Today in History

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Today in History

By Correspondent

Today in history
YEARDAYEVENT
395Jan 17Emperor Theodosius I (49), the Great, Spanish head of Rome, died. Theodosius I wrote into his will that upon his death the eastern and western sections of the empire should be declared separate empires. His death in this year marks the split of the Roman and Byzantine Empire.
1504Jan 17Pius V, Pope from 1566-1572, was born.
1562Jan 17French Protestant Huguenots were recognized under the Edict of St. Germain.
1601Jan 17The Treaty of Lyons ended a short war between France and Savoy. Savoy was ceded to France in 1860.
1656Jan 17Prussian Duke Frederick Wilhelm withdrew ties with Lithuania and Poland and acknowledged vassal status with Sweden.
1702Jan 17Thomas Franklin, English smith and uncle of B. Franklin, died.
1705Jan 17John Ray (b.1627), British naturalist and theologian, died. He had spent three years traveling in Europe collecting material for his book “Historia Plantarum.” The classification in his 1682 book “Methodus Plantarum Nova” is based on overall morphology. Ray’s plant classification system was the first to divide flowering plants into monocots and dicots.
1706Jan 17Benjamin Franklin (d.1790), American statesman, was born in Boston, the youngest boy in a family of 17 children. He helped draft the Declaration of Independence and wrote “Poor Richard’s Almanac.” Carl Van Doren portrays Franklin as a harmonious rationalist in his classic biography. David Morgan writes of Franklin’s darker side in: “The Devious Dr. Franklin, Colonial Agent.” And Robert Middlekauff describes Franklin as a trickster in his: “Benjamin Franklin and his Enemies.” Franklin believed in white superiority and said: “why increase the Sons of Africa by planting them in America, when we have so fair an opportunity, by excluding all the Blacks and Tawneys, of increasing the lovely white.?” “If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.”
1732Jan 17Stanislaw II August Poniatowski, last king of Poland (1764-95), was born.
1746Jan 17Charles Edward Stuart, the young pretender, defeated the government forces at the battle of Falkirk in Scotland.
1773Jan 17Captain James Cook became the first person to cross the Antarctic Circle  (66d 33′ S).
1775Jan 179 old women were burned as witches for causing bad harvests in Kalisk, Poland.
1781Jan 17Daniel Morgan’s Continental regiments routed British forces at Cowpens, South Carolina. Some 100 British soldiers were killed, 299 wounded and 600 taken prisoner. 12 American were killed.
1806Jan 17James Madison Randolph, Thomas Jefferson’s grandson, was the 1st to be born in White House. His mother was Martha Randolph one of President Thomas Jefferson’s two daughters, this was her 8th child.
1819Jan 17Simon Bolivar the “liberator” proclaimed Columbia a republic.
1835Jan 17Antanas Baranauskas (d.1902), Lithuanian poet and bishop, was born in Anyksciai.
1852Jan 17At the Sand River Convention, the British recognized the independence of the Transvaal Board.
1860Jan 17Anton Chekhov (d.1904), Russian playwright and short story writer, was born. He was famous for “The Seagull” and “Three Sisters. ” Part of his letters were published in a 1955 edition edited by Lillian Hellman. In 1997 his later letters from 1899 to actress Olga Knipper were edited by Jean Benedetti and published as: “Dear Writer, Dear Actress: The Love Letters of Anton Chekhov and Olga Knipper.”
1861 Jan 17Lola Montez (b.1821), dancer and actress, died in NYC. Born in Ireland as Eliza Rosanna Gilbert she became famous as a “Spanish dancer,” courtesan, and mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, who made her Countess of Landsfeld.
1863Jan 17David Lloyd George (d.1945), British Prime Minister, was born. First Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, English statesman: “It is always too late, or too little, or both. And that is the road to disaster.”
1865Jan 17The 170-foot sailing ship Sir John Franklin, a clipper out of Baltimore with 16 people aboard, wrecked near Pescadero, Ca. Capt. Desperaux and 11 crew members were lost.
1871Jan 17The 1st cable car patented by Andrew S. Hallidie. It began service in 1873.
1874Jan 17Chang and Eng Bunker (62), Chinese-Thai Siamese twins, died.
1892Jan 17In Exeter, Rhode Island, Mercy Brown (19), rumored to be a vampire, died of consumption. Some believed her story inspired Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula.”
1893Jan 17The 19th president of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881), died in Fremont, Ohio, at age 70.
1899Jan 17Notorious gangster Al Capone was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. The U.S. mobster known as “Scarface Al” later ran most of Chicago and the surrounding area.
1902Jan 17Gideon Scheepers, South Africa Boer leader, was executed.
1909Jan 17Wilbur and Orville Wright opened the world’s first flying school at Pau, France, and refused to accept women as students.
1911Jan 17Francis Galton (b.1822), English scientist, died. He was one of the first moderns to present a carefully considered eugenics program. His work included the invention of weather maps and the description of fingerprints. He also developed a system for classifying human profiles using geometric diagrams. He was a cousin of Charles Darwin and the founder of the science of statistics. The idea of sterilizing human beings considered as physical or mental undesirables stemmed from Galton’s ideas.
1917Jan 17The United States paid Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands.
1919Jan 17Pianist and statesman Ignace Jan Paderewski became the first premier of the newly created republic of Poland.
1922Jan 17Betty White, actress (Mary Tyler Moore Show, Golden Girls), was born.
1926Jan 17George Burns married Gracie Allen.
1927Jan 17Juliette Gordon Low (b.1860), founder of the Girl Scouts (1912), died in Savannah, Georgia. In 2012 Stacy A. Cordery authored “Juliette Gordon Low: The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts.”
1928Jan 17Vidal Sassoon, hair stylist/CEO (Vidal Sassoon), was born in London.
1929Jan 17The first Popeye character appeared in the Thimble Theater cartoon strip by Elzie Segar  (1894-1938) of Chesater, Ill.
1931Jan 17James Earl Jones, actor (Darth Vader, Exorcist II, Soul Man), was born in Miss.
1934Jan 17Shari Lewis, ventriloquist, puppeteer (Lamb Chop), was born in Bronx, NY.
1939Jan 17The Reich issued an order forbidding Jews to practice as dentists, veterinarians and chemists.
1942Jan 17Muhammad Ali [Casius Clay], U.S. boxer, “The Greatest,” who is the only three-time heavyweight champion, was born.
1943Jan 17US Tin Can Drive Day.
1944Jan 17Russia rejected a Polish proposal to negotiate a boundary dispute.
1945Jan 17Soviet and Polish forces liberated Warsaw during World War II.
1946Jan 17The United Nations Security Council held its first meeting.
1949Jan 17Andy Kaufman, comedian, actor (Latka Gravas-Taxi), was born in NYC.
1950Jan 17In Boston 11 men robbed the Brink’s office of $1.2M cash & $1.5M securities. The 1978 film “The Brink’s Job” starred Peter Falk and Peter Boyle. It was based on the nonfiction book “The Big Stick-Up at Brink’s” by Noel Behn.
1951Jan 17China refused a cease-fire in Korea.
1953Jan 17GM introduced the first American sports car, the two-seater Corvette at the annual NYC Motorama Show at the Waldorf-Astoria. It was not made available for sale to the public until June 30th.
1955Jan 17The nuclear powered USS Nautilus submarine was launched for its 1st shakedown cruise to Puerto Rico.
1957Jan 17A 9-county commission recommended the creation of BART, the SF Bay Area Rapid Transport system.
1961Jan 17US Pres. Dwight Eisenhower and Canada’s PM John Diefenbaker signed a treaty to jointly control the Columbia River. The treaty was implemented in 1964.
1963Jan 17Soviet leader Khrushchev visited the Berlin Wall. [see Feb 17]
1964Jan 17The PLO charter was put together with articles that proclaimed Israel an illegal state and pledged “the elimination of Zionism in Palestine.” The PLO was founded in Egypt. Fatah became the core group of the PLO.
1966Jan 17Martin Luther King Jr. opened a campaign in Chicago.
1967Jan 17Evelyn Nesbit (b.1884), American artists’ model and chorus girl, died in Santa Monica, Ca. She is noted for her entanglement in the 1906 murder of her ex-lover, architect Stanford White, by her first husband, Harry Kendall Thaw.
1970Jan 17In Vietnam Donald Sloat was killed in action as he used his body to cover a hand grenade saving three fellow soldiers. In 2014 Sloat was awarded the Medal of Honor.
1973Jan 17The US Public Health Service linked smoking to fetal and infant risks.
1974Jan 17China occupied the Paracel Islands following the Battle of Hoang Sea, a bloody skirmish with Vietnam. Dozens of South Vietnamese sailors drowned in a vain attempt to stop China’s annexation of the Paracel archipelago.
1976Jan 17“I Write the Songs” by Barry Manilow (b.1944) hit #1.
1977Jan 17The TV sitcom “Busting Loose” began with Adam Arkin and ran for 24 episodes.
1970Jan 17Silas Trim Bissell (d.2002) and his wife Judith, Weathermen underground members, set a homemade bomb under the steps of the ROTC building at Washington State Univ. It failed to go off and both were caught. Bissel went underground but was caught and served 17 months in Lompoc (1987-1988).
1982Jan 17Varlan Shalamov, Russian writer, journalist, poet and Gulag survivor, died in Moscow.
1983Jan 17Alabama Gov George C. Wallace (1919-1998), became governor for a record 4th time.
1984Jan 17The US Supreme Court sided with Sony and ruled, 5 to 4, that the private use of home video cassette recorders to tape television programs did not violate federal copyright laws.
1985Jan 17A jury in New Jersey ruled that terminally ill patients have the right to starve themselves.
1986Jan 17President Reagan approved a finding that authorized the sale of weapons to Iran through third parties.
1987Jan 17A Reagan Administration official who initiated the arms shipments to Iran, acknowledged that the US had virtually no independent intelligence to support its policy.
1988Jan 17The Washington Redskins won the NFC championship by defeating the Minnesota Vikings 17-10; the Denver Broncos beat the Cleveland Browns 38-33 to win the AFC title.
1989Jan 17Five children were shot to death at the Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, Calif., by a drifter who then killed himself. Patrick Henry Purdy (27), an alcoholic with a gun fetish, had gone to school there.
1990Jan 17A federal judge in Miami set March 1990 for the trial of ex-Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega on drug trafficking charges. After initial delays, Noriega was tried and convicted of racketeering and conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison, later cut to 30 years.
1991Jan 17Crude oil futures fell $10.56 following the release of strategic US crude oil stockpiles coinciding with the start of the Persian Gulf War.
 1992Jan 17President Bush laid a wreath at the crypt of Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta.
1993Jan 17The United States, accusing Iraq of a series of military provocations, unleashed Tomahawk missiles against a military complex eight miles from downtown Baghdad. President-elect Clinton, arriving in Washington for his inauguration, backed the action.
1994Jan 17A 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck Southern California, killing at least 61 people and causing $20 billion worth of damage. Northridge quake hit the Los Angeles area. It killed 72 people. Insurance losses totaled $17.8 billion.
1995Jan 17George W. Bush (b.1946) began serving as the 46th governor of Texas. Bush had already picked Alberto Gonzales (b.1955) as his general counsel.
1996Jan 17Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and nine followers were handed long prison sentences for plotting to blow up New York-area landmarks.
1997Jan 17The US House ethics committee approved a $300,000 penalty against Speaker Newt Gingrich for ethics violations. Speaker Newt Gingrich agreed to submit to the reprimand
1998Jan 17Pres. Clinton was interrogated in his deposition In the Paula Jones case. It was the first time a sitting president was interrogated in a court case. During the nearly six hours of sworn testimony, Clinton denied that he had engaged in a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
1999Jan 17The defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos defeated the New York Jets, 23-10, to win the American Football Conference title; the Atlanta Falcons upset the Minnesota Vikings, 30-27, to win the National Football Conference championship.
2000Jan 17The Clinton administration announced that talks between Israel and Syria had been postponed indefinitely.
2001Jan 17California used rolling blackouts to cut off power to hundreds of thousands of people. Gov. Davis declared a state of emergency and ordered the Dept. of Water Resources to buy and sell electricity to help alleviate the crises. PG&E defaulted on $76 million in short term debt.
2002Jan 17US Sec. of State Powell visited Afghanistan and pledged that the US would not abandon the country.
2003Jan 17Tom Ridge sailed through Senate confirmation hearings on his way to becoming the nation’s first Homeland Security Department chief.
2004Jan 17Ray Stark (88), Hollywood producer, died. His films included “Funny Girl,” based on the life of Broadway singer Fanny Brice, his mother-in-law.
2005Jan 17SF and other US cities held parades honoring Martin Luther King.
2006Jan 17The US rejected a Philippine request to hand over 4 Marines to be tried for rape, setting off anti-American protests in Manila and elsewhere.
2007Jan 17Alaska’s newly elected Gov. Sarah Palin (42) delivered her 1st state speech.
2008Jan 17The White House, members of Congress and Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke agreed that strong action is needed to help avoid a US recession. The DJIA fell over 306 points to 12,159.
2009Jan 17President-elect Barack Obama rolled into the capital city after pledging to help bring the nation “a new Declaration of Independence” and promising to rise to the stern challenges of the times. He kicked off a four-day inaugural celebration with a daylong rail trip, retracing the path Abraham Lincoln took in 1861.
2010Jan 17In Hoover, Alabama, a fire at a Days Inn motel killed 4 college students from Mississippi Univ. for Women in Columbus, Miss.
2011Jan 17Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley was inaugurated. After the official inaugural ceremony he said “Anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I’m telling you, you’re not my brother and you’re not my sister, and I want to be your brother.”
2012Jan 17In Wisconsin opponents of Gov. Scott Walker submitted 1 million signatures for his recall, far exceeding the 540,208 needed.
2013Jan 17All 79 officers and crew of the USS Guardian were taken off the ship for safety reasons after it struck the Tubataha Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage site, with its bow at 2 a.m. in the Philippines. The Navy said inaccurate data and may have been a factor in the Guardian’s grounding. The last major part of the ship was removed on March 30. The US faced paying environmental damages of more than $2 million.
2014Jan 17President Barack Obama curtailed the reach of massive US National Security Agency phone surveillance sweeps, but said bulk data collection must go on to protect America from terrorists
 Source: Timelines of History     

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