January 51781 - Richmond, VA, was burned by a British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold. 1885 - The Long Island Railroad Company became the first to offer piggy-back rail service which was the transportation of farm wagons on trains. 1896 - It was reported by The Austrian newspaper that Wilhelm Roentgen had discovered the type of radiation that became known as X-rays. 1900 - In Ireland, Nationalist leader John Edward Redmond called for a revolt against British rule. 1903 - The general public could use the Pacific cable for the very first time. 1914 - Ford Motor Company announced that there would be a new daily minimum wage of $5 and an eight-hour workday. 1925 - Mrs. Nellie Taylor Ross was sworn in as the governor of Wyoming She was the first female governor in the U.S. 1933 - In California, construction of the Golden Gate Bridge began. 1934 - Both the National and American baseball leagues decided to use a uniform-size baseball. It was the first time in 33 years that both leagues used the same size ball. (MLB) 1935 - Phil Spitalny’s All-Girl Orchestra was featured on CBS radio on the program, "The Hour of Charm." 1940 - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) got its very first demonstration of FM radio. 1944 - The London "Daily Mail" was the first transoceanic newspaper to be published. 1948 - Warner Brothers-Pathe showed the very first color newsreel. The footage was of the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl football classic. 1956 - In the Peanuts comic strip, Snoopy walked on two legs for the first time. 1961 - "Mr. Ed" debuted. The show would run for six years. 1970 - "All My Children" premiered on ABC. 1972 - U.S. President Richard M. Nixon ordered the development of the space shuttle. 1987 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan underwent prostate surgery. 1993 - The state of Washington executed Westley Allan Dodd. It was America's first legal hanging since 1965. Dodd was an admitted child sex killer. 1996 - Yahya Ayyash, a member of the Hamas in Israel, is killed by a booby-trapped cellular phone. 1998 - U.S. Representative Sonny Bono died in skiing accident. 2002 - A 15 year-old student pilot, Charles Bishop, crashed a small plane into a building in Tampa, FL. Bishop was about to begin a flying lesson when he took off without permission and without an instructor. |