On January 23rd...

*National Handwriting Day*
*National Pie Day*

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1516 King Ferdinand V of Spain died.

1556 An earthquake killed about 830,000 people in Shensi Province, China.

1570 The Earl of Moray, regent of Scotland, was assassinated.

1571 The Royal Exchange opened in London, England.

1579 The Union of Utrecht was signed, forming the Protestant Dutch Republic.

1622 Explorer William Baffin died.

1631 France and Sweden signed the anti-German Treaty of Barwald.

1643 Sir Thomas Fairfax took Leeds, England, for the Parliamentarians.

1647 Scottish Presbyterians sold captured Charles I to the English Parliament.

1668 England, Sweden, and the Netherlands signed a Triple Alliance against France.

1719 The Principality of Liechtenstein was established.

1737 John Hancock, first signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born.

1789 Georgetown College (now Georgetown University) was founded.

1793 The Humane Society of Philadelphia was organized.

1795 Revolutionary War General John Sullivan died.

1803 Brewer Arthur Guinness died.

1806 British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger died.

1832 Painter Edouard Manet was born.

1849 Jesse K. Park and Cornelius S. Watson received a patent for an envelope-making machine.
1849 Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States.

1855 Gun designer John Browning was born.

1859 Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano began erupting.

1870 U. S. Army troops killed 173 Blackfoot Indians in Montana Territory.

1879 The U. S. National Archery Association was formed in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

1898 Actor Randolph Scott was born.

1899 Emilio Aguinaldo was sworn in as the first President of the Philippine Republic.

1904 Ålesund, Norway, was devastated by a fire that killed 1 person and left 10,000 others homeless.

1908 Composer Edward MacDowell died.

1912 The International Opium Convention was signed at The Hague, Netherlands.

1913 The "Young Turks" led a coup d'etat against the Turkish government.

1915 Potter Stewart, Associate Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, was born.

1918 Pharmaceutical chemist Gertrude Belle Elion was born.

1919 Comedian Ernie Kovacs was born.

1922 The first human trial of "manufactured" insulin was conducted.

1923 Taxi drivers in Amsterdam, Netherlands, went on strike.

1930 Clyde Tombaugh photographed Pluto.
1930 George Washington Birthplace National Monument was established in Virginia.
1930 Astronaut William Pogue was born.

1932 The El Salvador Army killed 4,000 protesting farmers.

1933 The 20th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, setting January 20 as the date for presidential inaugurations, was ratified.

1940 Ignacy Paderewski became Premier of the Polish government-in-exile.

1943 The Detroit Red Wings scored an NHL record 8 goals in one period.
1943 Actor Gil Gerard was born.

1944 The Detroit Red Wings defeated the New York Rangers in the most lopsided game in NHL history.
1944 Guitarist Johnny Winter was born.

1946 Rear Admiral Sidney W. Souers (retired) became the first Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

1950 Israel designated Jerusalem as its official capital.
1950 Actor Richard Dean Anderson was born.

1953 The Dallas Texans became the Baltimore Colts.
1953 The NFL's National and American Conference became the Eastern and Western Conferences.

1955 An express traveling from York to Bristol, England, derailed, killing 14 persons.

1957 The Wham-O Company produced the first "Pluto Platter" (now known as the Frisbee).
1957 Princess Caroline of Monaco was born.

1960 Jacques Piccard and Donald Walsh reached the bottom of Challenger Deep in the bathyscape Trieste.

1961 The U. S. Supreme Court ruled that cities and states have the right to censor films.
1961 Venezuela adopted a new constitution.

1964 The 24th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, barring poll taxes in federal elections, was ratified.
1964 Actress Mariska Hargitay was born.

1968 The U. S. spy ship Pueblo and her 83-man crew were seized in the Sea of Japan by North Korea.

1971 Riots broke out in the Shankill Road area of Belfast, Northern Ireland.

1973 Helgafell Volcano, on the Icelandic island of Heimaey, eruped for the first time in 7,000 years.
1973 A Jordan Air airliner crashed at Kano, Nigeria, killing 176 Muslim pilgrims.

1975 "Barney Miller" premiered on ABC-TV.

1976 An explosion at the Farm Bureau Service grain elevator in Zilwaukee, Michigan, killed 5 persons and injured 12 others.
1976 Singer Paul Robeson died.

1977 "Roots" premiered on ABC-TV.

1978 Belgian industrialist Haron Empain was kidnapped in Paris, France.
1978 Sweden became the first nation to ban aerosol sprays.

1981 The *Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum* opened in San Clemente, California.

1982 A World Airways DC-10 skidded off a runway at Boston, Massachusetts', Logan Airport, killing 2 persons.

1983 "The A-Team" premiered on NBC-TV.
1983 Portland Trail Blazers scored 17 points in overtime to defeat the Houston Rockets 113-96.

1984 The Buffalo Sabers defeated the Boston Bruins 5-3 to become the first team in NHL history to win 10 straight road games.

1985 Debates in Britain's House of Lords were televised for the first time.

1986 The Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame held its first induction ceremony.

1989 An earthquake killed hundreds of people in Tajikistan.
1989 Painter Salvador Dali died.

1991 Retreating Iraqi troops set hundreds of Kuwaiti oil rigs on fire.
1991 "Seinfeld" premiered on NBC-TV.

1993 An Indian Airlines B737 crashed at Aurangabad, India, killing 61 persons.

1996 The first version of the Java programming language was released.

1998 Hilla Limann, former President of Ghana, died.

2003 The last signal was received from Pioneer 10.
2003 Actress Nell Carter died.

2004 Bob Keeshan, aka Captain Kangaroo, died.

2005 "Numers" debuted on CBS-TV.
2005 Talk show host Johnny Carson died.

2011 Fitness guru Jack La Lanne died.

2013 A suicide bombing at a mosque in Tuz Khormato, Iraq, killed 23 persons.
2013 A shooting in a Damboa, Nigeria, market left 18 persons dead.

2017 Tornadoes in Georgia and Mississippi killed 18 persons.

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This page was last updated on January 23, 2019.