Today in History

49 BC – Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River signaling a war between Rome and Gaul. 1519 – Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I died. 1773 – The first public museum in America was established in Charleston, SC. 1866 – The Royal Aeronautical Society was founded in London. 1875 – Kwang-su was made emperor of China. 1879 – The British-Zulu War began when the British invaded Zululand. 1882 – Thomas Edison’s central station on Holborn Viaduct in London began operation. 1895 – The first performance of King Arthur took place at the Lyceum Theatre. 1896 – At Davidson College, several students took x-ray photographs. They created the first X-ray photographs to be made in America. 1904 – Henry Ford set a new land speed record when he reached 91.37 miles per hour. 1908 – A wireless message was sent long-distance for the first time from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. 1915 – The U.S. House of Representatives rejected a proposal to give women the right to vote. 1915 – The U.S. Congress established the Rocky Mountain National Park. 1926 – “Sam ”˜n’ Henry” debuted on WGN Radio in Chicago, IL. 1932 – Hattie W. Caraway became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate. 1938 – Austria recognized the Franco government in Spain. 1940 – Soviet bombers raided cities in Finland. 1942 – U.S. President Roosevelt created the National War Labor Board. 1943 – The Office of Price Administration announced that standard frankfurters/hot dogs/wieners would be replaced by ‘Victory Sausages.’ 1945 – During World War II, Soviet forces began a huge offensive against the Germans in Eastern Europe. 1948 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not discriminate against law-school applicants because of race. 1949 – “Arthur Godfrey and His Friends” was debuted on CBS-TV. The show stayed on the network for seven years. 1949 – “Kukla, Fran and Ollie”, the Chicago-based children’s show, made its national debut on NBC-TV. 1955 – Rod Serling’s career began with the TV production of “Patterns.” 1960 – Dolph Schayes of the Syracuse Nationals became the first pro basketball player in the NBA to score more than 15,000 points in his career. 1964 – Leftist rebels in Zanzibar began their successful revolt against the government and a republic was proclaimed. 1966 – U.S. President Johnson said in his State of the Union address that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there was ended. 1966 – “Batman” debuted on ABC-TV. 1967 – “Dragnet” returned to NBC-TV after being off the network schedule for eight years. 1970 – The breakaway state of Biafra capitulated and the Nigerian civil war came to an end. 1970 – Nigeria’s civil war ended. 1971 – “All in the Family” debuted on CBS-TV. 1973 – Yassar Arafat was re-elected as head of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. 1986 – Space shuttle Columbia blasted off with a crew that included the first Hispanic-American in space, Dr. Franklin R. Chang-Diaz. 1991 – The U.S. Congress passed a resolution authorizing President Bush to use military power to force Iraq out of Kuwait. 1995 – Northern Ireland Secretary Patrick Mayhew announced that as of January 16 British troops would no longer carry out daylight street patrols in Belfast. 1998 – Tyson Foods Inc. pled guilty to giving $12,000 to former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy. Tyson was fined $6 million. 1998 – 19 European nations agreed to prohibit human cloning. 1998 – Linda Tripp provided Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr’s office with taped conversations between herself and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. 1999 – Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball was sold at auction in New York for $3 million to an anonymous bidder. 2000 – The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, gave police broad authority to stop and question people who run at the sight of an officer. 2000 – Charlotte Hornets guard Bobby Phills was killed in a crash during a drag race. 2005 – NASA launched “Deep Impact”. The spacecraft was planned to impact on Comet Tempel 1 after a six-month, 268 million-mile journey. 2006 – The U.S. Mint began shipping new 5-cent coins to the 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks. The coin has an image of Thomas Jefferson taken from a 1800 Rembrandt Peale portrait in which the president is looking forward. Since 1909, when presidents were first depicted on circulating coins, all presidents had been shown in profile. 1970-01-12 – Biafran War ends, Biafra surrenders to Nigeria. 1970-01-12 – Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war.