1846

The first issue of the "Daily News," edited by Charles Dickens, was published.

January 20, 1885

 The roller coaster was patented by L.A. Thompson.

January 19, 1953

Sixty-eight percent of all TV sets in the U.S. were tuned to CBS-TV, as Lucy Ricardo, of "I Love Lucy," gave birth to a baby boy.

January 18, 1939

 Louis Armstrong and his orchestra recorded "Jeepers Creepers."

January 17, 1806

James Madison Randolph, grandson of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, was the first child born in the White House.

January 16, 1547

 Ivan the Terrible was crowned Czar of Russia.

January 15, 1559

England's Queen Elizabeth I (Elizabeth Tudor) was crowned in Westminster Abbey.

January 14, 1639

Connecticut's first constitution, the "Fundamental Orders," was adopted.

January 13, 1854

Anthony Faas of Philadelphia, PA, patented the accordion.

January 12, 1966

"Batman" debuted on ABC-TV.

January 11, 1770

The first shipment of rhubarb was sent to the United States from London.

January 10, 1776

Thomas Paine published his pamphlet "Common Sense."

January 9, 1317

Phillip V, the Tall, was crowned king of France.

January 8, 1598

Genoa Italy expels Jews

January 7, 1782

1st U.S. commercial bank, Bank of North America, opens in Philadelphia

 

January 6, 1540

King Henry VIII of England was married to Anne of Cleves, his fourth wife

Anne of Cleves

January 5, 1933

Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge began.

January 4, 1958

The Soviet satellite Sputknik I fell to the earth from its orbit.

The craft had been launched on October 4, 1957

With Sputnik I, The Soviet Union beat the United States to sending the first artificial satellite into Earth's orbit, sparking the great Space Race.

Also:

Utah became the 45th U.S. State in 1896. Congrats, Utah.

In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the Burj Dubai (Dubai Tower) opened as the world's tallest tower at 2,625 feet last year.

In 2006, Nancy Pelosi became the first women to be Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

January 3, 1521

Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms.

January 2, 1893

Chicago World's Fair, 1893

On January 2, 1893, Frederick Douglass delivered an address at the dedication of the Haitian Pavilion at the World's Columbian Exposition located in Jackson Park in Chicago. Douglass, a prominent writer, abolitionist, and publisher of the North Star, spent the years 1889 to 1891 in Haiti serving the Benjamin Harrison Administration as United States minister and general consul.

In his speech, Douglass discussed the character and history of Haiti, its evolution from slave colony to free and independent republic, and its relevance to African Americans. He expressed optimism about the country's future despite its numerous problems. Douglass used the occasion to speak of the commercial potential and historical importance of Haiti and to argue for improved relations between Haiti and the United States. "It is a land strikingly beautiful," Douglass explained, "diversified by mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers and plains, and contains in itself all the elements of great and enduring wealth."

January 1, 1892

On January 1, 1892, a fifteen-year old Irish girl named Annie Moore became the first of the more than twelve million immigrants who would pass through the doors of the Ellis Island Immigration Station in its sixty-two years of operation. This small island off the New Jersey coast in the New York Harbor lies in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. Together, these two landmarks have welcomed millions of immigrants to America.

 

 A Statue of Annie Moore

Fred Astaire's father, Fritz Austerlitz, was another 1892 arrival. A few other famous Ellis Island immigrants who arrived during this era include Harry Houdini in 1914, Walter Elias Disney (Walt Disney) in 1919 Albert Einstein in 1921, F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1921 and George Gershwin in 1921.