Israel Putnam(American Revolutionary War general)β
Millard Fillmore(13th U.S. president)β
Zora Neale Hurston(author)β
Vincent Gardenia(actor)β
William Peter Blatty(author)β
Douglas Kiker(broadcast journalist)β
Hunter Davies(author)β
Tony Conigliaro(baseball player)β
Kenny Loggins(singer)β
Erin Gray(actress)β
Katie Couric(newscaster)β
Nicolas Cage(actor)β
Jon Lester(baseball player)β
Liam Aiken(actor)β
Lamar Jackson(football player)β
Died
Lou Henry Hoover(U.S. First Lady)β
Emperor Hirohito(Japan died after the longest reign of any Japanese monarch, 62 years, and was succeeded by his son, Akihito)β
Joe Robbie(founder of the Miami Dolphins)β
Bronko Nagurski(football player)β
Rosemary Kennedy(sister of President John F. Kennedy who was born with a disability. She was the inspiration for the Special Olympics spearheaded by the Kennedy family)β
Events
Major satellites of Jupiter first seen by Galileoβ
Astronomer Galileo Galilei, armed with a primitive telescope, saw three stars near Jupiter. About a week later a fourth one appeared. Galileo had discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter. Today the moons are called Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto; they are known as the Galilean Satellites.β
First typewriter patent issued in Englandβ
Bank of North America, first commercial bank chartered by Congress, opened, Philadelphia.β
D. Landreth Seed Co. in Philadelphia establishedβ
Francois Blanchard and John Jefferies crossed the English Channel from Dover to Calais by hot-air ballon; the first crossing of the Channel by airβ
The electors were chosen for the first U.S. presidential election. (George Washington was elected president on February 4.)β
Indians attempted to ambush cavalry of Iowa volunteers at Julesburg, Coloradoβ
In 1892, with $638, Thomas A. Edison constructed the first movie studio. His first film was made on this day in 1894. Entitled Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze, it documents Edison employee Fred Ott while he is sneezing. This remains the earliest copyrighted film still in existence.β
Fannie Farmer published her first cookbookβ
Transatlantic telephone service began between NY and Londonβ
U.S. military plant Question Mark completed a 150-hour, 40-minute nonstop flightβ
Surveyor VII spacecraft launchedβ
A U.S. court of appeals ordered a ban on the pesticide DDT until its effects on public health were studiedβ
Lewis Powell, and William Rehnquist are confirmed as US Supreme Court justicesβ
Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, fell to United Front insurgentsβ
President Reagan banned trade and travel to Libya and called for an international boycott because of its involvement in terrorist activitiesβ
The Leaning Tower of Pisa closed to the public because of safety concernsβ
Tom Seaver won election into the Baseball Hall of Fameβ
Weather
A snowstorm brought a foot of snow to Washington, D.C., 14 inches to New York City, and 18 inches to Philadelphiaβ
Great blizzard raged on Plains; many settlers lostβ
Severe cold wave in South; worst freeze since 1835 in Floridaβ
The world record 24-hour rainfall total was 72 inches at Foc-Foc, La Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. The rain ended on January 8.β
The temperature at Hawley Lake in Arizona dipped to -40F, setting a new record-low temperature for the state.β
First snow in 14 yrs, 6 inches in Rome, Italy; 20 degrees F— lowest temperature in 100 yearsβ
Snow covered the Sahara Desert in Ain Sefra, Algeriaβ
The temperature soared to 117 degrees F in Sydney, Australiaβ