Today in History for the 8th January video produced by Associated Press
1780 – An earthquake of an estimated 7.7 magnitude caused major damage to the city of Tabriz, Iran, on the 8th January 1780, killing about 80,000 people.
1790 – George Washington delivered the 1st State of the Union address in New York on the 8th January 1790.
1867 – African American men were granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C on the 8th January 1867.
1885 – John Curtin the 14th Prime Minister of Australia was born on the 8th January 1885 (died 1945).
1889 – Herman Hollerith was issued US patent #395,791 for the ‘Art of Applying Statistics’ on the 8th January 1889, known as his punched card calculator.
1935 ~ ELViS PRESLEY the American singer, guitarist, and actor was born in Tupelo, Mississippi on the 8th January 1935. (died 16th August 1977 aged 42). Official website: www.Elvis.com | YouTube video: Elvis Presley ~ Always On My Mind (1972)…
1937 – Shirley Bassey the Welsh singer was born on the 8th January 1937.
1941 ~ Graham Chapman the English comedian, writer, actor, and member of Monty Python was born on the 8th January 1941 (died 4th October 1989).
1942 – Stephen Hawking the English physicist and author was born on the 8th January 1942.
1942 ~ Yvette Mimieux the American movie and television actress was born on the 8th January 1942.
1947 – David Bowie the English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor was born on the 8th January 1947.
1955 – Mike Reno the Canadian lead singer of Loverboy was born on the 8th January 1955.
1959 – Paul Hester the Australian drummer from Crowded House, Split Enz & Deckchairs Overboard was born on the 8th January 1959 (died 2005).
1963 – Leonardo da Vinci‘s Mona Lisa was exhibited in the United States for the first time, on the 8th January 1963, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
1964 ~ Marc Quinn the British artist from the e Young British Artists group was born on the 8th January 1964. Marc Quinn is known for the Alison Lapper Pregnant sculpture at Trafalgar Square, and Self (sculpture of his head made with his own frozen blood) and other sculptures made from blood, ice and faeces, referring to scientific developments. Marc Quinn has a preoccupation with the mutability of the body and the dualisms that define human life: spiritual and physical, surface and depth, cerebral and sexual. Marc Quinn’s official website: www.MarcQuinn.com
1966 – Andrew Wood the American singer-songwriter from Mother Love Bone was born on the 8th January 1966 (died 1990).
1967 – R. Kelly the American singer-songwriter was born on the 8th January 1967.
1970 – Rachel Friend the Australian actress was born on the 8th January 1970.
1973 – Soviet space mission Luna 21 was launched on the 8th January 1973.
1981 – A local farmer reported a UFO sighting in Trans-en-Provence, France, on the 8th January 1981, claimed to be “perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time”.
1982 – Gaby Hoffmann the American actress was born on the 8th January 1982.
1994 – Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 left for Mir on the 8th January 1994. He stayed on the space station until the 22nd March 1995, for a record of 437 days in space.
2000 – Noah Cyrus the American actress and singer was born on the 8th January 2000.
2004 – The RMS Queen Mary 2, the largest passenger ship ever built, was christened by her namesake’s granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II on the 8th January 2004.