1608 – The first English settlement in America, Jamestown, VA, burned to the ground.
    1714 – The typewriter was patented by Englishman Henry Mill.
    1782 - The first commercial bank in the US, the Bank of North America, was opened at Philadelphia, PA. The bank was the brainchild of Robert Morris. Despite the bank's success, Philadelphia's run as America's leading home of private financial institutions was short-lived. Soon after the Bank of North America opened, the Pennsylvania legislature moved to outlaw private banks in the state, a decision that led scores of prospective bankers to set up shop in the nation's eventual financial center, New York City.
    1784 - David Landreth established the first organized seed business in Philadelphia, PA. Previously, seeds had been imported from Europe or saved from each crop by individual farmers. The firm incorporated in 1904 as the D. Landreth Seed Company, later became a subsidiary of the Robert Buist Company, founded in Philadelphia, in 1828.
    1789 - The first national presidential election in the United States was held.
George Washington Virginia No Party 69 85.2%
John Adams Massachusetts No Party 34 42.0%
John Jay New York No Party 9 11.1%
Robert Harrison Maryland No Party 6 7.4%
John Rutledge South Carolina No Party 6 7.4%
Other - - 14 17.3%
Electoral votes not cast - 24 29.6%
Note that prior to the ratification of the 12th Amendment to the Constitution in 1804, each Elector cast two votes for President (instead of one vote for President and one vote for Vice President). The candidate receiving the most votes became President and the candidate receiving the second most votes became Vice President. George Washington received one vote from each elector (that cast a ballot). The New York legislature failed to appoint its allotted 8 Electors in time. Two Electors from Maryland did not vote. One Elector from Virginia did not vote and one Elector was not chosen because an election district failed to submit returns.
    1800 - 13th president of the US, Millard Fillmore’s birthday at Summerhill, NY. Fillmore succeeded to the presidency upon the death of Zachary Taylor, but he did not get the hoped-for nomination from his party in 1852. He served as president from July 10, 1850 to Mar 3, 1853. He ran for president in 1856 as candidate of the “Know-Nothing Party,” whose platform demanded, among other things, that every government employee (federal, state and local) should be a native-born citizen. Fillmore died at Buffalo, NY, Mar 8, 1874. Now his birthday is often used as an occasion for parties for which there is no other reason.
    1806 - The Cherokee nation ceded 7,000 square miles of land in Tennessee and Alabama.
    1822 - Liberia was first colonized by Americans.
    1824 - The first boxing arena in America had its first fight between Tom Springs and Jack Langan, the Irish champion. The arena was specifically built for this site and had about 4,000 seats, plus room for 22,000 people to stand. Admission was 10 shillings ($2.50), half of which went to the fighters. This was a lot of money in its day as average monthly earnings were $8 to $10 a month.
    1830 – The first U.S. Railroad Station opened in Baltimore by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company.  The first passengers boarded the first commercial transportation of passengers and freight.  Tickets were 9 cents each, or three for 25 cents, for a ride from Pratt Street in Baltimore to the Carrolton Viaduct. At first, passengers rode primarily for the novel experience.
    1861 - Florida troops takeover Fort Marion at St Augustine. The Confederates take over many forts, until Union Troops invade Florida, taking back some of the forts, securing ports, to cut off trade with European. http://www.nps.gov/casa/
    1862 - An advance guard of Confederates was defeated by about 2,000 Federals under Col. Dunning at Blue's Gap in Romney, West Virginia.  Further east, the Battle of Manassas, VA was fought.
http://www.historichampshire.org/rom-cw.htm
http://members.aol.com/DWMellott/7wv.htm
http://www.romneywv.com/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/096282187X/
inktomi-bkasin-20/104-3547695-1517507
    1864 - Mary Kenney O'Sullivan (1864-1943), first American Federation of Labor (AFL) woman organizer, was born in Hannibal, Missouri. A skilled bookbinder, she organized the Woman's Bookbinder Union in 1880 and was a founder of the National Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) in 1903.
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/
blbio_osullivan_mary_kenney.htm
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAWkenney.htm
    1865 - Near present-day San Angleo, 370 Texas militiamen attacked what was assumed to be an encampment of 1400 Comanches (they were actually peaceful Kickapoo). This engagement, called the Battle of Dove Creek, was one of the last battles in Texas between Anglos and Native Americans. The militia lost 36 men, with 60 wounded; the Kickapoos lost 11, with 61 wounded.
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/DD/btd1.html
    1868 – A Mississippi constitutional convention met in Jackson while  an Arkansas constitutional convention met in Little Rock.
    1873 - A blizzard raged across the Great Plains. Many pioneers, unprepared for the cold and snow, perished in southwest Minnesota and northwestern Iowa.
    1873 – The founder of Paramount Pictures, Adolph Zukor, was born in Hungary.  He became involved in the motion picture industry when, in 1903, his cousin, Max Goldstein approached him for a loan, needing investors to expand his chain of theaters that had begun in Buffalo. The Automatic Vaudeville Co on 14th Street in New York City was to feature Edison’s marvels: phonographs, electric lights and moving pictures. Zukor not only gave Goldstein the money but insisted on forming a partnership to open another one. Another partner in the venture was Marcus Loew, he of later theatre fame.  In 1912, he established Famous Players Film Company as the American distribution company for a French film.  The studio evolved into Paramount Pictures, of which he served as President until 1936 when he was elevated to Chairman. He revolutionized the film industry by organizing production, distribution, and exhibition within a single company.  He retired from Paramount Pictures in 1959 and thereafter assumed Chairman Emeritus status, a position he held up until his death at the age of 103 in LA in 1976.
    1886 - A severe cold wave in the southern section of the country brought the worst freeze since 1835 in Florida.
    1887 - Thomas Stevens and his bike traveled 13,500 miles, to arrive back in San Francisco, California nearly three years after starting, in April 1884, what would be the first completed worldwide bicycle trip.
    1890 - Birthday of African-American W. B. Purvis, inventor, patent holder of the fountain pen.
http://www.blackinventor.com/pages/wbpurvis.html
    1891 - Novelist, folklorist, dramatist, and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston was born in Notasulga, AL.   When she was three, her family moved to Eatonville, FL, which in 1887, was one of the first all-black towns to be incorporated in the United States. Hurston said she always felt that Eatonville was "home" to her as she grew up there, and sometimes she claimed it as her birthplace. The dialects, customs, and folklore of the people of Eatonville and of rural Florida would continue to inform Hurston's work for the rest of her career.   Although at the time of her death in 1960, Hurston had published more books than any other black woman in America, she was unable to capture a mainstream audience in her lifetime, and she died poor and alone in a welfare hotel. Today, she is seen as one of the most important black writers in American history. Unfortunately, near the end of her life, she worked as a maid and died in poverty. In the 1970s, her work, almost forgotten, was revived by feminist and black-studies scholars.  An anthology, “I Love Myself When I Am Laughing...And Then Again When I Am Looking Mean and Impressive,” was published in 1979.  After Hurston died on January 28, 1960 in a Fort Pierce, Florida, hospital, her papers were ordered to be burned. A law officer and friend, Patrick DuVal, passing by the house where she had lived, stopped and put out the fire, thus saving an invaluable collection of literary documents for posterity. The nucleus of this collection was given to the University of Florida libraries in 1961 by Mrs. Marjorie Silver, friend and neighbor of Hurston. Other materials were donated in 1970 and 1971 by Frances Grover, daughter of E. O. Grover, a Rollins College professor and long-time friend of Hurston's. In 1979 Stetson Kennedy of Jacksonville, who knew Hurston through his work with the Federal Writers Project, added additional papers. [(Zora Neal Hurston Papers, University of Florida Smathers Libraries, August 2008)]
http://www-hsc.usc.edu/~gallaher/hurston/hurston.html
http://i.am/zora
http://www.nku.edu/~diesmanj/hurston.html
http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap9/hurston.html
http://www.hurston-wright.org/
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?amtoday:1:./temp/~ammem_dZif ::
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan07.html    
    1892 – At a mine explosion in Krebs, OK, blacks trying to help rescue white survivors, were driven away with guns.  Over 100 miners died.
    1894 - W.K. L. Dickson was given a patent for motion picture film. The 2 second demonstration was a 47-frame film showing a man sneezing.
http://www.biographcompany.com/dickson/
    1896 - Fannie Farmer publishes her first cookbook
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbiofarmerf.htm
    1899 - Walter Camp published his first All-American football team in Collier's magazine.
        1903 – Actor Alan Napier, who played butler Albert for Batman on TV, was born in England.
    1904 – Guglielmo Marconi established "CQD" as the first international radio distress signal.  Two years later, it was replaced by “SOS”.   
    1908 - Birthday of trumpet player Henry “Red” Allen
http://www.libertyhall.com/red.html
http://www.redhotjazz.com/red.html
http://www.duke.edu/~ab2/index.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0826447449/
inktomi-bkasin-20/107-1403707-5271711
    1910 – Former Gov. Orval Faubus was born in Combs, AR.   He was the 36th Governor of Arkansas, serving from 1955 to 1967. He is best known for his 1957 stand against the desegregation of the Little Rock School District, in which he defied a unanimous decision of the US Supreme Court by ordering the Arkansas National Guard to stop black students from attending Little Rock Central HS.  In October 1957, Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard and ordered them to return to their armories which effectively removed them from Faubus' control. Eisenhower then sent elements of the 101st Airborne Division to Arkansas to protect the black students and enforce the Federal court order. Arkansas National Guard later took over protection duties from the 101st Airborne Division. In retaliation, Faubus shut down Little Rock high schools for the 1958-59 school year. This is often referred to as "The Lost Year" in Little Rock.  He died in 1994.        
    1911 – Actress Thelma “Butterfly” McQueen was born in Tampa, FL.  McQueen's first role would become her most identifiable, as Prissy, the young maid in “Gone with the Wind”. Her distinctive, high-pitched voice was noted by a critic who described it as, "The itsy-little voice fading over the far horizon of comprehension". While the role is well known to audiences, McQueen did not enjoy playing the part and felt it was demeaning to African Americans.  She died in 1995.
    1913 - Tucson, AZ set its all-time record low temperature with a frigid 0 degrees.
    1913 - William M. Burton of Chicago, IL received a patent for the “manufacture of gasoline.” He developed the thermal-cracking technique for refining oil. His method of treating the residue of the paraffin group of petroleum by distillation and condensation of the vapors was used by the Standard Oil Company of Indiana, to whom the patent was assigned. Died in 1958.
http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/24.html
    1913 – Slugger Johnny Mize was born in Demorest, GA.  Nicknamed Big Jawn and The Big Cat, he played in the Majors for 15 seasons between 1936 and 1953, losing three seasons to military service during World War II, and was a ten-time All-Star.  He was a first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, and New York Yankees.   Late in his career, he played with the Yankees when they won five consecutive World Series.  Mize retired in 1953 with 359 career home runs and a .312 batting average. He served as a radio commentator, scout and coach in the major leagues after he retired as a player. He was finally selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1981. In 2014, he was inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.  Mize died in 1993.
    1914 – The first steamboat passed through Panama Canal.
    1920 - The State Assembly of New York refused to seat five duly-elected Socialist assemblymen.  Now they run the state!
    1921 - Birthday of Charles Loloma, a major influence on modern Native American art and was famous for changing the look of American Indian Jewelry. A painter, sculptor and potter, he was best known for his jewelry, which broke tradition with previous Indian styles using materials such as coral, fossilized ivory, pearls and diamonds. Loloma was born at Hotevilla on the Hopi Indian Reservation and died June 9, 1991, at Scottsdale, AZ.
http://www.faustgallery.com/loloma.htm
http://www.nativepubs.com/nativepubs/Apps/bios/
0430LolomaCharles.asp?pic=none
    1924 - George Gershwin completed the score for his classic “Rhapsody in Blue”. He was only 26 years old. Gershwin did not have an interest in music until his family bought him a piano when he was twelve. Nine years later he had his first hit, at age 21,"Swanee", with lyrics written by Irving Caesar
    1925 - Drummer Sam Woodyard born, Elizabeth, NJ.
http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers2/Sam_Woodyard.html
    1925 – Al Jolson’s musical, “Big Boy” opened in NYC.
    1926 - George Burns and Gracie Allen were married by a Justice of the Peace in Cleveland, Ohio. They had been a comedy team for 4 years prior to getting married and worked successfully for decades together in radio, film, and television until Allen's fatal heart attack in 1964.  They are widely regarded historically among the best, if not the best, the husband and wife comedy team in entertainment history.  George died at age 100 in 1996.
    1927 - The inauguration of the transatlantic commercial telephone service began when Walter Sherman Gifford, president of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, who was in New York, talked to Sir George Evelyn Pemberton Murray, secretary of the British Post Office, who was in London. Thirty-one commercial calls were made the first day. The charge was $75 for a three minute conversation. The first private conversation was made by Adolph Simon Ochs, publisher of the New York Times, to Geoffrey Dawson, editor of the Times of London. The messages were transmitted from Rocky Point, NY.
    1927 - Harlem Globetrotters make their debut in Hinckley, Il. http://www.africana.com/Articles/tt_059.htm
http://www.harlemglobetrotters.com/
    1929 – The launch of two famous cartoon strips:  “Buck Rogers” and “Tarzan”.   
    1931 - The nation was mired in the depths of the Great Depression. On January 7, the Committee for Unemployment Relief, formed at President Hoover's command in October 1930, released a report that detailed the depths of the nation's woes. According to the committee, some 4 to 5 million Americans were unemployed.   However, the Depression only continued to grow worse, which further swelled the unemployment rolls; by 1932, some 13 million Americans were without jobs.
    1934 - Converted major league baseball player Billy Sunday, at age 72, began a two-week revival at Calvary Baptist Church in NY City. Sunday was an evangelist from 1893 until his death in 1935.
    1934 – “Flash Gordon,” a comic strip by Alex Raymond, was first published.
 1935 - Birthday of clarinet player Kenny Davern, Huntington, NY
http://www.riverwalk.org/profiles/davern.htm
http://indigo.ie/~jazzirl/archives/davern.htm
http://users.bestweb.net/~msnyder/clarinet/davern.htm
    1938 - Birthday of singer, pianist Paul Revere, born Paul Revere Dick, at Harvard, NE.  Lead singer of Paul Revere and The Raiders.
http://www.paulrevereraiders.com/history.html
http://www.history-of-rock.com/paul_revere_and_the_raiders.htm    
    1939 - The United States Trotting Association, the governing body for the sport of harness horse racing, was founded in Indianapolis, IN, at a meeting called by horseman Roland Harriman. The founding was actually a joining of several regional organizations resulting in uniform rules and regulations.  This unification spurred the growth of harness racing, now followed by nearly 25 million fans in North America each year.
    1939 - Tom Mooney, a labor activist wrongly convicted of murder in the San Francisco Preparedness Day bombing in July 1916, is freed after 22 1/2 years in jail.  After the conviction was found to be based on false charges, he was granted an unconditional pardon by Governor Culbert Olson.
See: “Frame-up” by Curt Gentry, © 1967, WW Norton, New York; “Life of an Anarchist: The Alexander Berkman Reader”, ed. Gene Fellner, “Four Walls Eight Windows”, New York: 1992.
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~library/Library_Bulletin/
Nov1989/LB-N89-VClose2.html
    1940 - Gene Autry's musical variety show premieres on CBS radio, where it will run for the next 16 years. Autry was born in Tioga, Texas, in 1907, the son of a livestock and horse trader who was also a Baptist minister. The family later moved to Oklahoma. In high school, Autry worked as a railway telegrapher at the local railroad depot, where he spent slow moments strumming his $8 guitar and singing. Passing through the depot one day, a stranger, Will Rogers, suggested that Autry try singing on the radio. Inspired, Autry traveled to New York City to look for a singing job but had no luck. Back home, he began working for a local radio station and found success as "Oklahoma's Yodeling Cowboy.” Eventually, Autry and railroad dispatcher Jim Long wrote several country songs, including the world's first gold record, "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine." Autry became a regular on Sears Roebuck's National Barn Dance, the forerunner of the Grand Ole Opry. In 1934, producer Nat Levine was looking for a guy who could sing, ride a horse, and act in western movies. Autry wasn't an actor but had already established a loyal radio audience, so Levine put him in numerous B-grade westerns. Playing the lead role in a long-running series of Saturday matinee films, Autry became "America's favorite cowboy." In 1940, his musical variety radio show, “Gene Autry's Melody Ranch”, debuted and took only one hiatus, when Autry joined the Army Air Corps after taking his oath on the air in 1942.  Roy Rogers took his place on the television show while he was gone. He became America's favorite TV cowboy in 1950 when he debuted “The Gene Autry Show”, which ran through 1956. In each episode, he and his sidekick, Pat Buttram, rode from town to town, maintaining law and order. From "Back in the Saddle Again" to yuletide mainstays such as "Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman," Autry's music has etched itself into Americana. The Cowboy was also an entrepreneur; he owned hotels, gas stations, television and radio stations, and the California Angels baseball team, among other ventures. He also owned a television production company and was proud of discovering "Annie Oakley" star Gail Davis, whom he had featured in dozens of his movies and television program episodes and who had performed in his traveling rodeo. Her appearances spun off into her own series, which Autry's company produced. Autry was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1969.  One of the most beloved entertainers of all-time, The Cowboy passed on in 1998.
    1942 – The bloody siege at Bataan began.
    1944 - SPECKER, JOE C., Medal of Honor.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, 48th Engineer Combat Battalion. Place and date: At Mount Porchia, Italy, 7 January 1944. Entered service at: Odessa, Mo. Birth: Odessa, Mo. G.O. No. 56, 12 July 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, in action involving actual conflict. On the night of 7 January 1944, Sgt. Specker, with his company, was advancing up the slope of Mount Porchia, Italy. He was sent forward on reconnaissance and on his return he reported to his company commander the fact that there was an enemy machinegun nest and several well-placed snipers directly in the path and awaiting the company. Sgt. Specker requested and was granted permission to place 1 of his machineguns in a position near the enemy machinegun. Voluntarily and alone he made his way up the mountain with a machinegun and a box of ammunition. He was observed by the enemy as he walked along and was severely wounded by the deadly fire directed at him. Though so seriously wounded that he was unable to walk, he continued to drag himself over the jagged edges of rock and rough terrain until he reached the position at which he desired to set up his machinegun. He set up the gun so well and fired so accurately that the enemy machine-gun nest was silenced and the remainder of the snipers forced to retire, enabling his platoon to obtain their objective. Sgt. Specker was found dead at his gun. His personal bravery, self-sacrifice, and determination were an inspiration to his officers and fellow soldiers.
    1944 – The US Air Force announced production of the first jet fighter, the Bell P-59.   
    1945 - Anthony Richard (Tony) Conigliaro, Baseball player born at Revere, MA.   Also known as Tony C, Conigliaro led the American League in home runs in 1965 and was one of the most beloved Boston Red Sox players of his generation.   He was selected for the All-Star Game in 1967. In that season, at age 22, he became the youngest American leaguer to reach a career total of 100 home runs.  He was beaned by Jack Hamilton on August 18, 1967, causing a linear fracture of the left cheekbone and a dislocated jaw with severe damage to his left retina. The batting helmet he was wearing did not have the protective ear-flap that has since become standard.  A year and a half later, Conigliaro made a remarkable return, hitting 20 homers with 82 RBI in 141 games. In 1970, he reached career-high numbers in HRs (36) and RBI (116). After a stint with the Angels in 1971, he returned to the Red Sox briefly but was forced to retire because his eyesight had been permanently damaged. In retirement he served as sports announcer for TV stations in Providence, RI and San Francisco. On January 3, 1982, in Boston to interview for a broadcasting position, suffered a heart attack, then a stroke and lapsed into a coma. Conigliaro remained in basically a vegetative state until his death more than eight years later.  He died in Salem, MA, at the age of 45, Feb 24, 1990.
    1945 - SHOUP, CURTIS F., Medal of Honor.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company I, 346th Infantry, 87th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Tillet, Belgium, 7 January 1945. Entered service at: Buffalo, N.Y. Birth: Napenoch, N.Y. G.0. No.: 60, 25 July 1945. Citation: On 7 January 1945, near Tillet, Belgium, his company attacked German troops on rising ground. Intense hostile machinegun fire pinned down and threatened to annihilate the American unit in an exposed position where frozen ground made it impossible to dig in for protection. Heavy mortar and artillery fire from enemy batteries was added to the storm of destruction falling on the Americans. Realizing that the machinegun must be silenced at all costs, S/Sgt. Shoup, armed with an automatic rifle, crawled to within 75 yards of the enemy emplacement. He found that his fire was ineffective from this position, and completely disregarding his own safety, stood up and grimly strode ahead into the murderous stream of bullets, firing his low-held weapon as he went. He was hit several times and finally was knocked to the ground. But he struggled to his feet and staggered forward until close enough to hurl a grenade, wiping out the enemy machinegun nest with his dying action. By his heroism, fearless determination, and supreme sacrifice, S/Sgt. Shoup eliminated a hostile weapon which threatened to destroy his company and turned a desperate situation into victory.
    1946 - Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner’s birthday in NYC.
http://207.171.166.140/name/nm0921048/bio
http://207.171.166.140/name/nm0921048/
    1948 - Birthday of singer Kenny Loggins in Everett, Washington. He wrote the "House at Pooh Corner," a hit for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, before teaming with Jim Messina for several albums and the top-10 single "Your Mama Don't Dance" in the 1970's. The duo split in 1976, and Loggins did well on his own with such hit singles as "Footloose," the theme from the 1984 movie, and "Danger Zone" in 1986.
    1948 – President Truman raised taxes to finance the Marshall Plan.
    1949 - Birthday of singer Tom Waits, Pomona, CA.
http://www.tomwaits.com/
http://www.officialtomwaits.com/
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/7587/start.html
    1949 – The first photo of genes was taken at the University of Southern California by Pease and Baker
    1950 - Nova Scotia native Hank Snow made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry. Later that year, his recording of "I'm Movin' On" stayed on the Billboard country chart for 44 weeks, selling more than a million copies.
    1950 - Gene Autry's "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" hits #1
    1950 - In Nashville, Tennessee, Ernest Tubb made his first appearance at "The Grand Ole Opry". Ernest also did a daily 15-minute radio program that was very popular in West Texas. In fact, the show was so popular, Tubb bought the radio station that aired the program for years, KGKL in San Angelo, Texas.
    1951 - Top Hits
“Tennessee Waltz” - Patti Page
“The Thing” - Phil Harris
“Nevertheless” - Jack Denny
“I Love You a Thousand Ways” - Lefty Frizzell
    1952 - Actor Phillip Loeb, blacklisted in 1950 as a possible Communist sympathizer, is fired from highly successful TV comedy "The Goldbergs" because no one would sponsor it otherwise.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/july-dec97/
blacklist_10-24.html
http://www.tvparty.com/vaultgold.html
http://www.woolmancentral.com/famcou.html
http://www.sag.com/blacklist.html
    1953 – President Truman announced, in the State of the Union address, the development of the hydrogen bomb.
    1954 - The Duoscopic television receiver debuted, allowing the viewer to watch two different shows at the same time. It was a very early, very primitive, picture-in-picture, split-screen, tested in New York City and Chicago, Illinois. DuMont Laboratories, owner of the DuMont Television Network produced the set.
    1954 - Muddy Waters records "Hoochie Coochie Man"
    1954 - The first public demonstration of a machine translation system was held in New York at the head office of IBM.
    1955 – At the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City, Marian Anderson, contralto, became the first African-American opera singer when she sang the role of the fortune teller Ulrica in Giuseepe Verdi's “Un Ballo in Maschera.”
(lower half of: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan07.html )
    1956 - Dean Martin's "Memories Are Made of This" hits #1
    1957 - Birthday of Katie Couric, in Arlington, Virginia. She worked for NBC News (1989-2006), CBS News (2007-11), and ABC News (2011-14). She was co-anchor of "The Today Show" starting in 1991 and in 2007 became CBS News Anchor. She currently serves as Yahoo Global News Anchor.
http://members.aol.com/flopez1542/page5.html
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0183698/
    1958 - The Gibson Guitar Company patented the Flying V guitar, favorite instrument of many rock musicians
    1959 - Top Hits
“The Chipmunk Song” - The Chipmunks
“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” - The Platters
“Problems” - The Everly Brothers
“City Lights” - Ray Price
    1959 - "GE College Bowl" quiz show premieres on NBC TV
http://www.jumptheshark.com/c/collegebowl.htm http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVThemes/themePages/collegeBowl2.html
    1959 – The US recognized Castro’s government in Cuba.
    1962 - The Western Division defeats the Eastern Division 47-27 in the first AFL All-Star Game played before 20,973 in San Diego.
http://images.nfl.com/history/images/0107.jpg
    1962 - Chubby Checker's "The Twist" hits #1 -- again
    1963 – Rand Paul was born in Pittsburgh.  The junior Republican Senator for Kentucky, in office since 2011, he is the son of former U.S. Representative and presidential candidate, Ron Paul of Texas.
    1964 – Actor, producer, Coppola nephew Nicholas Cage was born Nicolas Kim Coppola in Long Beach, CA
    1966 – The Dance Theater of Harlem was established.
    1966 – Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy was born in White Plains, NY.  She was the wife of John F. Kennedy, Jr, with whom she perished in 1999 in a private plane crash piloted by her husband.
    1967 - Top Hits
“I'm a Believer” - The Monkees
“Snoopy Vs. the Red Baron” - The Royal Guardsmen
“Tell It Like It Is” - Aaron Neville
“There Goes My Everything” - Jack Greene
    1967 – “The Newlywed Game” premiered on ABC.
    1968 - Postage rates in the United States went up by a penny; making the cost to send an ounce of mail six cents.
    1969 – Congress doubled the salary of the President.
    1970 – Neighboring farmers sued Max Yasgur for $35,000 in damages caused by "Woodstock"
    1971 - The temperature at Hawley Lake, AZ dipped to 40 degrees below zero, setting a new record low temperature for the state.
    1972 - The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Atlanta Hawks, 134-90, to win their 33rd game in a row, an NBA record.
    1972 - The NCAA announced that freshmen would be eligible to play varsity football and basketball starting in the fall of 1973.
    1975 - Top Hits
“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” - Elton John
“You're the First, the Last, My Everything” - Barry White
“Kung Fu Fighting” - Carl Douglas
“The Door” - George Jones
    1975 – Led Zeppelin fans in Boston rioted before a concert, causing $30,000 damage
    1978 - The soundtrack album of the hit disco movie "Saturday Night Fever," featuring the Bee Gees, the Trammps, Tavares, K.C. & the Sunshine Band, Kool & the Gang, MFSB and others enter the soul album chart. It will peak at Number One for six weeks starting February 18 in its 39 weeks on the chart.
    1978 - The Bar-Kays' "Let's Have Some Fun" enters the soul charts
    1979 - Vietnamese forces, aided by Cambodian insurgents, captured Phnom Penh after a two-week invasion and overthrew the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot.
    1979 - In the AFC title game, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Houston Oilers 34-5 for a Super Bowl trip and their third AFC championship title. They played in a steady rain at Three Rivers Stadium. In the NFC championship game, the Dallas Cowboys shut out the Los Angeles Rams 28-0. (The Steelers beat the Cowboys 35-31 in Super Bowl XIII Jan 21.)
    1980 - Led Zeppelin's "In Through the Out Door" is awarded a platinum disc. It's the last album issued before the September 25th death of drummer John Bonham.
    1980 – President Carter authorized legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out Chrysler.
    1981 - The "Eagles Live" album goes platinum. The two-record set will turn out to be the final Eagles album until 1994's comeback LP, "Hell Freezes Over".
    1982 - The Islanders' Bryan Trottier had his 10th career hat trick.
    1982 - "Hooked on Classics," using the extended medley format made popular by "Stars on 45," sets popular classical music to a disco beat. The result: It goes platinum on this date.
    1983 - Top Hits
“Maneater” - Daryl Hall & John Oates
“The Girl is Mine” - Michael Jackson /Paul McCartney
“Dirty Laundry” - Don Henley
“Wild and Blue” - John Anderson
    1984 - The Seattle Seahawks reached the AFC Title game for the first time in their history but were defeated by the Los Angeles Raiders, 30-14.
    1984 – Left-hander Jon Lester was born in Tacoma, WA.  In December, 2014, he signed with the Chicago Cubs for a whopping six year, $155 million deal.  Lester has played for the Boston Red Sox (2006-14) and the Oakland A’s in 2014. Less than two years after being diagnosed with lymphoma, Lester started and won the final game of the 2007 World Series for the Red Sox, and in May 2008, pitched a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals.
    1986 – President Reagan announced economic sanctions against Libya.
    1989 - A tornado in southern Illinois obliterated half the community of Allendale, injuring fifty persons and causing more than five million dollars damage, while thunderstorm winds gusting higher than 100 mph caused ten million dollars damage at Franklin, KY. Twenty-five cities, from the Gulf coast to Michigan, reported record high temperatures for the date.
    1990 - A rapidly intensifying low pressure system and a vigorous cold front brought heavy rain and high winds to the Pacific Northwest. Two to five inches rains soaked western Washington and western Oregon, and winds gusting above 70 mph caused extensive damage. Wind gusts on Rattlesnake Ridge in Washington State reached 130 mph
    1991 - Top Hits
“Justify My Love” - Madonna
“High Enough” - Damn Yankees
“Love Will Never Do (Without You)” - Janet Jackson
“I've Come to Expect It From You” - George Strait
    1992 - A rare January thunderstorm rumbled over Sioux Falls, SD. This was the first January thunderstorm recorded in the city since 1939. Meanwhile, thunderstorms produced 6 tornadoes (one F2 and five F1) near Grand Island, NE -- the first tornadoes ever recorded in Nebraska during January.
    1992 – AT&T announced the first video phone at a price of $1499.
    1993 - Michael Jordan scored 35 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 130-95 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. The points gave Jordan exactly 20,000 in the 620th game of his career and made him the second fastest NBA player to reach the mark behind Wilt Chamberlain, who did it in 499 games.
    1995 - A severe thunderstorm produced a downburst wind gust to 146 mph at Seymour-Johnson AFB in Goldsboro, NC.
    1996 - A blizzard paralyzed the Eastern U.S. The storm moved slowly, taking five days to reach New England from the Gulf of Mexico. The National Weather Service called it a storm of “historic proportions” with more than two feet of snow in the Baltimore and Washington, DC area. The mountains of Virginia and West Virginia got up to three feet. More than 100 deaths were blamed on the storm -- the majority from heart attacks. This event was the second in an unrelenting, paralyzing "siege of snowstorms" along the east coast during a ten day period.
    1997 – Speaker Newt Gingrich became the first Republican Speaker of the house to be re-elected in 86 years.
    1997 - In Los Angeles, California, Heidi Fleiss, known as the "Hollywood Madam", was sentenced to 37 months in prison for cheating on her taxes, laundering call-girl profits, and conspiring to hide her wrongdoing. According to news sources, Fleiss choked back tears, saying, "I'm sorry. I'm a different person now".
    1999 – The Senate impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton began.  The charges were on lying under oath and obstruction of justice in the Lewinsky case.
    2005 – Actors Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston announced they were separating after four years of marriage.
    2006 - American journalist Jill Carroll was abducted in Iraq and a translator was killed. Carroll was released unharmed after 82 days.
    2006 - Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, facing corruption charges, stepped down as House majority leader.
    2013 - U.S. Republican Chuck Hagel is nominated to be the country's next Secretary of Defense by President Barack Obama; John O. Brennan is nominated to be the next CIA Director.
    2013 - The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics estimated at least 17 billion planets exist that are comparable to the size of the Earth and the Milky Way.