On January 26th...

Australia Day
Republic Day (India)

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1340 King Edward III of England was proclaimed King of France.

1482 The Pentateuch (the Jewish Bible) was first printed as a book, in Bolongna, Italy.

1500 Vicente Yáñez Pinzón became the first European to set foot in Brazil.

1531 About 30,000 people were killed by an earthquake that struck Lisbon, Portugal.

1564 The Council of Trent issued the Tridentinum, establishing a distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.

1736 King Stanislaw I of Poland abdicated his throne.

1763 Karl XIV Johan, King of Sweden and Norway, was born.

1788 British colonists hoisted the "Union Jack" at Sydney Cove, New South Wales (now Sydney, Australia).

1790 Mozart's opera "Cosi Fan Tutte" premiered in Vienna, Austria.

1823 Edward Jenner, physician who discovered the smallpox vaccine, died.

1837 Michigan was admitted as the 26th state.

1838 Tennessee became the first state to prohibit alcohol.

1841 Hong Kong was proclaimed a sovereign territory of the United Kingdom.

1861 Louisiana seceded from the Union.

1862 President Abraham Lincoln issued General War Order #1, calling for a Union offensive.

1863 The U. S. War Department authorized the Massachusetts Governor to recruit black troops.

1870 Virginia was readmitted to the Union.

1871 The U. S. income tax was repealed.
1871 The British Rugby Union was formed.

1875 George F. Green patented an electric dental drill.

1880 U. S. General Douglas MacArthur was born.

1884 Explorer Roy Chapman Andrews was born.

1893 U. S. Civil War General Abner Doubleday died.

1905 The Cullinan Diamond, the world's largest diamond, was found.
1905 Maria von Trapp, of Sound of Music fame, was born.

1907 Universal and direct suffrage for all males over 24 was introduced in Austria.

1913 Jim Thorpe was forced to relinquish his 1912 Olympic medals after being deemed a professional athlete.

1915 Rocky Mountain National Park was established in Colorado.
1915 Actor William Hopper was born.

1917 U. S. Admiral George Dewey died.

1920 Former Ford Motor Co. executive Henry Leland launched the Lincoln Motor Company.

1926 John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of television in his laboratory in London, England.

1930 The Terminal Tower opened in Cleveland, Ohio.

1935 Baseball player/announcer Bob Uecker was born.

1939 Federal Hall National Monument was established in New York City, New York.

1940 The Nazis forbade Polish Jews from traveling on trains.

1942 The first U. S. forces in Europe during World War II went ashore in Northern Ireland.

1945 Soviet forces reached the Auschwitz concentration camp.
1945 American politician Tom Pendergast died.

1946 Movie critic Gene Siskel was born.

1947 A Royal Dutch Airlines plane crashed just after taking off from Kastrup (Denmark) Airport, killing all 22 persons aboard.

1948 Executive Order 9981, ending segregation in the U. S. Armed Forces, was signed.

1950 India became a republic.

1955 Guitarist Eddie Van Halen was born.

1956 The 7th Winter Olympic Games opened in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

1957 Kashmir formally united with India.
1957 The Dutch Pacifist Socialist Party was formed.

1958 The Japanese ferryboat Nankai Maru sank during a storm, killing all 168 persons aboard.
1958 Comedian Ellen DeGeneres was born.

1959 Amintore Fanfani resigned as Premier of Italy.

1961 Hockey player Wayne Gretzky was born.

1962 "Crime boss" Lucky Luciano died.

1972 Serbian Air stewardess Vesna Vulovic survived a 33,333-foot fall without a parachute.

1973 Actor Edward G. Robinson died.

1977 Basketball player Vince Carter was born.

1979 "Dukes of Hazzard" premiered on CBS-TV.
1979 Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, businessman, philanthropist, Governor of New York, and Vice-President of the United States, died.

1980 Israel and Egypt established diplomatic relations.

1983 Bear Bryant, University of Alabama football head coach, died.

1986 A rebel army led by Yoweri Museveni captured Kampala, Uganda.
1986 The Chicago Bears defeated the New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX.

1988 Phantom of the Opera opened at the Majestic Theater in New York City, New York.

1992 The Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills 37-24 in Super Bowl XXVI.
1992 Actor Jose Ferrer died.

1997 The Green Bay Packers defeated the New England Patriots 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI.

2001 An earthquake killed more than 20,000 people in Gujarat, India.

2003 The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Oakland Raiders 48-21 in Super Bowl XXXVII.
2003 Serena Williams defeated her sister Venus in the Women's Australian Open.

2005 Two trains derailed in Glendale, California, killing 11 persons and injuring about 200 others.

2006 Western Union discontinued its telegram service.

2013 A suicide bombing in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killed 10 persons and injued 20 others.

2014 A tourist boat capsized off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, killing 21 persons.

2015 Libby Lane was ordained as the first female bishop of the Church of England.

2016 Actor Tommy Kelly died.
2016 Actor Abe Vigoda died.

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This page was last updated on January 26, 2019.