On This Day in History...........

0336 St Mark begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0350 General Maxentius drives out Western Roman emperor Constans
0532 Nika uprising at Constantinople fails, 30-40,000 die
1307 German king Albrecht I makes his son Rudolf king of Bohemia
1478 Grand Duke Ivan II of Moscow occupies Novgorod
1486 King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV
1520 Christian II of Denmark & Norway defeats the Swedes at Lake Asunde
1535 Francisco Pizarro founds Lima Peru
1644 Perplexed Pilgrims in Boston reported America's 1st UFO sighting
1650 French Prince Louis II of Condé captured
1671 Pirate Henry Morgan defeats Spanish defenders, captures Panamá
1691 English king Willem III travels to The Hague
1701 Frederik I/Sophie Charlotte van Hanover crowned king/queen of Prussia
1733 1st polar bear exhibited in America (Boston)
1777 San Jose CA founded
1778 Captain James Cook stumbles over Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands)
1795 French admitted to Amsterdam without resistance
1795 Governor/Viceroy Willem V flees Scheveningen to England
1817 San Martin leads a revolutionary army over Andes
1840 Electro-Magnetic Intelligencer, 1st US electrical journal, appears
1850 British blockade Piræus, Greece to enforce mercantile claims
1854 Filibuster William Walker proclaims Republic of Sonora in NW México
1862 Confederate Territory of Arizona is formed
1865 Battle of Fort Moultrie SC
1869 Elegant California Theatre opens in San Francisco CA
1871 2nd German Empire proclaimed by Kaiser Wilhelm I & Bismarck
1884 General Charles Gordon departs London for Khartoum
1895 Amsterdam's AFC soccer team forms
1896 1st demonstration of an x-ray machine in the US, New York City NY
1896 British troops occupy Kumasi, West Africa
1900 Jan Blockx's "Tÿl Uilenspiegel" premieres in Brussels
1901 Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Graves De Communi Re
1905 French government of Combes falls
1908 Frederick Delius' "Brigg Fair" premieres
1911 1st shipboard landing of a plane (Tanforan Park to USS Pennsylvania)
1913 Turkish-Greek sea battle near Troy
1915 Train crashes at Colima-Guadalajara Mexico, about 600 die
1919 WWI Peace Congress opens in Versailles, France
1921 William Archer's "Green Goddess" premieres in New York City NY
1922 Irish author Liam O'Flaherty & others occupy the Rotunda in Dublin
1923 1st radio telegraph message from Netherlands to Dutch East Indies
1929 "New York Daily Mirror" columnist Walter Winchell debuts on radio
1929 Stalin proposes to ban Trotsky from the Politburo
1930 -27ºF (-33ºC), Watts OK (state record)
1930 Dmitri Shostakovich's opera "The Nose" premieres in Leningrad
1933 White Sands National Monument, NM established
1934 Eugene O'Neill's "Days Without End" premieres in New York City NY
1938 Pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander is elected to the Hall of Fame
1938 Bradman scores 104* for South Australia vs New South Wales at the SCG
1939 South African wicketkeeper Bradman gets his 6th straight ton, 135* vs New South Wales
1942 Nazis arrest journalists Frans Goedhart & Wiardi Beckman
1943 Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto begin resistance of Nazis
1943 Presliced bread sale banned to reduce bakery demand for metal parts
1943 Soviets announce they broke the long Nazi siege of Leningrad
1944 1st Chinese naturalized US citizen since repeal of exclusion acts
1947 Small river steamer sank on Yangtze River, kills 400
1947 "Red Mill" closes at Ziegfeld Theater New York City NY after 831 performances
1947 Detroit Tigers sell Hank Greenberg to Pirates (for $25-35,000)
1948 1st courses begin at University of Ibadan, Nigeria
1948 Ted Mack's "Original Amateur Hour" begins, DuMont (later NBC/ABC/CBS)
1949 "They Stand Accused" courtroom drama premieres on CBS (later DuMont)
1949 1st US Congressional standing committee headed by Negro (W Dawson)
1949 South African Reverend Andries P Treurnicht marries Engela Dreyer
1950 Christopher Fry's "Venus Observed" premieres in London
1950 Indians pitcher Bob Feller, after 15-14 season, takes $20,000 salary cut to $45,000, pay cut is Feller's own suggestion
1951 NFL rules tackles, guards & centers ineligible for forward pass
1951 NFL takes control of the failing Baltimore Colts
1951 1st use of lie detector in Netherlands
1951 Hermann Flake sentenced to death due to "hate campaign against German Democratic Republic"
1953 Louise Suggs wins LPGA Tampa Golf Open
1954 Fanfani forms Italian government
1956 German Democratic Republic forms own army (National People's Army)
1957 3 B-52's set record for around-the-world flight, 45 hours 19 minutes
1958 1st black in the NHL (William O'Ree, Boston Bruins)
1959 Ruth Jessen wins LPGA Tampa Golf Open
1960 US & Japan sign joint defense treaty
1961 Zanzibar's Afro-Shirazi party wins 1 seat by a single vote & parliament by a single seat
1962 Southern University closed due to demonstrations
1962 US begins spraying foliage in Vietnam to reveal Viet Cong guerrillas
1962 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1963 Reinier Paping wins Dutch 11-Cities Skating Race (10 59)
1964 Beatles 1st appearance in Billboard Chart (I Want to Hold Your Hand-#35)
1964 Plans for the World Trade Center announced (New York City NY)
1965 H L de Vries appointed Dutch Governor of Suriname
1966 Robert C Weaver, confirmed as 1st black cabinet member (HUD)
1967 Yellowknife replaces Ottawa as capital of NW Territories, Canada
1967 20th NHL All-Star Game: Montréal beats All-Stars 3-0 at Montréal
1967 Albert DeSalvo (Boston Strangler) sentenced to life in prison
1967 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1968 "Happy Time" opens at Broadway Theater New York City NY for 286 performances
1968 Hester & Appolinar's musical "Your Own Thing" premieres in New York City NY
1968 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakstan/Semipalatinsk USSR
1969 Expanded 4 party Vietnam peace talks began in Paris
1969 Soyuz 5 returns to Earth
1970 Hasse Börjes skates world record 500 minutes in 38.9 seconds
1970 NFL Pro Bowl West beats East 16-13
1971 Ivan Koloff beats Bruno Sammartino in NY, to become WWF champ
1973 Islanders break 12 game losing streak, 20 game road winless streak
1973 Boston Red Sox sign Orlando Cepeda as 1st player signed as a DH
1973 John Cleese's final episode on "Monty Python's Flying Circus" on BBC
1974 "The $6 Million Man" starring Lee Majors premieres on ABC TV
1974 Israel & Egypt sign weapons accord
1975 "The Jeffersons" spin-off from "All in the Family" premieres on CBS
1976 Super Bowl X Pittsburgh Steelers beat Dallas Cowboys, 21-17 in Miami; Super Bowl MVP Lynn Swann, Pittsburgh, Wide Receiver
1977 Imran Khan takes 12 wickets in match for Pakistan win at the SCG
1978 Roof of 3-year-old Civic Center in Hartford CT collapses (no injuries)
1978 Thiokol conducts 2nd test firing of space shuttle's SRB
1978 Geoff Boycott captains England for the 1st time, vs Pakistan Karachi
1979 Peter Jenkins finishes "A Walk Across America", Florence OR
1980 Gold reaches $1,000 an ounce
1980 Pink Floyd's "The Wall" hits #1
1980 Studio 54 owners Steve Rubell & Ian Schrager sentenced to 3½ years in prison for tax evasion & fined $20,000
1981 Iran accepts US offer of $7.9 billion in frozen assets
1981 Wendy O Williams arrested in Milwaukee for on-stage obscenity
1983 IOC restores Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals 70 years after they were taken from him for being paid $25 in semipro baseball
1984 80th Islander & 3rd dual hat trick (Carroll & Bossy) 9-1 win
1985 US renounces jurisdiction of World Court despite previous promise
1986 24th Space Shuttle (61-C) Mission-Columbia 7-returns to Earth
1986 AIDS charity record "That's What Friends are For" hits #1
1986 New York Lotto pays $30.5 million to one winner (#s are 19-20-27-34-41-46)
1987 11th Soap Opera Digest Poll Awards - Days of Our Live wins
1988 Airliner crashes in SW China, killing all 108 on board
1989 Astronomers discover pulsar in remnants of Supernova 1987A (LMC)
1989 Candace Thomas marries Steve Garvey
1989 IBM announces earnings up 10.4% in 1988
1989 Otis Redding, Dion, Rolling Stones, Temptations & Stevie Wonder inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
1989 West Indies beat Australia 2-1 to win the World Series Cup
1990 South Africa says its reconsidering ban on African National Congress
1990 Washington DC, Mayor Marion Barry arrested in drug enforcement sting
1991 Eastern Airlines goes out of business after 62 years
1991 Iraq launches SCUD missiles against Israel
1991 US acknowledges CIA and US Army paid Noriega $320,000 over his career
1991 WLAF's New York Knights become New York-New Jersey Knights
1991 Longest tennis match at the Australian Open, Boris Becker beats Italy's Omar Camporese in 5 hours & 11 minutes
1992 Comedian Pat McCormick injured in a car accident
1992 43rd NHL All Star Game - Campbell-10, Wales-6 (Brett Hull, MVP) at Philadelphia
1992 49th Golden Globes
1992 Actress Joan Chen (Twin Peaks) marries Dr Peter Hui
1993 Martin Luther King Jr holiday observed in all 50 states for 1st time
1993 West Indies win the World Series Cup, beating Australia 2-0
1995 Kumble takes 16-99 in match for Karnataka vs Kerala
1995 Pope John Paul II begins visit to Australia
1996 Baseball owners unanimously approve interleague play in 1997
1996 Lisa Marie Presley filed for divorce from Michael Jackson in NY
1997 47th NHL All-Star Game East beat West 11-7 at San Jose Arena
1998 "Ragtime" opens at Ford Theater New York City NY
1998 48th NHL All-Star Game North America beats World 8-7 at Vancouver
1998 55th Golden Globes Awards
1998 ABL All-Star Game at Disney complex in Orlando FL (West beats East 102-73)
1998 Boston Celtics retire Robert Parrish's #00
1998 Kelly Robbins wins Healthsouth Golf Inaugural
1998 UCP Telethon
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Missing in Action........

1964 METOYER BRYFORD G. OAKDALE LA AC IN SEA-3 RECOVERED N/SUBJ
1964 STRALEY JOHN L. BEAVER FALLS PA AC IN SEA- 3 RECOVERED N/SUBJ
1967 MADSEN MARLOW E. MINNEAPOLIS MN
1968 BOLES WARREN W. MARBLEHEAD NECK MA
1968 HINCKLEY ROBERT B. SPRINGFIELD ME 03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV
1968 JONES ROBERT C. MADISON NJ 03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV
1968 ROEHRICH RONALD L. SPRINGDALE AR
1968 SMITH WAYNE O. LOUISVILLE KY 03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1968 SIMONET KENNETH A. CHICAGO IL 03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV
1969 COADY ROBERT F. NEW ORLEANS LA

Births which occurred on January 18:

1543 Alfonso Ferrabosco composer
1641 François Michel le Tellier French statesman (Marquis de Louvois)
1657 Hendrik Casimir II Dutch Fieldmarshal (Nassau)
1685 Tiberius Hemsterhuis Dutch Classical prof, baptized
1689 Charles de Montesquieu France, philosopher/writer (Lettres Persanes)
1726 Hendrik prince of Prussia/diplomat
1732 Jean-Guillain Cardon composer
1751 Ferdinand Kauer composer
1779 Peter Roget thesaurus fame/inventor (slide rule, pocket chessboard)
1782 Daniel Webster Salisbury NH, orator/politician/lawyer
1793 William Henry Havergal composer
1795 Anna Paulowna Romanova monarch of Russia/daughter of czar Paul I
1809 Richard Caswell Gatlin Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1896
1813 Joseph Farwell Glidden inventor (1st commercial usable barbed wire)
1815 James Chesnut Jr Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1885
1815 Richard Yates Warsaw KY, Governor-Illinois (1861-65), died in 1873
1817 Jacques Gregoir composer
1818 Johannes van Vloten Dutch literary/theologist
1820 Abraham Buford Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1884
1829 Louis van Haecke Flemish chaplain/author (Blood to Bridge)
1831 Edward Ferrero Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1899
1835 César A Cui Vilna Lithuania, fort architect/composer
1835 Jan van Droogenbroeck Flemish poet
1840 Austin Dobson England, poet/critic/biographer
1840 Ernst Rudorff composer
1841 Alexis-Emmanuel Chabrier France, composer (Le Roi Malgré Lui)
1849 Sir Edmund Barton 1st PM of Australia (1900-03)
1854 Thomas A Watson needed by Bell, inventor assistant (Telephone)
1856 Dr Daniel Nathan Hale Williams famous African-American
1856 John Hyatt Brewer composer
1857 Otto von Below German commandant (WWI)
1861 Hans Goldschmidt German chemist
1861 Raymond Huntington Woodman composer
1867 Rubén Darío national poet (Nicaragua)
1869 Willem De Vreese Flemish linguist/biblographer
1870 Berend Modderman printer (Drukkers yearbook)
1871 Franz Blei [Peregrinus Steinhövel], Austrian painter/critic
1872 Paul Leautaud [Maurice Boissard], France, writer (Petit ami)
1878 Hendrik Baels Belgian politician
1879 Henri-Honoré Giraud French General /member of parliament
1880 Paul Ehrenfest Austria/Netherlands physicist (adiabates hypothesis)
1881 Gaston Gallimard French publisher (Librairie Gallimard)
1882 Alan Alexander Milne English author (Winnie-the-Pooh)
1882 Jacob Clay Dutch philosopher/physicist (Mesones)
1882 Sylvia Pankhurst English feminist
1884 Arthur Ransome English author (Swallows & Amazons)
1886 Antoine Pevsner French sculptor
1886 Peter Alma Dutch painter/graphic artist
1892 Oliver Hardy Harlem GA, comedy team member (Laurel & Hardy)
1893 John Lawrence Seymour composer
1893 Jorge Guillén Valladolid Spain, poet/critic (Cántico, Final)
1894 Wilhelm HC Tenhaeff Dutch parapsychologist
1896 Hans H Holm Norwegian poet (Jonsoknatt)
19-- Jose Luis Perales Spain, Spanish singer (Con El Paso del Tiempo)
19-- Mike Marquis rocker (Kik Tracee-Hot Wire)
1901 Arie Querido Dutch social psychiatrist
1903 Berthold Goldschmidt German/British (opera)composer (Beatrice Cenci)
1904 Cary Grant England, actor (Arsenic & Old Lace, North by Northwest)
1904 Henri-Georges Adam French etcher/painter/sculptor (Grand Nude)
1905 Chick Chandler Kingston NY, actor (Barney-One Happy Family)
1906 Hans Aeschbacher Swiss sculptor (Venus de Six-Tours)
1907 Janos Ferencsik Budapest Hungary, conductor (Budapest Opera)
1908 Albert P Morano (Representative-R-CT, 1951-59)
1908 Jacob Bronowsky British mathematician/cultural historian
1910 Arthur John Howard actor (Frieda, Last Holiday, Paradiso, Glass Cage)
1911 Gabor Darvas composer
1912 William Sansom English writer (The Loving Eye)
1912 Charles Moeller Belgian theologist (Humanisme et sainteté)
1912 René Gabriëls Belgian billiard pro (7 World/9 European championships)
1913 Danny Kaye Brooklyn NY, UNICEF/comedian/actor (Danny Kaye Show)
1914 Arno Schmidt writer
1916 Alec Coxon cricketer (England pace bowler in one Test, 2-90 & 1-82)
1917 Oscar Lewenstein impressario
1918 Adriano Mandarino Hypolito priest
1918 Bohuslav Jeremias composer, dies at 58
1918 Ton Brandsteder CEO/founder (Sony Nederland)
1919 Juan Antonio Orrego-Salas Santiago Chile, composer
1921 Bruce Woodcock boxer
1922 Constance Moore Sioux City IA, actress (Window on Main Street)
1922 Yehezkiel Braun composer
1924 Donald Baverstock TV producer
1925 Anthony Joly de Lotbiniere TV producer
1925 Gilles Deleuze philosopher
1925 Roepie Kruize Dutch field hockey player (Olympics-Bronze-48/Silver-52)
1932 Joe Schmidt NFL Hall-of-Famer
1932 Robert Anton Wilson US, sci-fi author (Trick Top Hat)
1933 John Boorman producer/director (Exorcist II, Deliverance, Zardoz)
1933 David Bellamy English botanist/tv-program maker
1933 Ray Dolby sound expert/inventor (Dolby noise limiting system)
1933 Vladimir Yevgrafovich Bugrov cosmonaut
1935 Raymond Briggs English author (Fungus the Bogeyman)
1939 Bernard Glassman New York, Zen teacher/head (Zen Center of NY)
1941 Bobby Goldsboro Marianna FL, singer (Honey)
1941 David Ruffin Mississippi, vocalist (Temptations-Papa Was a Rolling Stone)
1941 Tom Bailey rock vocalist (Thompson Twins-Doctor Doctor)
1941 Iva Zanicchi actress (Ragazza Tutta d'Oro)
1943 Dave Greene rocker
1944 Larry "Legs" Smith rocker (Bonzo Dog Band-Urban Spaceman)
1944 Relus ter Beek Dutch Minister of defense (PvdA)
1946 Katia Ricciarelli actress (Falstaff, Otello, Turandot)
1948 Takeshi Kitano Tokyo Japan, actor (Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence)
1950 John Hughes director (Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, Weird Science)
1950 Claudia de Colombia Bogato Columbia, Spanish singer (Yo Creo En Ti)
1950 Gilles Villeneuve Canadian auto racer
1953 Brett Hudson Portland OR, comedian (Bonkers, Hudson Brothers Show)
1955 Johannes AM "Hans" van Tongeren Dutch actor (Hunk)
1955 Kevin Costner Los Angeles CA, actor (Fandango, Silverado, Bull Durham)
1955 Mable Fergerson Los Angeles CA, 4x400m runner (Olympics-silver-1972)
1956 Mark Collie Waynesboro TN, country singer (Another Old Soldier)
1957 Tom Bailey rock vocalist/keyboardist (Thompson Twins-Doctor Doctor)
1958 Jeffrey N Williams Superior WI, Major Army/astronaut
1958 Larry Smith NBA player
1959 Bob Rosenberg rocker (Will To Power)
1961 Mark D Messier Edmonton Alberta, NHL Center (Edmonton, New York Rangers)
1962 Alison Arngrim actress (Nellie-Little House of the Prairie)
1962 David O'Connor equestrian 3-day (Olympics-silver-96)
1963 Jane Horrocks Lancashire England, actress (Absolutely Fabulous)
1964 Brady Anderson Silver Spring MD, outfielder (Baltimore Orioles)
1964 Jenny Holliday Australian softball pitcher (Olympics-bronze-96)
1965 Richard Dunwoody British jockey)
1967 M C Tab [Sharon Richard], New York City NY, rapper
1967 Kim Perrot WNBA guard (Houston Comets)
1967 Peter Cox Jr Bronxville NY, fencer-sabre (Olympics-96)
1969 Larry Webster defensive tackle (Baltimore Ravens)
1969 Marvin Pope CFL defensive end (Calgary Stampeders)
1970 Leo Araguz NLF/WLAF punter (Oakland Raiders, Rhein Fire)
1971 Andre Coleman NFL wide receiver/kick returner (San Diego Chargers)
1971 Greg Engel NFL center (San Diego Chargers)
1972 Dwayne Carswell NFL tight end (Denver Broncos-Super Bowl XXXII)
1972 Mike Lieberthal Glendale CA, catcher (Philadelphia Phillies)
1972 Ryan Kuehl defensive tackle (Washington Redskins)
1972 Steven Conley linebacker (Pittsburgh Steelers)
1972 Vinod Kambli cricketer (prolific Indian batsman 1993-)
1973 Crispian Mills London, vocalist/guitarist (Kula Shaker)
1973 Edward Jasper defensive tackle (Philadelphia Eagles)
1973 Junior Burrough NBA forward (Boston Celtics)
1973 Regilio Vreede soccer player (Blue White, RKC)
1974 Devon Odessa actor (Sharon-My So Called Life, Girl of Limberlost)
1974 Shane Burton defensive tackle (Miami Dolphins)
1975 Derek Smith linebacker (Washington Redskins)
1976 Laurence Courtois Kortrijk Belgium, tennis star (1995 finalist Jakarta)
1976 Vincent Polvliet soccer player (FC Utrecht)
1981 Kimberly Gloudemans Miss California Teen-USA (1997)
1981 Latoya Farley Miss Oklahoma Teen-USA (1996)
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Deaths which occurred on January 18:

1367 Pedro I king of Portugal (1357-67), dies at 46
1479 Louis IX the Rich, duke of Bayern (U of Ingolstadt), dies at 61
1580 Antonio Scandello Italian composer (Passion of John), dies at 63
1659 Benedikt Lechler composer, dies at 64
1664 Moise Amyrault French theologist/vicar, dies
1666 Adriaen A Bloemaert Dutch landscape painter, dies at about 56
1677 John A van Riebeeck Dutch founder Cape Colony, dies at 57
1730 Peter II czar of Russia (1727-30), dies at 14
1760 Claudio Casciolini composer, dies at 62
1769 Hakuin Ekaku Zen teacher (reformer of Rinzai school), dies in Japan
1854 Juda Turo American philanthropist, dies
1862 John Tyler 10th US President (1841-45), dies in Richmond VA at 71
1875 Joseph Philbrick Webster composer, dies at 55
1886 Michal Czajchovski [Sadik Pasja], writer, dies
1890 Amadeus I FM king of Spain (1870-73), dies at 44
1902 Filippo Marchetti composer, dies at 70
1906 Bartolomé Mitre President of Argentina (1862-70), dies at 84
1913 Edmond R H Regout Dutch industrialist/politician, dies at 49
1919 John C F son of English king George V, dies at 13
1921 Adolf von Hildebrand German sculptor, dies at 73
1923 Wallace Reid actor (Birth of a Nation), dies at 31
1936 Rudyard Kipling author (Gunga Din, Nobel 1907), dies in Burwash England at 70
1940 Kazimierz P Tetmajer Polish writer/poet (Young Poland), dies at 74
1951 Robert Mark US chairman (Caste World Congress), dies at 41
1954 Sydney Greenstreet actor (Conflict, Maltese Falcon), dies at 74
1962 Raymond Moulaert composer, dies at 86
1963 Johnnie Moyes journalist/cricketer (South Australian batsman), dies
1966 Kathleen Norris US author, dies at 85
1967 Barney Ross Welterweight Boxing Champ (1934), dies at 57
1967 Albert Conti actor (Eagle, Jazz Heaven, Topaz), dies at 79
1967 Harry Antrim actor (Ma & Pa Kettle), dies of heart attack at 83
1967 Reese "Goose" Tatum basketballer (Harlem Globetrotters), dies at 45
1967 Simon Berkelbach van der Sprenkel vicar/theologist, dies at 84
1968 Lee Tracy actor (Martin Kane-Martin Kane Private Eye), dies at 69
1968 Bert Wheeler actor (Rainmakers, High Flyers, Dixiana), dies at 72
1968 John Ridgely actor (Air Force, Possessed, Big Sleep), dies at 58
1970 David O McKay 9th Mormon president, dies at 96
1971 Catherine Calvert actress (Fires of Faith), dies of stroke at 80
1972 Rudolf Wittelsbach composer, dies at 69
1976 Ad Verhoeven soccer player (Xerxes, Sparta), dies in crash
1976 Sonia Dresdel actor (Fallen Idol, Secret Tent), dies at 67
1977 Carl Zuckmayer German/Swiss/US playwright (Second Wind), dies at 80
1977 Paul Nordoff US composer (Frog Prince), dies at 67
1977 Yvonne Printemps actress (Paris Waltz, Voyage to America), dies at 81
1978 Carl Betz actor (Alex Stone-Donna Reed Show), dies at 56
1978 Ivan Ivonovich Dzerzhinsky composer, dies at 68
1979 Cyril Mockridge composer, dies at 82
1980 Cecil Beaton British photographer, dies at 76
1982 Trent Lehman actor (Butch-Nanny & the Professor), dies at 20
1982 Burnet Corwin Tuthill US composer (Laurentia), dies at 93
1982 Ramón (J) Sender (Garcés) Spanish writer, dies at 79
1984 Malcolm H Kerr 9th president of American University of Beirut, shot dead
1985 Mahmoud Taha Sudanese Moslem leader, hanged at 76
1985 Wilfrid Brambell actor (Hard Day's Night, Boys), dies at 72
1986 Claire James actress (Jack Armstrong), dies
1989 Bruce Chatwin British writer, dies at 49
1990 Melanie Appleby rocker (Mel & Kim), dies of liver cancer at 23
1991 Hamilton Fish congressman (NY), dies at 102
1991 Lillian Bond actress (Air Mail, Pick-up, Blond Cheat), dies at 83
1991 Nita Krebs actor (Munchkin-Wizard of Oz), dies of heart attack at 85
1992 John Remme entertainer, dies of AIDS at 56
1992 Tom Elios entertainer, dies
1993 M Eleonore Lippits 1st Dutch female missionary doctor, dies at 85
1993 Mia Meijer Dutch playwright/director (Machine Child), dies
1993 Mike Templeton 2nd person to receive a heart pump, dies at 34
1994 Arthur Altman songwriter, dies at 83
1995 Adolph F J Butenandt German bio-chemist (Nobel 1939), dies at 91
1995 Charles Baskerville vocalist, dies at 54
1995 Joseph Kagan businessman, dies at 79
1996 Leonor Fini painter, dies at 87
1996 Minnesota Fats [Rudolf Wanderone Jr], billiard hustler, dies at 82
1996 N T Rama Rao PM of Andhra Pradesh India (1983-84, 84-89, 94-95), dies
1997 Myfanwy Piper librettist, dies at 85
1997 Neville Crump racehorse trainer, dies at 86
1997 Paul Tsongas (Senator-D-MA), dies at 55

1862 John Tyler dies

Former U.S. President and current Confederate Congressman-elect John Tyler dies in Richmond, Virginia.

Tyler was a product of tidewater Virginia, and he spent nearly his entire life in public service. Tyler was a U.S. Senator from Virginia during the 1830s, when many of the sectional issues were emerging in national politics. A Whig, Tyler became vice president in 1841. Within a month of his inauguration, President William Henry Harrison died in office and Tyler vaulted into the executive chair. The major achievement of his administration was the addition of Texas to the Union in 1845.

After his presidency, Tyler moved to his plantation, Sherwood Forest, in Virginia. His fellow Virginians called on the 70-year-old to head a Peace Convention in the winter of 1860-1861. This body tried to negotiate a compromise with the victorious Republicans in the North to prevent a civil war. The attempt failed, as the Republicans were not willing to entertain any proposals that would protect slavery in the western territories. Tyler was a delegate to the subsequent Secession Convention and he later became a member of the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America. Tyler felt that victory was impossible for the Confederates but he nonetheless suggested that Confederate cavalry be dispatched to capture Washington before the Union military was in place.

Tyler was elected to the permanent Congress of the Confederate States of America but he died before he could take his seat. He was survived by his second wife, Julia, and 11 of his 15 children. Tyler is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
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1919 Peace conference opens in Paris

On this day in Paris, France, in the sumptuous Salle d’Horloge on the Quai d’Orsay, delegates convene for the official opening of the peace conference that will end the Great War.

For Germany, already laid low in defeat, opening the peace conference on January 18 was an affront to national pride. On that same day in 1871, the efforts of Otto von Bismarck to unify Prussia and the German kingdoms into a single nation had culminated in the glorious coronation of Wilhelm I as kaiser of the new Germany. This was not a coincidence—George Clemenceau, the prime minister of the host country, had specially chosen the date.

Gathered in the Salle d’Horloge were representatives from far-flung nations: some established powers, some—like those from the contentious Balkan region—emerging new states struggling to carve out a place for themselves. Notable absences in the room included the Greek prime minister, Eleutherious Venizelos, who was annoyed that Serbia had been allowed more delegates than Greece; the Japanese delegation, who had not yet arrived; and, most importantly, representatives from Russia, an Ally in 1914 under the imperial regime of Czar Nicholas II, now in the grips of a revolutionary dictatorship led by a small group of radical socialists, the Bolsheviks.

The French president, Raymond Poincaré, addressed the assembled delegates, telling them, “You hold in your hands the future of the world.” All eyes would be on Paris during the coming months to see whether the peace brokered at Versailles would be worthy of the immense sacrifices made by both winners and losers during the Great War.
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1943 Germans resume deportations from Warsaw to Treblinka

On this day, the deportation of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto to the concentration camp at Treblinka is resumed-but not without much bloodshed and resistance along the way.

On July 18, 1942, Heinrich Himmler promoted Auschwitz camp commandant Rudolf Hess to SS major. He also ordered that the Warsaw ghetto, the Jewish quarter constructed by the Nazis upon the occupation of Poland and enclosed first by barbed wire and then by brick walls, be depopulated-a "total cleansing," as he described it. The inhabitants were to be transported to what became a second extermination camp constructed at the railway village of Treblinka, 62 miles northeast of Warsaw.

Within the first seven weeks of Himmler's order, more than 250,000 Jews were taken to Treblinka by rail and gassed to death, marking the largest single act of destruction of any population group, Jewish or non-Jewish, civilian or military, in the war. Upon arrival at "T. II," as this second camp at Treblinka was called, prisoners were separated by sex, stripped, and marched into what were described as "bathhouses," but were in fact gas chambers. T. II's first commandant was Dr. Irmfried Eberl, age 32, the man who had headed up the euthanasia program of 1940 and had much experience with the gassing of victims, especially children. He was assisted in his duties by several hundred Ukrainian and about 1,500 Jewish prisoners, who removed gold teeth from victims before hauling the bodies to mass graves.

In January 1943, after a four-month hiatus, the deportations started up again. A German SS unit entered the ghetto and began rounding up its denizens-but they did not go without a fight. Six hundred Jews were killed in the streets as they struggled with the Germans. Rebels with smuggled firearms opened fire on the SS troops. The Germans returned fire-machine-gun fire against the Jews' pistol shots. Nine Jewish rebels fell-as did several Germans. The fighting continued for days, with the Jews refusing to surrender and even taking arms from their Germans persecutors in surprise attacks.

Amazingly, the Germans withdrew from the ghetto in the face of the unexpected resistance. They likely did not realize how few armed resisters there were, but the fact that resistance was given at all intimidated them. But there was no happy ending. Before this new incursion into the ghetto was over, 6,000 more Jews were transported to their likely deaths at Treblinka.
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1950 China and Soviet Union recognize Democratic Republic of Vietnam

People's Republic of China formally recognizes the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam and agrees to furnish it military assistance; the Soviet Union extended diplomatic recognition to Hanoi on January 30. China and the Soviet Union provided massive military and economic aid to North Vietnam, which enabled North Vietnam to fight first the French and then the Americans. Chinese aid to North Vietnam between 1950 and 1970 is estimated at $20 billion. It is thought that China provided approximately three-quarters of the total military aid given to Hanoi since 1949, with the Soviets providing most of the rest. It would have been impossible for the North Vietnamese to continue the war without the aid from both the Chinese and Soviets.
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1971 McGovern begins his presidential campaign

In a televised speech, Senator George S. McGovern (D-South Dakota) begins his antiwar campaign for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination by vowing to bring home all U.S. soldiers from Vietnam if he is elected. McGovern won his party's nomination, but was defeated in the general election by incumbent Richard Nixon.

With only 55 percent of the electorate voting--the lowest turnout since 1948--Nixon carried all states but Massachusetts, taking 97 percent of the electoral votes. During the campaign, Nixon pledged to secure "peace with honor" in Vietnam. Aided by the potential for a peace agreement in the ongoing Paris negotiations and the upswing in the American economy, Nixon easily defeated McGovern, an outspoken dove whose party was divided over several issues, including McGovern's extreme views on the war. McGovern said during the campaign, "If I were president, it would take me 24 hours and the stroke of a pen to terminate all military operations in Southeast Asia." He further stated that he would withdraw all American troops within 90 days of taking office, whether or not U.S. POWs were released. To many Americans, including a large number of Democrats, McGovern's position was tantamount to total capitulation in Southeast Asia. Given this alternative, most voters chose Nixon.