This Day in History – January 21, 2012

1542 – Parliament passes bill of attainder against Queen Katherine Howard 1677 – First medical publication in America (pamphlet on smallpox), Boston 1789 – The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth by W.H. Brown, is printed in Boston, Massachusetts. 1793 – After being found guilty of treason by the French Convention, Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine. 1799 – Edward Jenner’s smallpox vaccination is introduced 1827 – Freedom Journal, First Black paper, begins publishing 1840 – Jules Dumont d’Urville discovers Adélie Land, Antarctica. 1846 – First edition of Charles Dickens’ “Daily News” 1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis of Mississippi & 4 other southern senators resign from the United States Senate. 1899 – Opel manufactures its first automobile. 1903 – Harry Houdini escapes police station Halvemaansteeg in Amsterdam 1903 – International Theater (Majestic, Park) opens at 5 Columbus Circle New York City NY 1908 – New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor. 1911 – The first Monte Carlo Rally takes place. 1915 – Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit, Michigan. 1927 – First national opera broadcast from a US opera house (Faust, Chicago) 1954 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, the First Lady of the United States. 1960 – Little Joe 1B, a Mercury spacecraft, lifts off from Wallops Island, Virginia with Miss Sam, a female rhesus monkey on board. 1968 – A B-52 bomber crashes near Thule Air Base, contaminating the area after its nuclear payload ruptures. One of the four bombs remains unaccounted for after the cleanup operation is complete. 1968 – Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh – One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins. 1971 – The current Emley Moor transmitting station, the tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, begins transmitting UHF broadcasts. 1976 – Commercial service of Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes. 1977 – President Jimmy Carter pardons nearly all American Vietnam War draft evaders, some of whom had emigrated to Canada. 1978 – Bee Gees’ “Saturday Night Fever” album goes #1 for 24 weeks 1979 – Super Bowl XIII Pittsburgh Steelers beat Dallas Cowboys, 35-31 in Miami; Super Bowl MVP Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh, Quarterback 1981 – Bernhard Goetz is assaulted for First time on a New York subway train 1981 – Production of the iconic DeLorean DMC-12 sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. 1985 – The inauguration of President Ronald Reagan to a second term, already postponed a day because January 20 fell on a Sunday, becomes the second inauguration in history moved indoors because of freezing temperatures and high winds. The parade is cancelled altogether. 1987 – BB King donates his 7,000 record collection to University of Mississippi 1989 – Wayne Gretzky passes Marcel Dionne to become NHL’s 2nd all time scorer 1990 – John McEnroe becomes the First ever expelled from the Australian Open for throwing a tantrum & swearing at an official 1991 – CBS News correspondent Bob Simon captured by Iraqis in Persian Gulf 1994 – Lorena Bobbitt found temporarily insane for chopping off spouse’s penis 1997 – Newt Gingrich becomes the first leader of the United States House of Representatives to be internally disciplined for ethical misconduct. 1999 – War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 4,300 kilograms (9,500 lb) of cocaine on board. 2003 – A 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes the Mexican state of Colima, killing 29 and leaving approximately 10,000 people homeless. 2004 – NASA’s MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies in the management of its flash memory and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6. 2008 – Black Monday in worldwide stock markets. FTSE 100 had its biggest ever one-day points fall, European stocks closed with their worst result since 11 September 2001, and Asian stocks drop as much as 14%.]]]]> ]]>