1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano set sail westward from Madeira on the 17th January 1542, to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean.

1851 – A. B. Frost the American illustrator was born on the 17th January 1851 (died 1928).

1899 – Al Capone the American gangster was born on the 17th January 1899 (died 1947).

1706 – Benjamin Franklin the American politician, scientist, publisher, and 6th President of Pennsylvania was born on the 17th January 1706 (died 1790). Benjamin Franklin was the signer of the United States Declaration of Independence.

1773 – Captain James Cook and his crew become the first Europeans to sail below the Antarctic Circle on the 17th January 1773.

1904 – Anton Chekhov‘s The Cherry Orchard received its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre on the 17th January 1904.

1922 – Betty White the American actress was born on the 17th January 1922.

1927 – Eartha Kitt the American actress and singer was born on the 17th January 1927 (died 2008).

1929 – Popeye the Sailor Man the cartoon character created by Elzie Segar, first appeared on the 17th January 1929, in the Thimble Theatre comic strip.

1942 – Muhammad Ali the American boxer was born on the 17th January 1942.

1942 – Ita Buttrose the Australian journalist was born on the 17th January 1942.

1962 – Jim Carrey the Canadian-American actor and producer was born on the 17th January 1962.

1974 – Danny Bhoy the Scottish comedian was born on the 17th January 1974.

1976 ~ Keri Russell the American actress and dancer was born on the 17th January 1976. Keri Russell is best known as Felicity Porter in the Felicity television series which ran from 1998 to 2002, which she won a Golden Globe Award.

1980 – Zooey Deschanel the American actress and singer-songwriter from She & Him was born on the 17th January 1980.

1983 –  Hudson’s store in Detroit closed on the 17th January 1983, due to high cost of operating. It was the tallest department store in the world.

1988 ~ Home and Away the Australian television soap opera was first broadcast on the 17th January 1988. Home and Away is the 2nd longest running Australian drama. Official website: www.au.tv.yahoo.com/Home-and-Away | YouTube video: Home and away openings from the 1st in 1988 to 1999…

1997 ~ Jack Vidgen the Australian singer-songwriter was born on the 17th January 1997. Jack Vidgen is best known for winning the 5th season of Australia’s Got Talent. Jack Vidgen’s official website: www.JackVidgen.com |Facebook: www.facebook.com/JackVidgen |Twitter: www.Twitter.com/JackVidgen | instagram: www.instagram.com/jack_vidgen 

 YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/JackVidgenHome | YouTube video: Jack Vidgen Singing “Yes I Am” in the Australia’s Got Talent finals in 2011…

1998 – Lewinsky scandal: Matt Drudge broke the story of the Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinsky affair on his website The Drudge Report on the 17th January 1998.

2007 – The Doomsday Clock was set to 5 minutes to midnight on the 17th January  2007, in response to North Korea nuclear testing.

2008 – British Airways Flight 38 crash landed just short of London Heathrow Airport in England on the 17th January 2008, with no fatalities. It was the 1st complete hull loss of a Boeing 777.

Today in History for the 17th January video produced by Associated Press

 Associated Press official website: www.AP.org

27BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus was granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate on the 16th January 27BC, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire.

1581 – The English Parliament outlawed Roman Catholicism on the 16th January 1581.

1605 – The 1st edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes was published on the 16th January 1605, in Madrid, Spain.

1909 – Ernest Shackleton‘s expedition found the magnetic South Pole on the 16th January 1909.

1920 – The League of Nations held its first council meeting on the 16th January 1920, in Paris, France.

1932 ~ Dian Fossey the American zoologist was born in San Francisco on the 16th January 1932 (died 26th December 1985 aged 53). Dian Fossey undertook extensive studies of gorilla groups in the mountain forests of Rwanda. Dian Fossey’s 1983 book, Gorillas in the Mist, combined her scientific study of the mountain gorillas at Karisoke Research Center with her own personal story. Dian Fossey was murdered in 1985 (the case remains open). The Gorillas in the Mist movie was made in 1988, starring Sigourney Weaver as Dian Fossey. YouTube video: Gorillas in the Mist ~ 1988 movie trailer…

1942 ~ René Angélil the Canadian singer, and husband and manager of Celine Dion was born on the 16th January 1942.

1945 – Adolf Hitler moved into his underground bunker, known as the Führerbunker on the 16th January 1945.

1964 – Hello, Dolly! (musical) starring Carol Channing opened on Broadway on the 16th January 1964, beginning a run of 2,844 performances.

1965 – Maxine Jones the American singer from En Vogue was born on the 16th January 1965.

1969 – Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 & 5 performed the 1st-ever docking of a manned spacecraft in orbit on the 16th January 1969, the 1st-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, and the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk.

1970 – Buckminster Fuller received the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects on the 16th January 1970.

1972 – Greg Page the Australian singer from The Wiggles was born on the 16th January 1972.

1973 – Bonanza‘s final episode aired on NBC on the 16th January 1973.

1974 ~ Kate Moss the English model was born Katherine Moss in  Croydon, Greater London on the 16th January 1974. Kate Moss Tumblr | YouTube video: Kate Moss by Kate Garner at Gallery 618 ~ See Kate Moss in the controversial photographs taken by Kate Garner in “Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil” 20 unique canvas works…

1979 – Aaliyah the American singer, dancer, and actress was born on the 16th January 1979 (died 2001).

1986 – 1st meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force on the 16th January 1986.

2003 – The Space Shuttle Columbia took off for mission STS-107 on the 16th January 2003, which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry.

2005 – Romanian university lecturer and novelist Adriana Iliescu gave birth at 66 to her daughter Eliza on the 16th January 2005, breaking the record for the oldest birth mother in the world.

2006 – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn in as Liberia‘s new president on the 16th January 2006, becoming Africa‘s 1st female elected head of state.

Today in History for the 16th January video produced by Associated Press

Associated Press official website: www.AP.org

1493 – Christopher Columbus set sail for Spain from Hispaniola on the 15th January 1493, ending his first voyage to the New World.

1759 – The British Museum opened on the 15th January 1759.

1870 – A political cartoon for the first time symbolized the Democratic Party with a donkey (“A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion” by Thomas Nast for Harper’s Weekly) on the 15th January 1870.

1889 – The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, was originally incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia on the 15th January 1889.

1910 – Construction ended on the Buffalo Bill Dam in Wyoming, United States on the 15th January 1919, which was the highest dam in the world at the time, at 325 ft (99 m).

1929 – Martin Luther King, Jr. the American minster, activist and Nobel Prize laureate was born on on the 15th January 1929 (died 1968 aged 39).

1936 – The first building to be completely covered in glass, built for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, was completed in Toledo, Ohio on the 15th January 1936.

1943 – The world’s largest office building, The Pentagon, was dedicated in Arlington, Virginia on the 15th January 1943.

1948 – Ronnie Van Zant the American singer-songwriter from Lynyrd Skynyrd was born on the 15th January 1948 (died 1977).

1959 – Pete Trewavas the English bass player from Marillion was born on the 15th January 1959.

1962 – The Derveni papyrus, Europe’s oldest surviving manuscript dating to 340 BC, was found in northern Greece on the 15th January 1962.

1966 – Lisa Lisa the American singer was born on the 15th January 1966.

1967 – The first Super Bowl was played in Los Angeles, California on the 15th January 1967. The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 35–10.

1969 – The Soviet Union launched Soyuz 5 on the 15th January 1969.

1974 ~ Happy Days the American television sitcom was first broadcast from the 15th January 1974, until the 24th September 1984 on ABC. Happy Days was set in the mid-1950s to the 1960s in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, revolving around teenager Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) and his family: his father Howard (Tom Bosley) the hardware store owner, mother Marion (Marion Ross), younger sister Joanie (Erin Moran), and biker Arthur Fonzie / The Fonz Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler), and Richie’s friends, Warren “Potsie” Weber (Anson Williams) and Ralph Malph (Donny Most). YouTube video: Happy Days – 1st episode (part 1 of 2) The very 1st episode: All The Way, first aired on the 15th January 1974…

1991 – Elizabeth II, in her capacity as Queen of Australia, signed letters patent on the 15th January 1991, allowing Australia to become the first Commonwealth Realm to institute its own separate Victoria Cross award in its own honours system.

1992 – The international community recognized the independence of Slovenia and Croatia from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on the 15th January 1992.

2001 – Wikipedia, a free Wiki content encyclopedia, went  online on the 15th January 2001.

2005 – ESA‘s SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovered elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the moon on the 15th January 2005.

2009 – US Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency landing in the Hudson River shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in New York, New York on the 15th January 2001. All passengers and crew members survive.

Today in History for the 15th January video produced by Associated Press

 Associated Press official website: www.AP.org

1907 – An earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica killed more than 1,000 on the 14th January 1907.

1911 – Roald Amundsen‘s South Pole expedition made landfall on the eastern edge of the Ross Ice Shelf on the 14th January 1911.

1933 – The controversial Bodyline cricket tactics used by Douglas Jardine‘s England peaked on the 14th January 1933, when Australian captain Bill Woodfull was hit in the heart.

1938 – Norway claimed Queen Maud Land in Antarctica on the 14th January 1938.

1943 – Franklin D. Roosevelt became the 1st President of the United States to travel via airplane while in office on the 14th January 1943, when he traveled from Miami, Florida to Morocco to meet with Winston Churchill.

1950 – The first prototype of the MiG-17 made its maiden flight on the 14th January 1950.

1952 – NBC’s long-running morning news program Today debuted on the 14th January 1952, with host Dave Garroway.

1954 – The Hudson Motor Car Company merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation forming the American Motors Corporation on the 14th January 1954.

1960 – The Reserve Bank of Australia, the country’s central bank and banknote issuing authority, was established on the 14th January 1960.

1967 – Counterculture of the 1960s: The Human Be-In, took place in San Francisco, California‘s Golden Gate Park on the 14th January 1967, launching the Summer of Love.

1973 – Elvis Presley‘s concert Aloha from Hawaii was broadcast live via satellite on the 14th January 1973, and set a record as the most watched broadcast by an individual entertainer in television history.

1978 ~ James Mathison the Australian television presenter was born in Sydney on the 14th January 1978. James Mathison verified Twitter: Twitter.com/JamesMathison

2004 – The national flag of The Republic of Georgia, aka “five cross flag“, was restored to official use on the 14th January 2004, after a hiatus of 500 years.

2005 – Huygens probe landed on Saturn‘s moon Titan on the 14th January 2005.

Today in History for the 14th January video produced by Associated Press

 Associated Press official website: www.AP.org

1893 – Roy Cazaly the Australian footballer was born on the 13th January 1893 (d. 1963).

1911 – Joh Bjelke-Petersen the 31st Premier of Queensland was born on the 13th January 1911 (d. 2005).

1939 – The Black Friday bush fires burnt 20,000 square kilometers of land in Australia on the 13th January 1939, killing 71 people.

1942 – Henry Ford patented a plastic automobile on the 13th January 1942, which was 30% lighter than a regular car.

1955 – Paul Kelly the Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist was born on the 13th January 1955.

1961 – Julia Louis-Dreyfus the American actress was born on the 13th January 1961.

1968 – Johnny Cash performed live at Folsom State Prison on the 13th January 1968.

1977 – Orlando Bloom the English actor was born on the 13th January 1977.

2012 – The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia sanks off the coast of Italy on the 13th January 2012, killing 32 people of the 4232 passengers and crew.

2014 ~ The Perth Hills fires in Western Australia destroyed over 50 houses, killing one person on the 13th January 2014. The fires started burning after 2 days of temperatures over 40 °C (104 °F) in the Perth Hills area, including Parkerville, Stoneville and Mundaring. Perth Now News: 52 homes lost to Perth Hills blaze, four people missing found | Video: Parkerville Bush Fire ~ 7News Perth (13/01/2014)…

2014 ~ Melbourne earthquake ~ The Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne experienced a magnitude 2.8 earthquake on the 13th January 2014.

Today in History for the 13th January video produced by Associated Press

 Associated Press official website: www.AP.org

1591 – José Ribera the Spanish painter was born on the 12th January 1591 (died 1652).

1597 – François Duquesnoy the French sculptor was born on the 12th January 1597 (died 1643).

1822 – Étienne Lenoir the French engineer and designor of the Internal combustion engine was born on the 12th January 1822 (died 1900).

1849 – Jean Béraud the French painter was born on the 12th January 1849 (died 1935).

1856 – John Singer Sargent the American painter was born on the 12th January 1856 (died 1925).

1895 – The National Trust was founded in the United Kingdom on the 12th January 1895.

1908 – A long-distance radio message was sent from the Eiffel Tower for the first time on the 12th January 1908.

1908 – Clement Hurd the American illustrator was born on the 12th January 1908 (died 1988).

1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park was formed by an act of U.S. Congress on the 12th January 1915.

1952 – Charles Faulkner the American-English motivational speaker and author was born on the 12th January 1952.

1954 ~ Waldemar Januszczak the British art critic was born on the 12th January 1954.

1959 – The Caves of Nerja were rediscovered in Spain on the 12th January 1959.

1959 – Per Gessle the Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist from Roxette was born on the 12th January 1959.

1962 – Joe Quesada the American writer and illustrator was born on the 12th January 1962.

1964 – Jeff Bezos the American businessman and founder of Amazon.com was born on the 12th January 1964.

1965 – Mark Moore the English DJ from S’Express was born on the 12th January 1956.

1971 – All in the Family premiered on CBS on the 12th January 1971.

1974 – Melanie Chisholm aka Mel C the English singer-songwriter from the Spice Girls was born on the 12th January 1974.

1978 ~ Hannah Gadsby the Australian comedian was born on the 12th January 1978.

1986 – Space Shuttle program: Congressman Bill Nelson lifted off from Kennedy Space Center aboard Columbia on mission STS-61-C as a Mission Specialist on the 12th January 1986.

1993 ~ Zain Malik the English singer from One Direction was born on the 12th January 1993.

1998 – Nineteen European nations agreed to forbid human cloning on the 12th January 1998.

2004 – The world’s largest ocean liner, RMS Queen Mary 2, made its maiden voyage on the 12th January 2004.

2005 – Deep Impact launched from Cape Canaveral on a Delta II rocket on the 12th January 2005.

2007 – Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) reached perihelion on the 12th January 2007, becoming the brightest comet in more than 40 years.

2010 – The 2010 Haiti earthquake occurred on the 12th January 2010, killing about 316,000 people, and destroying the majority of the capital Port-au-Prince.

2011 ~ SABLE the Malamute / Dingo dog, great travel companion and best friend of Anton K. Kressnig died on the 12th January 2011, aged 14.

Today in History for the 12th January video produced by Associated Press  Associated Press official website: www.AP.org

1503 – Parmigianino the Italian painter was born on the 11th January 1503 (died 1540)

1569 – First recorded lottery in England on the 11th January 1569.

1571 – Austrian nobility was granted freedom of religion on the 11th January 1571.

1693 – Mount Etna erupted in Sicily, Italy on the 11th January 1693, with a powerful earthquake destroying parts of Sicily and Malta.

1759 – In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first American life insurance company was incorporated on the 11th January 1759.

1787 – William Herschel discovered Titania and Oberon, the 2 moons of Uranus on the 11th January 1787.

1858 – Harry Gordon Selfridge the American-English businessman and founder of Selfridges was born on the 11th January 1858 (died 1947)

1908 – Grand Canyon National Monument was created on the 11th January 1908.

1922 – First use of insulin to treat diabetes in a human patient was on the 11th January 1922.

1927 – Louis B. Mayer, head of film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), announced the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on the 11th January 1927, at a banquet in Los Angeles, California.

1935 – Amelia Earhart became the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California on the 11th January 1935.

1942 – Clarence Clemons the American saxophonist  from the E Street Band was born on the 11th January 1942 (died 2011).

1949 – The first “networked” television broadcasts took place on the 11th January 1949, as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania went on the air connecting the east coast and mid-west programming.

1949 – Daryl Braithwaite the Australian singer-songwriter from Sherbet was born on the 11th January 1

1949 – First recorded case of snowfall in Los Angeles, California on the 11th January 1949.

1958 – Vicki Peterson the American singer-songwriter and  guitarist from The Bangles was born on the 11th January 1958.

1962 – An avalanche on Huascarán in Peru caused 4,000 deaths on the 11th January 1962.

1964 – Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Luther Terry, M.D., published the landmark report Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States on the 11th January 1964, saying that smoking may be hazardous to health, sparking national and worldwide anti-smoking efforts.

1972 – Amanda Peet the American actress was born on the 11th January 1972.

1978 – Holly Brisley the Australian actress was born on the 11th January 1978.

1986 – The Gateway Bridge, in Brisbane, Queensland was officially opened on the 11th January 1986.

1994 – The Irish Government announced the end of a 15-year broadcasting ban on the IRA and its political arm Sinn Féin on the 11th January 1994.

1996 – Space Shuttle program: STS-72 launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the 11th January 1996, marking the start of the 74th Space Shuttle mission and the 10th flight of Endeavour.

1997 – Cody Simpson the Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist was born on the 11th January 1997.

Today in History for the 11th January video produced by Associated Press

 Associated Press official website: www.AP.org

49BC – Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon on the 10th January in 49BC, signaling the start of civil war.

1776 – Thomas Paine published Common Sense on the 10th January 1776.

1810 – Napoleon Bonaparte divorced his first wife Joséphine on the 10th January 1810.

1863 – The London Underground, the world’s oldest underground railway, opened between London Paddington station and Farringdon station on the 10th January 1863.

1870 – John D. Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil on the 10th January 1870.

1901 – The 1st great Texas oil gusher was discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas on the 10th January 1901.

1927 – Fritz Lang‘s futuristic film Metropolis was released in Germany on the 10th January 1927.

1929 – The Adventures of Tintin, one of the most popular European comic books ever, was first published in Belgium on the 10th January 1929.

1933 ~ Anton Rodgers the English actor and occasional director was born Anthony Rodgers on the 10th January 1933 (died 1st December 2007) .

1946 – The 1st General Assembly of the United Nations opened in London on the 10th January 1946, with 51 nations are represented.

1946 – The United States Army Signal Corps successfully conducted Project Diana on the 10th January 1946, bouncing radio waves off the moon and receiving the reflected signals.

1990 – Time Warner was formed from the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications on the 10th January 1990.

2011 – Torrential rain in the Lockyer Valley region of South East Queensland, Australia caused severe flash flooding on the 10th January 2011, killing 9 people, during the 2010–2011 Queensland floods.

Today in History for the 10th January video produced by Associated Press

 Associated Press official website: www.AP.org

1349 – The Jewish population of Basel, Switzerland were rounded up and incinerated on the 9th January 1349, because it was believed they were the cause of the ongoing Black Death.

1768 – Philip Astley staged the first modern circus on the 9th January 1 In London, England, Great Britain

1788 – Connecticut became the 5th state to be admitted to the United States on the 9th January 1788.

1793 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard became the 1st person to fly in a balloon in America on the 9th January 1793.

1816 – Sir Humphry Davy tested the Davy lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery on the 9th January 1816.

1839 – The French Academy of Sciences announced the Daguerreotype photography process on the 9th January 1839.

1870 – Joseph Strauss the American engineer and co-designer of the Golden Gate Bridge was born on the 9th January 1870 (died 1938).

1875 – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney the American sculptor, art collector and founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art was born on the 9th January 1875 (died 1942).

1908 – Simone de Beauvoir the French author was born on the 9th January 1908 (died 1986).

1911 – Gypsy Rose Lee the American dancer, actress, and author was born on the 9th January 1911 (died 1970).

1912 – Ralph Tubbs the English architect and designer of the Dome of Discovery was born on the 9th January 1912 (died 1996).

1913 – Richard Nixon the American politician and 37th President of the United States was born on the 9th January 1913 (died 1994).

1909 – Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, planted the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the South Pole, the furthest anyone had ever reached at that time on the 9th January 1909.

1923 – Juan de la Cierva made the first autogyro flight on the 9th January 1923.

1927 – A fire at the Laurier Palace movie theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, killed 78 children on the 9th January 1927.

1933 – Wilbur Smith the Zambian-English journalist and author was born on the 9th January 1933.

1944 – Jimmy Page the English guitarist and songwriter from Led Zeppelin was born on the 9th January 1944.

1956 – Imelda Staunton the English actress was born on the 9th January 1956.

1967 – Carl Bell the American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Fuel was born on the 9th January 1967.

1967 – Steve Harwell the American singer-songwriter from Smash Mouth was born on the 9th January 1967.

1967 – Dave Matthews the South African-American singer-songwriter and guitarist from the Dave Matthews Band was born on the 9th January 1967.

1978 – A. J. McLean the American singer-songwriter and dancer  from the Backstreet Boys was born on the 9th January 1978.

1982 ~ Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge originally known as Kate Middleton, now the wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge was born Catherine Elizabeth “Kate” Middleton at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading on the 9th January 1982. Catherine grew up in Chapel Row, a village near Newbury, Berkshire, England. Catherine studied art history at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, where she met William in 2001. Catherine and William announced their engagement on the 16th November 2010, and they married on the 29th April 2011 at Westminster Abbey. On the 3rd December 2012 St James’s Palace announced the Duchess was expecting her 1st child. Catherine was admitted to hospital in early labour on the 22nd July 2013, and gave birth to Prince George of Cambridge on the same day.

2007 –  Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone on the 9th January 2007.

Today in History for the 9th January video produced by Associated Press

 Associated Press official website: www.AP.org