January 15
January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are
350 days remaining (351 in leap years).
Events
* 1559 - Elizabeth I of England is crowned in Westminster Abbey.
* 1582 - Russia cedes Livonia and Estonia to Poland
* 1759 - The British Museum opens
* 1777 - American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present day
Vermont) declares its independence.
* 1782 - Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the United
States Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and
decimal coinage
* 1844 - University of Notre Dame receives its charter from Indiana.
* 1870 - A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the United
States Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead
Lion" by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly).
* 1892 - James Naismith publishes the rules for basketball
* 1919 - The Boston Molasses Disaster kills 21 people
* 1919 - Ignace Paderewski becomes Premier of Poland
* 1920 - Prohibition goes into effect
* 1936 - The first building to be completely covered in glass is
completed in Toledo, Ohio (the building was for the Owens-Illinois
Glass Company).
* 1943 - World War II: Japanese driven off Guadalcanal
* 1943 - The world's largest office building, The Pentagon, is dedicated
(Arlington, Virginia).
* 1951 - Ilse Koch, The "Witch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of
the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment in
a court in West Germany
* 1967 - Super Bowl I is played -- The Green Bay Packers defeat the
Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10
* 1969 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5
* 1970 - After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafra
surrenders.
* 1970 - Muammar al-Qaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya
* 1973 - Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President of
the United States Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive
action in North Vietnam.
* 1975 - Portugal grants independence to Angola
* 1974 - Happy Days premiers on ABC.
* 1976 - Would-be Gerald Ford presidential assassin Sara Jane Moore is
sentenced to life in prison.
* 1992 - The Federal Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia ceases to exist.
Slovenia and Croatia gain independence
* 1998 - The stalker of Howard Stern, Lance Carvin, is sentenced to 2 1/2
years for threatening to kill Stern and his family.
* 2001 - Wikipedia, a Wiki free content encyclopedia, goes online
(Wikipedia Day).
Births
* 1622 - Jean Baptiste Moliere, French playwright (+ 1673)
* 1791 - Franz Grillparzer, Austrian lyricist (+ 1872)
* 1850 - Mihai Eminescu, outstanding Romanian poet (+ 1889)
* 1870 - Pierre S. DuPont, industrialist
* 1863 - Wilhelm Marx, German politician, chancellor of the Weimar
Republic
* 1892 - Rex Ingram, director, writer (+ 1950)
* 1893 - Ivor Novello, actor, musician (+ 1951)
* 1899 - Goodman Ace, actor, comedian, writer (+ 1982)
* 1906 - Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipowner (+1975)
* 1908 - Edward Teller
* 1909 - Gene Krupa, drummer (+ 1973)
* 1913 - Lloyd Bridges, actor (+ 1998)
* 1918 - Gamal Abdal Nasser, President of Egypt (+ 1970)
* 1918 - Robert Byrd, American politician
* 1926 - Maria Schell, Swiss actress
* 1929 - Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., American civil rights leader (+
1968)
* 1937 - Margaret O'Brien, actress
* 1941 - Captain Beefheart, singer
* 1942 - Charo, singer, actress
* 1948 - Ronnie Van Zant, musician (+ 1977)
* 1957 - Mario Van Peebles, actor, director
* 1957 - Julian Sands, actor
* 1965 - Adam Jones, musician of Tool
Deaths
* 41 - Caligula, Roman Emperor
* 1964 - Jack Teagarden, musician
* 1987 - Ray Bolger, actor, singer, dancer
* 1993 - Sammy Cahn, songwriter
* 1994 - Harry Nilsson, musician
* 1998 - Junior Wells, musician
Holidays and observances
* Roman Empire - Second day of the Carmentalia in honor of Carmen
* United States - Traditionally, Martin Luther King Day
