January 19
1419 – Hundred Years’ War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England, completing his reconquest of Normandy.
1607 – San Agustin Church in Manila is officially completed; it is the oldest church still standing in the Philippines.
1861 – American Civil War: Georgia joins South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama in declaring secession from the United States.
1883 – The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey.
1915 – Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube for use in advertising.
1920 – The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations.
1937 – Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in seven hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds. Click here to read the New York Times account of his record breaking feat.
It begins…
Hughes, Riding Gale, Sets Record Of 7 1/2 Hours
in Flight From Coast
Averages 332 Miles an Hour to Make Speed-Distance Mark for Land Planes — Travels Most of Way at 14,000-Foot Altitude– Tries Out New Oxygen Mask
1946 – General Douglas MacArthur establishes the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo to try Japanese war criminals.
1949 – Cuba recognizes Israel.
1953 – Almost 72% of all television sets in the United States are tuned into I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth.
1978 – The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VW’s plant in Emden. During the original Beetle’s 65-year production run, more than 21 million were built world-wide.
1981 – Iran hostage crisis: United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.
1983 – The Apple Lisa, the first commercial personal computer to have a graphical user interface and a computer mouse, is announced.
1986 – The first IBM PC computer virus is released into the wild. A boot sector virus dubbed ‘Brain’, it was created by the Farooq Alvi Brothers in Lahore, Pakistan, reportedly to deter unauthorized copying of the software they had written.
Births
1807 – Robert E. Lee, American general and academic (d. 1870)
1809 – Edgar Allan Poe, short story witer, poet, and critic (d. 1849)
1839 – Paul Cézanne, French painter (d. 1906)
1943 – Janis Joplin, American singer-songwriter (d. 1970)
1946 – Dolly Parton, American singer-songwriter and actress
1953 – Desi Arnaz, Jr., American actor and singer
1954 – Cindy Sherman, American photographer and director
Deaths
1576 – Hans Sachs, German poet and playwright (b. 1494)
1930 – Frank P. Ramsey, mathematician, philosopher, economist (b. 1903)
1975 – Thomas Hart Benton, American painter and educator (b. 1889)
1981 – Francesca Woodman, American photographer (b. 1958)
2006 – Wilson Pickett, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
