On 25 January 1984, Apple’s Macintosh computer went on sale this day for $ 2,495. It wasn’t until mid-1985, however, that sales began to take off and this computer began to replace the Apple II model.
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Newspaper reporter Nellie Bly (pen name used by Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman) set off from Hoboken, New Jersey, 14 November 1889, to attempt to break Jules Verne’s imaginary hero Phileas Fogg’s record of voyaging around the world in 80 days. She did beat Fogg’s record, taking 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes and 14 seconds to make the trip, arriving back in New Jersey on 25 January 1890.
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Born 25 January 1759. Farmer, lover of women, father of at least 11 children, freemason, songwriter and beloved poet who wove the folk traditions and dialects of Scotland into lovely lyrics and ballads. Poems and songs include “Tam O’Shanter,” “To a Mouse,” “Green Grow the Rushes, O” and most of “Auld Lang Syne.” “Oh wad some power the giftie gie us/ To see oursels as others see us!” Born at Ayrshire, Scotland, he died at Dumfries, Scotland, July 21, 1796. His birthday is widely celebrated as Burns Night, especially in Scotland, England and Newfoundland.
On 25 January 1924, the first Winter Olympic Games opened at Chamonix, France, with athletes representing 16 nations. The ski jump, previously unknown, thrilled spectators. The Olympics offered a boost to skiing, which became enormously popular in the next decade.
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25 January. Patron saint of friendship and love in Wales. Dwynwen was a fifth-century saint (died AD 460) who lived in seclusion at Llanddwyn Island. The church (the ruins of which still stand today) there was a medieval pilgrimage site and supposedly featured a magic well. Saint Dwynwen’s Day is not officially recognized in the Catholic and Anglican liturgical calendars, but its celebration has become a popular custom in Wales for lovers.
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On 26 January 1837, Michigan became the 26th state in the Union.
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On 26 January 1788, a shipload of convicts arrived briefly at Botany Bay (which proved to be unsuitable) and then at Port Jackson (later the site of the city of Sydney). Establishment of an Australian prison colony was to relieve crowding of British prisons. Australia Day, formerly known as Foundation Day or Anniversary Day, has been observed since about 1817 and has been a public holiday since 1838.
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Jan 26, 1875. George F. Green, of Kalamazoo, MI, patented the electric dental drill.
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27 January 1967. Three American astronauts, Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee, died when fire suddenly broke out at 6: 31 PM, EST, in Apollo I during a launching simulation test, as it stood on the ground at Cape Kennedy, FL. First launching in the Apollo program had been scheduled for 27 February 1967.
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Beginning on 27 January 1945, the Soviet army liberated about 6,000 prisoners of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz. It is estimated that 1.5 million inmates were killed at Auschwitz between 1941 and liberation— 95 percent of them were Jewish.
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Jan 27. On Nov 1, 2005, the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) designated Jan 27 as an annual day in memory of the victims of the Holocaust conducted during the Second World War by the Nazi regime (Res 60/ 7). In doing so, the UN rejected any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or part. On Jan 26, 2007, the Assembly condemned without any reservation any denial of the Holocaust and urged all Member States unreservedly to reject any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or in part, or any activities to that end (Res 61/ 255).
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Jan 27, 1888. The largest nonprofit scientific and educational institution in the world was incorporated on this date after an initial meeting on Jan 13, 1888, in which a group of 33 geographers, explorers, cartographers, teachers and other professionals met at the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC, to discuss organizing a “a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge.” The first president was Gardiner Greene Hubbard. The first National Geographic Magazine was published nine months later in October 1888.
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Born at Thorne, Yorkshire, England, in 1836 (exact date unknown), Crapper is often described as the prime developer of the flush toilet mechanism as it is known today. The flush toilet had been in use for more than 100 years; Crapper perfected it. Founder, London, 1861, of Thomas Crapper & Co, later patentees and manufacturers of sanitary appliances.
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27 January 1756. One of the world’s greatest music makers. Born at Salzburg, Austria, into a gifted musical family, Mozart began performing at age three and composing at age five. Some of the best known of his more than 600 compositions are the operas Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte and The Magic Flute; his unfinished Requiem Mass; his C major symphony known as the “Jupiter”; and many of his quartets and piano concertos. He died at Vienna, Austria, 5 December 1791.
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On 28 January 1986 at 11: 39 AM, EST, the space shuttle Challenger STS51L exploded, 74 seconds into its flight and about 10 miles above the earth. Hundreds of millions around the world watched television replays of the horrifying event that killed seven people. The billion-dollar craft was destroyed, all shuttle flights suspended and much of the US manned space flight program temporarily halted. Killed were teacher Christa McAuliffe (who was to have been the first ordinary citizen in space) and six crew members: Francis R. Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Judith A. Resnik, Ellison S. Onizuka, Ronald E. McNair and Gregory B. Jarvis.
Jan 28. Since 2008. All online participants, from home computer users to multinational corporations, need to be aware of the personal data others have entrusted to them and remain vigilant about protecting it. Good online citizenship means practicing conscientious data stewardship. Data Privacy Day is an effort to empower and educate people to protect their privacy, control their digital footprint and make the protection of privacy and data a great priority in their lives. Annually, Jan 28— the anniversary of the 1981 signing of Convention 108, the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection.
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28 January 1912. Abstract Expressionist born at Cody, Wyoming. In postwar New York, Pollock placed his canvases on the floor and developed signature “drip” paintings, controversially incorporating the ideas of gravity and chance into the creation process. Pollock was killed in an automobile accident 11 August 1956, at East Hampton, New York.
On 29 January 1861, Kansas became the 34th state admitted to the Union.
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Curmudgeons Day is an annual celebration of the crusty, yet insightful, wags who consistently apply the needle of truth to the balloons of hypocrisy and social norms.
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Thomas Paine’s birthday – Jan 29, 1737. American Revolutionary leader, a corset maker by trade, author of Common Sense, The Age of Reason and many other influential works, was born at Thetford, England. “These are the times that try men’s souls” are the well-known opening words of his inspirational tract The Crisis. Paine died at New York, NY, June 8, 1809, but 10 years later his remains were moved to England by William Cobbett for reburial there. Reburial was refused, however, and the location of Paine’s bones, said to have been distributed, is unknown.
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30 January 1969. On this day the Beatles performed together in public for the last time. The show took place on the roof of their Apple Studios in London, England, but it was interrupted by police after they received complaints from the neighbors about the noise.
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Bloody Sunday – Jan 30, 1972. In Londonderry, Northern Ireland, 14 Roman Catholics were shot dead by British troops during a banned civil rights march. During 1972, the first year of British direct rule, 467 people were killed in the fighting. On June 15, 2010, after a 12-year investigation, the 5,000-page Saville Report was issued that strongly condemned the soldiers who fired and exonerated the victims. As a result, Prime Minister David Cameron issued an apology on behalf of the British government.
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June 30, 1997. The crested flag of the British Crown Colony was officially lowered at midnight and replaced by a new flag (marked by the bauhinia flower) representing Chinas sovereignty and the official transfer of power. Though Britain owned Hong Kong in perpetuity, the land areas surrounding the city were leased from China and the lease expired July 1, 1997. Rather than renegotiate a new lease, Britain ceded its claim to Hong Kong.
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt born 30 January 1882. 32nd president of the United States. The only president to serve more than two terms, FDR was elected four times. He supported the Allies in WWII before the US entered the struggle by supplying them with war materials through the Lend-Lease Act; he became deeply involved in broad decision making after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941. Born at Hyde Park, New York he died a few months into his fourth term at Warm Springs, Georgia, 12 April 1945.
Imageby Elias Goldensky (1868-1943) – This image is available from the United States Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3c1712, public domain.
30 January 1948. Indian religious and political leader, Mahatma Gandhi assassinated at New Delhi, India. The assassin was a Hindu extremist, Ram Naturam.
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