On January 13th...

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1630 A Letters Patent was issued to Plymouth Colony.

1691 George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends, died.

1733 James Oglethorpe and 130 English colonists arrived at Charleston, South Carolina.

1785 The first issue of the London Times was published.

1794 The U. S. Congress changed the flag to 15 stars and 15 stripes.

1808 Samuel P. Chase, U. S. Secretary of the Treasury and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was born.

1832 Author Horatio Alger was born.

1840 The steamship Lexington burned and sank four miles off the coast of Long Island, New York, killing 139 persons.

1849 Vancouver Island was granted to the Hudson's Bay Company.

1854 Anthony Foss patented the accordion.

1863 A chenille yarn making machine was patented by William Canter.

1864 Songwriter Stephen Foster died.

1869 The Colored National Labor Union met in Washington, D. C.

1883 Fire at the Circus Ferroni in Berditschoft, Poland, killed 430 persons.

1884 Singer Sophie Tucker was born.

1885 Businessman Alfred Fuller was born.
1885 American politician Schuyler Colfax died.

1888 The National Geographic Society was founded.

1893 The British Independent Labour Party was formed.
1893 U. S. Marines landed in Honolulu, Hawaii, to prevent the queen from abrogating the Bayonet Constitution.

1902 Textile workers in Enschede, Netherlands, went on strike.

1906 Telimco advertised a $7.50 radio set in Scientific American.

1913 Delta Sigma Theta sorority was founded at Howard University.

1915 An earthquake in Avezzano, Italy, killed an estimated 29,800 persons.

1919 Actor Robert Stack was born.

1928 RCA and GE installed television sets in three Schenectady, New York, homes.

1929 The Humanist Society was established in Hollywood, California.
1929 "Wild West" lawman/criminal Wyatt Earp died.

1930 The first "Mickey Mouse" comic strip was published.

1931 Actor Charles Nelson Reilly was born.

1934 Comedian Rip Taylor was born.
1934 Painter Cassius Marcellus Coolidge died.

1938 The Church of England accepted the theory of evolution.
1938 Actor Charlie Brill was born.

1941 Author James Joyce died.

1942 Henry Ford patented a method of constructing plastic auto bodies.
1942 Actress Carol Cleveland was born.

1953 Marshal Josip Tito was chosen President of Yugoslavia.

1958 Landslides and flood waters swept away the village of Pachaco, Peru, killing 100 persons.
1958 The New York-based Communist paper Daily Worker ceased publication.

1961 Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus was born.

1962 Singer Trace Adkins was born.
1962 Comedian Ernie Kovacs was born.

1963 A junta of former soldiers seized control of the government of Togo and assassinated President Sylvanus Olympia.

1966 Actor Patrick Dempsey was born.

1967 Étienne Eyadéma overthrew Togolese President Nicolas Grunitzky in a bloodless coup.

1974 The Miami Dolphins defeated the Minnesota Vikings, 24-7, in Super Bowl VIII.

1976 Sarah Caldwell became the first woman to conduct at the New York City Metropolitan Opera House.

1977 Actor Orlando Bloom was born.

1978 American politician Hubert Humphrey died.
1978 Joe McCarthy, former manager of the New York Yankees, died.

1982 An Air Florida 737 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D. C., after taking off in a snowstorm, killing 78 persons.

1988 Chiang Ching-kuo, President of Nationalist China, died.

1989 The last episode of "Ryan's Hope" aired on ABC-TV.

1990 Actor Liam Hemsworth was born.

1991 A riot during an exhibition soccer game in Orkney, South Africa, left 42 persons dead.

1992 Accused serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer pleaded guilty but insane.

1995 America 3 became the first all-female-crewed yacht to win an America's Cup race.

1997 Guerrillas took 72 hostages and shot at police at the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru.

2000 Bill Gates stepped aside as chief executive officer of Microsoft.

2001 A magnitude 7.6 earthquake killed more than 840 persons in El Salvador.

2010 Singer Teddy Pendergrass died.

2012 The Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground at Isola de Giglio, Italy, causing 32 deaths.

2014 An explosion in an illegal gambling hall in Kaili City, China, killed 14 persons and injured 7.

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This page was last updated on January 13, 2019.