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.
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com user JanBaby, CC0
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.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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.
Image courtesy of Dayoftheyear.com
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.
Image courtesy of United States Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Collections.
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.
Image by Eric Koch, Den Haag, CC BY SA 3.0
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.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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.
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com user free-fotos
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.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
On 31 January 1940, Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont, received the first monthly retirement check from the Social Security Administration — in the amount of $22.54. Fuller had worked for three years under the Social Security program (which had been established by legislation in 1935). The accumulated taxes on her salary over those three years were $24.75. She lived to be 100 years old, collecting $22,888 in Social Security benefits.
Image courtesy of SSA.gov
Jackie Robinson’s birthday Jan 31, 1919. Jack Roosevelt Robinson, athlete and business executive, first black to enter professional major league baseball (Brooklyn Dodgers, 1947– 56). Voted National League’s Most Valuable Player in 1949 and elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. Born at Cairo, GA, Jackson died at Stamford, CT, Oct 24, 1972.
Photo by Bob Sandberg now in public domain.
Jan 31, 1872. Zane Grey (original name Pearl Grey), American dentist and prolific author of tales of the Old West, was born at Zanesville, Ohio. Grey wrote more than 80 books that were translated into many languages and sold more than 10 million copies. The novel Riders of the Purple Sage (1912) was the most popular. Grey died Oct 23, 1939, at Altadena, California.
Feb 1 – 2
9. Since 1964, The American Heart Association has sponsored a month long public awareness and education campaign in February. At that time, over half the deaths in America were caused by cardiovascular disease. Americans are encouraged to wear red on Feb 3rd of each year.
Though only official in the USA, the Heart Association points out, “Cardiovascular disease knows no borders. Cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke, remains the leading global cause of death with more than 17.3 million deaths each year.”
Image courtesy of wikimediacommons.org.
On the first day of each month, the genealogy community is urged to back up their genealogy data and all computer data.
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com, CC0.
Feb 1– 29. Traditionally the month containing Abraham Lincoln’s birthday (Feb 12) and Frederick Douglass’s presumed birthday (Feb 14). Observance of a special period to recognize achievements and contributions by African Americans dates from February 1926, when it was launched by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Variously designated Negro History, Black History, Afro-American History, African-American History, the observance period was initially one week, but since 1976 the entire month of February.
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com user Florida_Aaraon, CC0.
13th Amendment
Feb 1, 1865. Anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s approval of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution (abolishing slavery): “1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” The amendment had been proposed by Congress Jan 31, 1865; ratification was completed Dec 6, 1865.
Image courtesy of WikimediaCommons.org.
Brigid of Kildare, a patron saint of Ireland, founded several monasteries, including one in Kildaire, Ireland. Also known as Imbolc, her feast day celebrated the coming of longer days and warmer weather as the first signs of spring are seen.
Feb 1, 2003. Minutes before space shuttle Columbia was due to land after a successful 16-day scientific mission, it disintegrated 40 miles above the state of Texas, killing its seven-member crew. Commander Rick Husband, pilot William McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla (first woman astronaut from India), Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon (first Israeli astronaut) lost their lives and were mourned worldwide. Columbia was the first shuttle to fly in space (1981).
More information available at https://www.nasa.gov/columbia/home/.
Candlemas – Feb 2. Observed in many Christian churches, Candlemas commemorates presentation of Jesus in the Temple and the purification of Mary 40 days after his birth. Also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus and the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Image: Public Domain, located via wikimediacommons.org.
Groundhog Day, USA. According to legend, if a rodent named Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow on the 2nd of February, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring.
Image courtesy of Wikimediacommons.
Feb 2, 1848. The war between Mexico and the US formally ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed in the village for which it was named. The treaty provided for Mexico’s cession to the US of the territory that became the states of California, Nevada and Utah, most of Arizona, and parts of New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming in exchange for $15 million from the US. In addition, Mexico relinquished all rights to Texas north of the Rio Grande. The Senate ratified the treaty Mar 10, 1848.
Image: Public Domain, located via wikimediacommons.org.
Elizabeth Blackwell’s birthday – Feb 3, 1821. First woman physician. Born near Bristol, England, she and several other members of her family were active abolitionists, women’s suffrage advocates and pioneers in women’s medicine. Her family moved to New York State in 1832, and she received a medical doctor’s degree at Geneva, NY, in 1849. She established a hospital in New York City with an all-woman staff, where she recruited nurses and trained them for service in the Civil War. Returning to England in 1869, she continued to teach and practice medicine until her death at Hastings, England, May 31, 1910.
Image public domain via wikimediacommons.org.
The 15th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified 3 February 1870. “The right of citizens to vote and not denied based on race, color or previous condition of servitude.”
Image courtesy of wikimediacommons.org.
