January 15:

1559 – England’s Queen Elizabeth I (Elizabeth Tudor) was crowned in Westminster Abbey.

1624 – Many riots occurred in Mexico when it was announced that all churches were to be closed.

1777 – The people of New Connecticut (now the state of Vermont) declared their independence.

1844 – The University of Notre Dame received its charter from the state of Indiana.

1863 – “The Boston Morning Journal” became the first paper in the U.S. to be published on wood pulp paper.

1870 – A cartoon by Thomas Nast titled “A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion” appeared in “Harper’s Weekly.” The cartoon used the donkey to symbolize the Democratic Party for the first time.

1892 – “Triangle” magazine in Springfield, MA, published the rules for a brand new game. The original rules involved attaching a peach baskets to a suspended board. It is now known as basketball.

1899 – Edwin Markham’s poem, “The Man With a Hoe,” was published for the first time.

1906 – Willie Hoppe won the billiard championship of the world in Paris, France.

1908 – Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority became America’s first Greek-letter organization established by African-American college women.

1913 – The first telephone line between Berlin and New York was inaugurated.

1936 – The first, all glass, windowless building was completed in Toledo, OH. The building was the new home of the Owens-Illinois Glass Company Laboratory.

1943 – The Pentagon was dedicated as the world’s largest office building just outside Washington, DC, in Arlington, VA. The structure covers 34 acres of land and has 17 miles of corridors.

1945 – CBS Radio debuted “House Party”. The show was on the air for 22 years.

1953 – Harry S Truman became the first U.S. President to use radio and television to give his farewell as he left office.

1955 – The first solar-heated, radiation-cooled house was built by Raymond Bliss in Tucson, AZ.

1967 – The first National Football League Super Bowl was played. The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League. The final score was 35-10.

1973 – U.S. President Nixon announced the suspension of all U.S. offensive action in North Vietnam. He cited progress in peace negotiations as the reason.

1974 – “Happy Days” premiered on ABC-TV.

1986 – President Reagan signed legislation making Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday a national holiday to be celebrated on the third Monday of January.

1987 – Paramount Home Video reported that it would place a commercial at the front of one of its video releases for the first time. It was a 30-second Diet Pepsi ad at the beginning of “Top Gun.”

2001 – Wikipedia was launched.

2003 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Congress had permission to repeatedly extend copyright protection.

2006 – NASA’s Stardust space probe mission was completed when it’s sample return capsule returned to Earth with comet dust from comet Wild 2.

MUSIC HISTORY

1958 – The Everly Brothers made their debut on British TV on The Perry Como Show.

1961 – Motown Records signed The Supremes.

1964 – Vee Jay records filed a lawsuit against Capitol and Swan Records over manufacturing and distribution rights to Beatles recordings.

Today in Beatles History

1967 – The Rolling Stones performed on TV’s “Ed Sullivan Show” and were forced to change their lyrics of “Let’s Spend the Night Together” to “Let’s Spend Some Time Together.”

1967 – The Buckinghams began recording “Don’t You Care.”

1968 – The Byrds released “The Notorious Byrd Brothers.”

1971 – Chase recorded “Get It On.”

1973 – The Rolling Stones announced that they would put on a benefit concert for the people of Managua, Nicaragua. The area had been devestated by an earthquake on December 23rd. Nicaragua is the home of Jagger’s wife, Bianca.

1982 – Harry Wayne Casey, leader of KC and the Sunshine Band was partially paralyzed in an automobile accident in Miami, FL. His recovery took about a year.

1991 – Sean Lennon’s remake of his father’s “Give Peace A Chance” was released to coincide with the United Nation’s midnight deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. The lyrics were updated to reflect concerns of the 1990’s.

1998 – James Brown was admitted to a hospital for treatment for an addiction to painkillers at the age of 64. He was released on January 21, 1998.

2008 – The iTunes Music Store reached 4 billion songs sold.

2013 – Bruno Mars released the single “When I Was Your Man” in the U.S.