| Christopher Columbus was the first European to report seeing a manatee in the New World. To Columbus, and other sailors who had been at sea for a long time, manatees were reminiscent of mermaids -- the mythical half-fish, half-woman creatures of the ocean. |
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| In 1793, Jean Pierre Blanchard made the first successful balloon flight in the United States. Blanchard's balloon, filled with hydrogen, took off from Philadelphia, PA, soared to 5,800 feet and eventually wound up some 15 miles away, in Woodbury, New Jersey. President George Washington was in Philadelphia for the event, along with Thomas Jefferson, Henry Clay, Paul Revere, John Adams and other bigwigs. |  |
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| Income Tax was announced in 1798, and introduced in 1799, as a means of paying for the war against the French forces under Napoleon. France was threatening to invade, and had already landed briefly in Wales and Ireland. ‘Certain duties upon income’ as outlined in the Act of 1799 were to be the (temporary) solution. It was a tax to beat Napoleon. Income tax was to be applied in Great Britain (but not Ireland) at a rate of 10% on the total income of the taxpayerfrom all sources above £60, with reductions on income up to £200. |
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| The first known women's golf tournament is held at the Musselburgh Golf Club in Scotland among the local fishwives. It is believed that Mary, Queen of Scots, played at the same course at Musselburgh in 1567. |
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| While HMS Beagle carried out its hydrographic survey, Darwin explored the interesting local geology in cliffs near the harbour and found fossils of pieces of spine and a hind leg of "some large animal, I fancy a Mastodon". On their return to England, the anatomist Richard Owen revealed that the bones were actually from a gigantic Llama. This was one of the discoveries leading to the inception of Darwin's theory. |
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| The daguerreotype is named after one of its inventors, French artist and chemist Louis J.M. Daguerre, who announced its perfection in 1839 after years of research and collaboration with Joseph Nicephore Niepce. Preparation of the plate prior to image exposure resulted in the formation of a layer of photo-sensitive silver halide, and exposure to a scene or image through a focussing lens formed a latent image. The latent image was made visible, or "developed", by placing the exposed plate over a slightly heated (about 75°C) cup of mercury. |
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| Hundreds of barns collapsed under weight of snow. Snow began falling on January 5, 1880, immediately following Territorial Governor Elisha Ferry's State of the Territory message assuring the world that "ice and snow are almost unknown in Washington Territory." |
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| In early January 1894, The Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (aka Fred Ott's Sneeze) was one of the first series of short films made by Dickson for the Kinetoscope in Edison's Black Maria studio with fellow assistant Fred Ott. The short film was made for publicity purposes, as a series of still photographs to accompany an article in Harper's Weekly. It was the earliest surviving, copyrighted motion picture (or "flicker") - composed of an optical record of Fred Ott, an Edison employee, sneezing comically for the camera. |
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| Representatives of the AL and NL sign a Peace Agreement ending the war between the leagues -- but not before the AL rejects a consolidation plan proposed by several NL clubs. A joint committee awards the AL nine of the 16 players claimed by both leagues, including future Hall of Famers Sam Crawford, George Davis, Ed Delahanty, Willie Keeler and Nap Lajoie. |
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| Frank Farrell and Bill Devery, two New Yorkers who between them had close connections to city politics and the real estate market, bought the Baltimore Orioles of the rival American League of Professional Baseball Clubs for $18,000 and moved the club to New York. They built Hilltop Park, so named to reflect its high vantage point, in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, north of the Polo Grounds. |
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| In 1869, two men — a fruit merchant named Joseph Campbell and an icebox manufacturer named Abraham Anderson — shook hands in Camden, New Jersey, to form a business that would one day become one of the most recognized in the world and serve as a symbol of Americana: Campbell Soup Company. Originally called the Joseph A. Campbell Preserve Company, the business produced canned tomatoes, vegetables, jellies, soups, condiments, and minced meats. |
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| de la Cierva’s first successful flight with the autogiro took place on January 9 1923. The craft was equipped with a conventional propeller for forward flight and an articulated, or hinged, air-powered rotor blade that could be adjusted to balance lift. This technical breakthrough was necessary for the successful development of the helicopter, which ironically, replaced the autogiro around the time of World War II. |  |
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| In December 1945, the Senate and the House of Representatives, by unanimous votes, requested that the UN make its headquarters in the U.S. The offer was accepted and the UN headquarters building was constructed in New York City in 1949 and 1950 beside the East River on land purchased by an 8.5 million dollar donation from John D. Rockefeller, Jr. UN headquarters officially opened on January 9, 1951. The land is now considered international territory. |
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| As the Korean War drags on, the marines give notice that they will recall Ted Williams to active duty. He'll be recalled on May 1st. In his last at bat, Williams hits a game-winning 2-run HR against Detroit's Dizzy Trout to give the Red Sox a 5-3 win. |  |
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| Fisher was drafted into the Army in 1951 and served a year in Korea. The photos of him in uniform during his time in the Service did not hurt his civilian career, after his discharge he became even more popular singing in top nightclubs. He also had a variety television series, Coke Time with Eddie Fisher (NBC) (1953)- (1957), appeared on Perry Como's show, The Chesterfield Supper Club, the George Gobel Show, and had another series, The Eddie Fisher Show (NBC) (1957)-(1959). |
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| "Dear Abby" is a syndicated advice column which was founded in 1956 by Pauline Esther Friedman Phillips and is currently written by her daughter, Jeanne Phillips. Abigail Van Buren is the pen name that has been used by both writers for as long as the column has existed. The column is known for its "uncommon common sense and youthful perspective," and according to its publishers, it is read by more people than any other newspaper column worldwide. |
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| In 1959, Robbins recorded his hit single "El Paso," thus heralding a pattern of "gunfighter ballads" that lasted the balance of his career. Robbins also enjoyed bluesy hits like "Don't Worry," which introduced a pop audience to fuzz-tone guitar in 1961. Barely a year later, Robbins scored a calypso hit with "Devil Woman." Robbins also left a legacy of gospel music and a string of sentimental ballads, showing that he would croon with nary a touch of hillbilly twang. |
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| As part of the Cold War struggle for influence in Africa the Soviet Union stepped in in 1958, and possibly a third of the cost of the dam was paid for as a gift. The Soviets also provided technicians and heavy machinery. The enormous rock and clay dam was designed by the Russian Zuk Hydroproject Institute. Enough rock was used in the construction of the Aswan High Dam to build 17 Great Pyramids at Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. |
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| In 1961, Kaempfert hired The Beatles to back Tony Sheridan on "My Bonnie (Lies Over the Ocean)," "When the Saints Go Marching In," "Ain't She Sweet" and "Cry for a Shadow," in a session for Polydor. These turned out to be the Beatles' first commercial recordings. Kaempfert's own first hit with his orchestra had been in 1960 with "Wonderland by Night." |  |
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| The first note was the first time feedback was used on a record. It was created when Paul McCartney pushed his bass up against an amplifier. The Beatles taped this for an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show that aired September 12, 1965. They had returned to America to play their famous Shea stadium concert. It was their last appearance on the show. |  |
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| "Beatles ’65" was the number-one album in the U.S. for the first of nine straight weeks (thru March 6). The tracks were: "No Reply", "I’m a Loser","Baby’s in Black", "Rock and Roll Music", "I’ll Follow the Sun", "Mr. Moonlight", "Honey Don’t", "I’ll Be Back", "She’s a Woman", "I Feel Fine", and "Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby". |  |
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| Surveyor 7 was similar in design to Surveyor 6, but the payload was the most extensive flown during the Surveyor program. It carried a television camera with polarizing filters, an alpha-scattering instrument, a surface sampler similar to that flown on Surveyor 3, bar magnets on two footpads, two horseshoe magnets on the surface scoop, and auxiliary mirrors. The TV camera returned 20,993 pictures on the first lunar day. |
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| "My Sweet Lord" was Harrison's first single as a solo artist. It was his biggest hit. In 1976, Bright Tunes Music sued Harrison because this sounded too much like the 1963 Chiffons hit "He's So Fine." Bright Tunes owned the copyright to "He's So Fine" and received $587,000 when a judge ruled that Harrison "subconsciously plagiarized" the song. |  |
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| In 1972, Clifford Irving was imprisoned and ordered to pay back $765,000 to his publishers when it was determined that his "authorized" biography of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes was a fake. The previous year, Irving had claimed he possessed tapes, letters, and manuscripts from Hughes. Hughes, who had not been heard from publicly in over a decade, held a telephone conference to denounce Irving. |  |
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| In Hong Kong, thousands of laborers descended upon the Queen Elizabeth to carry out the task of converting the ship. Modern equipment was installed to ensure safety at sea, and certain areas of the ship were given a decidedly 'oriental' decor. The ship was still in Hong Kong harbor and nearing completion. She was scheduled to sail for Japan soon for a dry-docking and then onwards to her maiden voyage. The whole of Hong Kong was awakened to see the Queen Elizabeth, now Seawise University, was ablaze from stem to stern as suspicious fires broke out throughout the ship. |
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| On November 5 the Lakers beat Baltimore, 110-106, marking the first of 14 straight wins in November. December saw them take 16 games without a loss. Along the way, the Lakers shattered the NBA mark of 20 consecutive victories set by the Milwaukee Bucks just one season before. Los Angeles won three straight to open the new year before the Bucks finally ended the string on January 9, besting the Lakers, 120-104. At that point the Lakers had rung up a 33-game winning streak, an American professional sports record. |
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| From January 17, 1978 to January 9, 1979, a span covering 21 high school games over two seasons, Moreau was a sure thing when he stepped to the free throw line. The New Orleans native, who has spent the past 10 years calling Sylvania, Ohio home, sank 126 straight free throws during his junior and senior seasons at New Orleans De La Salle High. That is, until recently, when Deb Remmerde of Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, topped Moreau's mark by seven free throws before her lengthy streak of consecutive foul shots made halted at 133. |
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| Songwriters Steve Kipner and Terry Shaddick came up with this. Instead of writing about the emotions of love, they decided to write this about the physical side, which many listeners found very refreshing in a pop song. This was #1 in the US for 10 weeks. The only song to that point that stayed at #1 longer was Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog." |  |
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| "So Emotional" was one of 7 consecutive singles Houston released that hit #1 in the US. Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly wrote this. They are a very successful songwriting team, and have written hits for Cyndi Lauper, The Pretenders, Heart, The Bangles, Madonna and The Divinyls. |  |
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| “WHERE’S THE BEEF?” Clara Peller was first seen by TV viewers this day in the famous and successful commercial campaign for Wendy’s fast-food chain. Dave Thomas spent $8 million on the ads that promoted hamburger sales plus T-shirts, baseball caps, records, greeting cards and countless other items bearing the picture of the elderly cult star. |  |
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1493 First sight of manatees (by Christopher
Columbus)
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1793 Jean-Pierre Blanchard flies between
Philadelphia and Woodbury, New Jersey
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1799 First income tax imposed in England
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1811 First Women's Golf Tournament held
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1834 HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin arrives in Port
San Julian, Patagonia
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1839 Daguerrotype photo process announced at
French Academy of Science
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1839 Thomas Henderson measures first stellar
parallax Alpha Centauri
1880 6' (1.8 meters) of snow falls in Seattle
in 5 days
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1894 "Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze"
released in movie theaters
More ...
1903 Baseball's National & American Leagues
make peace
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1903 Frank Farrell & Bill Devery purchase
AL Baltimore
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1906 Campbell's soup was trademark registered
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1923 Juan de la Cierva makes first autogiro
(helicopter) flight, Spain
More ...
1951 UN headquarters opens in Manhattan, NYC
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1952 Marines give notice that they will recall
Ted Williams to active duty
More ...
1954 "Oh! My Papa" by Eddie Fisher
topped the charts
More ...
1956 Abigail Van Buren's "Dear Abby"
column first appears in newspapers
More ...
1958 In basketball Oscar Robertson (Cincinnati,
OH) scores 56, Seton Hall team 54
1960 "El Paso" by Marty Robbins topped
the charts
More ...
1960 Building of Aswan dam in Egypt, begins
More ...
1961 "Wonderland by Night" by Bert
Kaempfert topped the charts
More ...
1962 NFL prohibits grabbing of face masks
1965 "I Feel Fine" by the Beatles
topped the charts
More ...
1965 "Beatles ’65"
was the number-one album in the U.S.
More ...
1968 The Surveyor 7 space probe made a soft
landing on the moon
More ...
1968 First ABA All-Star Game East 126 beats
West 120 at Indiana
1971 "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison
topped the charts
More ...
1972 Billionaire Howard Hughes said Clifford
Irving's biography is a fake
More ...
1972 Passenger ship Queen Elizabeth destroyed
by fire
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1972 Los Angeles Lakers 33-game winning streak snapped
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1979 High-school player Daryl Moreau makes 126th
consecutive free throws
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1982 "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John
topped the charts
More ...
1982 "So Emotional" by Whitney Houston
topped the charts
More ...
1984 “WHERE’S THE BEEF?” Clara
Peller was first seen by TV viewers
More ...
1990 Boston Celtics worst-ever (6 points in
2nd vs New Jersey Nets) & lose 87-78