Trevor WholohanThis Day in History, January 22nd
January 21st 2008 23:34
This Day in History
1879 - Battle of Rorke's Drift - 139 British soldiers successfully defended their garrison against an intense assault by four to five thousand Zulu warriors.
1901 - Queen Victoria of England died after reigning for nearly 64 years.
1905 - Workers were fired on in Russia, resulting in "Bloody Sunday." 500 were killed.
1917 - U.S. President Wilson pleaded for an end to war in Europe, calling for "peace without victory." America entered the war the following April.
1939 - Uranium atom 1st split, Columbia University
1941 - World War II: The United Kingdom captures Tobruk from Nazi forces.
1942 - Japanese air raid on Rabaul, New Britain
1944 - World War II: Allies begin Operation Shingle (an assault on Anzio, Italy).
1945 - Burma highway reopens
1946 - US President sets up CIA, Central Intelligence Agency
1951 - Fidel Castro was ejected from a Winter League baseball game after hitting a batter. He later gave up baseball for politics.
1952 - The first commercial jet plane, the BOAC's Comet, is put into service.
1957 - Mad Bomber (George P Metesky) accused of 30 explosions, arrested in N.Y.
1964 - World's largest cheese (34,663lb’s) manufactured, Wisconsin
1968 - The sketch comedy "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" premieres on NBC
1968 - NBA announces it will expand to Milwaukee & Phoenix
1969 - Billy Preston becomes the 5th Beatle
1970 - 1st commercial Boeing 747 flight (Pan Am), New York to London in 6½ hours
1973 - US, North & South Vietnam & Vietcong sign boundary accord
1976 - Bank robbery in Beirut nets $20-$50 million (record)
1982 - 75% of North America is covered by snow
1984 - Apple introduced the Macintosh. It was the first computer to use a mouse.
1985 - Cold wave damages 90% of Florida's citrus crop
1987 - Phil Donahue was first talk show host to tape a show inside the Soviet Union.
1992 - Princess Sarah Ferguson wears paper bag over her head on airline ride
1998 - Theodore Kaczynski plead guilty to federal charges for his role as the Unabomber. He agreed to life in prison without parole.
2000 - Elian Gonzalez's grandmothers met privately with U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno as they appealed for help in removing the boy from his Florida relatives and reuniting him with his father in Cuba.
2002 - Kmart Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy making it the largest retailer in history to seek legal protection from its creditors.
2005 - The Indian navy in New Delhi reported finding a tsunami victim 25 days after he had been sucked into the sea and tossed onto a small island where he survived on coconuts until rescued.
Famous Birthday’s
1932 - Piper Laurie [Rosetta Jacobs], Detroit MI, actress (Twin Peaks)
1934 - Bill Bixby San Francisco CA, actor (Incredible Hulk, My Favorite Martian)D. 1993
1952 - Teddy Gentry Fort Payne AL, country music star (Alabama-Mountain Music)
1959 - Linda Blair St Louis MO, actress (Exorcist, Scream, The Blair Bitch Project)
Famous Death’s
1950 - Alan Hale, Sr., actor(Robin Hood, It Happened One Night, This is the Army)born 1892
1969 - Judy Garland singer/actress (Wizard of Oz), dies at 48 of an overdose
1973 - Lyndon B Johnson President (1963-69), dies at his Texas ranch at 64
1987 - R Budd Dwyer Pennsylvania State Treasurer, facing prison for conspiracy & perjury, shot himself to death at a televised news conference
1994 - Telly Savalas actor (Kojak, The Dirty Dozen), dies of prostate cancer at 70
1995 - Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy mother of President John F Kennedy, dies at 104
Joke of the Day
Sorry, Wrong Number
One morning the phone rang at 3:00 a.m. in Jeff's house. He picked up the phone and a woman asked, "Is this 555-1111?" "No, this is 555-1112." Jeff replied.
"Oh, I'm so sorry for disturbing you." The woman said.
"That's alright," Jeff said. "I had to get up to answer the phone anyway."
George Halas
Years ago famed Chicago Bears coach George Halas was screaming at a referee from outside the designated coaching area when the ref slapped George with a 5 yard penalty.
Halas threw down his hat and yelled at the referee, "You imbecile, it's a fifteen yard penalty, not a five yarder for coaching outside the box!"
To which the referee supposedly replied, "I know, but the way you coach George, it'll only be five".
World Records
Worlds Tallest man
The record for the tallest man ever was held by Robert Wadlow, who stood at 8 foot 11.1 inches at age 22 and he weighed 439lbs. His shoe size was a 37AA and his hands measured 12.75 inches from the wrist to the tip of his middle finger. At age 5 he was 5'4", at age 8 he weighed 169 pounds and was 6 feet tall, at age 16 he was 7 foot 10 .24 inches tall and weighed 374lbs.
First hand transplant
During a 14 hour operation in lyon France, in 1998, an international team of eight surgeons attached the hand of a dead man to the wrist of us 48-year-old Clint Hamlin of Australia.
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