Milestones

[admihoek]

1961. Soviet submarine S-80 sinks with all hands lost.
.
1967. Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of the Apollo 1spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center.

1973. The Paris Peace Accords officially end the Vietnam War. Colonel William Nolde falls on rhe same day, becoming the conflict's last recorded American combat casualty.
1974. The Brisbane River breaches its banks causing the largest flood to affect the city of Brisbane, Australia, in the 20th Century

1975. A bipartisan Senate investigation of activities by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is launched by a special congressional committee headed by Senator Frank Church of Idaho.The committee reported that the FBI and the CIA had conducted illegal surveillance of several hundred thousand U.S. citizens. The CIA was also charged with illegally plotting to assassinate foreign leaders, such as Salvador Allende, the democratically elected socialist president of Chile.

1980. Through cooperation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, six American diplomats secretly escape hostilities in Iran in the culmination of the Canadian Caper. The "Canadian Caper" was the popular name given to the covert rescue by the Government of Canada of six American diplomats who evaded capture during the seizure of the United States embassy in Tehran, Iran and taking of embassy personnel as hostages by the Iranians on November 4, 1979.

The operation itself was initiated at great personal risk by then Canadian ambassador to Iran, Ken Taylor, and Canadian Immigration officer John Sheardown who provided sanctuary in their own private residences for the six endangered American diplomats. Two “friendly-country” embassy officials assisted as well, and an unoccupied diplomatic residence was used for several weeks.

Ambassador Taylor contacted then Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs, Flora MacDonald and Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark for assistance, who expressed support for the effort. They decided to smuggle the six Americans out of Iran on an international flight using Canadian passports. To do so, Canada's Parliament convened its first secret session since World War II to grant permission for an Order-in-Council to be made for the issuance of Canadian passports to the American diplomats in Canadian sanctuary.

1983. The pilot shaft of the Seikan Tunnel, the world's longest sub-aqueous tunnel (53.85 km) between the Japanese islands of Honshū and Hokkaidō, breaks through.

1991. Muhammad Siyad Barre, the dictator of the Somali Democratic Republic since 1969, flees Mogadishu as rebels overrun his palace and capture the Somali capital.

1993. American-born sumo wrestler Akebono Tarō becomes the first foreigner to be promoted to the sport's highest rank of yokozuna.
1998. American First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton appears on The Today Show, calling the attacks against her husband part of "a vast right-wing conspiracy."
2002. Explosions at a military depot in Lagos, Nigeria, trigger a stampede of fleeing people, during which more than 1,000 people are killed. The blast immediately leveled an area of several square blocks and killed approximately 300 people, mostly soldiers and their families. The explosion was heard and felt 30 miles away and the tremors collapsed homes and broke windows as many as 10 miles away.
Approximately 5,000 people were injured in total, overwhelming the city's hospitals. Explosions continued throughout the night and into the following afternoon. Due to a lack of firefighters in Lagos, the blazes were not contained until more than 24 hours later. At least 12,000 people were left homeless by the disaster.
2006. Western Union discontinues its Telegram and Commercial Messaging services. This ended the era of telegrams which began in 1851 with the founding of the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company, and which spanned 155 years of continuous service. Western Union reported that telegrams sent had fallen to a total of 20,000 a year, due to competition from other communication services such as email. Employees had been informed of the decision in mid-January.

2011. Unrest in Egypt enters its third day. More than a thousand people are arrested.

2012. Activists say the Syrian Army has launched new attacks against Homs and Hama, as the United Nations Security Council prepares to discuss the conflict. Syrian security forces kill over 100 civilians across Syria, primarily in the cities of Homs and Daraa.

Elsewhere, 13 people are killed in three separate clashes between Russian forces and Islamist militants in the Russian republics of Ingushetia, Dagestan, and Kabardino-Balkariya.

Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, the Council of Ministers vote in favor of a ban on the Burqa, an outer garment worn by women in some Islamic traditions.

 

[Eulalia]

Bruno was an Italian Dominican friar, He was burned at the stake by civil authorities in 1600.- admi

Which shows these bastards knew nothing about cuisine... You don't barbeque a frier...
.

'course not, you fry him!​

​

[PS why has everything gone grey?​

hard for us Defaulters ]​

 

[admihoek]

'course not, you fry him!​

​

[PS why has everything gone grey?​

hard for us Defaulters ]​

sorry sudden stop in the (my?) system and it was impossible to corrected something............it is also not somewhat
permanently.

 

[admihoek]

January 28 has seen the biggest snowflakes ever recorded, the start of a killing spree that became part of American folklore, and a doomed space flight whose fiery end was witnessed by millions.
814. Charlemagne dies. Charlemagne or Charles the Great was the King of the Franks (768–814) who conquered Italy and took the Iron Crown of Lombardy in 774 and, on a visit to Rome in 800, was crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day, presaging the revival of the Roman imperial tradition in the West in the form of the Holy Roman Empire. By his foreign conquests and internal reforms, Charlemagne helped define Western Europe and the Middle Ages. His rule is also associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of the arts and education in the West.
Today regarded as the founding father of both France and Germany and sometimes as the Father of Europe, as he was the first ruler of a Western Europe empire since the fall of the Roman Empire. "Father of Europe" could be literal. It has been said that every European and everyone of European descent alive today is related to Charlemagne, who had four wives, several concubines, and fathered a small army of offspring.
1077. The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor is lifted after Henry's Walk to Casanova. Henry had renounced the pope who in turn banished Henry from the Church. With his empire threatened by rebellious Catholic princes, Henry performed a public walk of penance, accompanied by his Queen Matilda.
When Henry reached Canossa, the Pope ordered that he be refused entry. According to the first-hand accounts of the scene (letters written by both Gregory and Henry in the following years), Henry waited by the gate for three full days. During this time, he allegedly wore only his penitent hair shirt and fasted. Although no contemporary sources report this, it has since been speculated that Henry spent much of his time during these three days in the village at the foot of the hill.
On 28 January the gates were opened for Henry and he was allowed to enter the fortress. Contemporary accounts report that he knelt before Pope Gregory and begged his forgiveness. Gregory absolved Henry and invited him back into the Church. That evening, Gregory, Henry, and Matilda shared communion in the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas inside the fortress, signaling the official end of Henry's excommunication.
Henry quickly returned to his empire, but Gregory remained with Matilda at the fortress and in other locations in Tuscany for several months. Later historians speculated upon a romantic or sexual relationship between the two (an accusation sometimes raised by Protestant historians in the 17th century) although if there was ever any evidence for this it has not survived. From this observer's perspective: Henry pimped Matilda for a papal pardon. Henry held on to his throne, Gregory got the girl in the end (or anywhere else that pleased him).
1547. Edward VI becomes King, and the first Protestant ruler of England. He was crowned on 20 February, at just nine years of age. Edward, the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first ruler who was Protestant at the time of his ascension to the throne. Although Henry VIII had broken the link between the English church and Rome, it was during Edward's reign that Protestantism was established for the first time in England.
Edward's reign was marked by increasingly harsh Protestant reforms, the loss of control of Scotland, and an economic downturn. A period of social unrest begun earlier intensified during his rule, and conflicts with the French increased.
When it became clear that Edward's life was to be a short one, the king's advisers persuaded him to attempt to exclude his two half sisters, the devout Catholic Mary and moderate Protestant Elizabeth, from the line of succession to the throne in order to put the Lady Jane Grey, the solidly Protestant daughter-in-law of the chief Regent, next in line to succeed the king. Following Edward's death at the age of fifteen, a disputed succession reopened the religious conflicts. Lady Jane was Queen for only nine days, during that time reigning in name only, before she was replaced by Mary. Queen Mary then sought to undo many of Edward's Protestant reforms, going so far as to burn hundreds of Protestants at the stake, earning her the nickname "Bloody Mary."
1624. Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.
1724. The Russian Academy of Sciences is founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented by Senate decree. It was called the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.
1764. Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word "serendipity." Serendipity is the accidental discovery of something fortunate, especially while looking for something else entirely.
1777. John Burgoyne, poet, playwright and British general, submits an ill-fated plan to the British government to isolate New England from the other colonies. Burgoyne's plan revolved around an invasion of 8,000 British troops from Canada, who would move southward through New York by way of Lake Champlain and the Mohawk River, taking the Americans by surprise.
General Burgoyne's plan went into effect during the summer of 1777 and was initially a success -- the British captured Fort Ticonderoga on June 2, 1777. However, the early success failed to lead to victory, as Burgoyne overextended his supply chain, which stretched in a long, narrow strip from the northern tip of Lake Champlain south to the northern curve of the Hudson River at Fort Edward, New York. As Burgoyne's army marched south, Patriot militia circled north, cutting the British supply line.
Burgoyne then suffered defeat in Bennington, Vermont, and bloody draws at Bemis Heights, New York. On October 17, 1777, a frustrated Burgoyne retreated 10 miles and surrendered his remaining 6,000 British forces to the Patriots at Saratoga. Upon hearing of the Patriot victory, France agreed to recognize the independence of the United States. It was, of course, France's eventual support that enabled the Patriots' ultimate victory.
1813, Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom. Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England. Elizabeth is the second of five daughters of a country gentleman, living near the fictional town of Meryton in Hertfordshire, near London.
Though the story is set at the turn of the 19th century, it retains a fascination for modern readers, continuing near the top of lists of "most loved books" such as The Big Read. It has become one of the most popular novels in English literature, and receives considerable attention from literary scholars. Modern interest in the book has resulted in a number of dramatic adaptations -- including the superb film of the same name with Keira Knightley as Elizabeth -- and an abundance of novels and stories imitating Austen's memorable characters or themes. To date, the book has sold some 20 million copies worldwide.
1820. A Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev discovers the Antarctic continent approaching the Antarctic coast.
1855. The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific on the Panama Railway.
1871. The Franco-Prussian War ends with the surrender of France.
1887. The world's largest snowflakes are recorded In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana; the snowflakes measure 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick.
1915. In the country's first such action against American shipping interests on the high seas, the captain of a German cruiser orders the destruction of the William P. Frye, an American merchant ship.
The William P. Frye, a four-masted steel barque built in Bath, Maine, in 1901, was on its way to England with a cargo of wheat. On January 27, it was intercepted by a German cruiser in the South Atlantic Ocean off the Brazilian coast and ordered to jettison its cargo as contraband. When the American ship's crew failed to fulfill these orders completely by the next day, the German captain ordered the destruction of the ship.
As the first American merchant vessel lost to Germany's aggression during the Great War, the William P. Frye incident sparked the indignation of many in the United States. The German government's apology and admission of the attack as a mistake did little to assuage Americans' anger, which increased exponentially when German forces torpedoed and sank the British-owned ocean liner Lusitania on May 7, 1915, killing more than 1,000 people, including 128 Americans. The U.S., under President Woodrow Wilson, demanded reparations and an end to German attacks on all unarmed passenger and merchant ships. Despite Germany's initial assurances to that end, the attacks continued.
In early February 1917, when Germany announced a return to unrestricted submarine warfare, the U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with the country. By the end of March, Germany had sunk several more passenger ships with Americans aboard and Wilson went before Congress to ask for a declaration of war on April 2, which was made four days later. The first American ships arrived in Europe within a week, marking a decisive end to U.S. neutrality.
1916. President Woodrow Wilson nominates Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court. After a bitterly contested confirmation, Brandeis became the first Jewish judge on the Supreme Court.
1921. A symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is installed beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to honor the unknown dead of World War I.
1922. The Knickerbocker Storm, Washington DC's biggest snowfall, causes Washington DC's greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater collapses.
The Knickerbocker Storm was a blizzard that occurred on January27–28 in the upper South and middle Atlantic United States. It was named due to the resulting collapse of the Knickerbocker Theater in Washington, DC, shortly after 9 p.m. on January 28 which killed 98 people and injured 133.
Built in 1917, the theater was the largest and newest movie house in Washington. The roof was flat, which allowed the snow which had recently fallen to remain on the roof. During the movie's (Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford) intermission, the weight of the heavy, wet snow was too much for the roof to bear. The roof split down the middle, bringing down the balcony seating as well as a portion of the brick wall. Dozens were buried. This disaster ranks as one of the worst in Washington. DC, history.
1934. The first ski tow in America begins operation in Vermont.

1935. Iceland becomes the first country to legalize abortion.

1945. In World War II, supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
1950. American model, actress, and Playmate-in-Chief emeritus Barbi Benton is born as Barbara Klein in New York City, New York. In 1952, her family moved to Sacramento, California when her father, a military doctor, was assigned new duties there. Benton attended Rio Americano High School in Sacramento before heading for Los Angeles at age 16, where she began modeling to supplement her allowance. (See pictures.)

By the time she met Hugh Hefner in 1968, she was getting regular work on television shows including Playboy After Dark which filmed A-list entertainers performing in Hugh Hefner's mansion surrounded by Playboy Playmates. Benton said she pretended to be Hefner's girlfriend for a couple of episodes and soon found herself living the role full time. She was on her way to becoming a multifaceted icon of 1970s glamor.
Shortly after meeting Hefner, at his suggestion, she changed her name to the more showbiz-friendly Barbi Benton. "When he asked me out," Barbi recalls, "I was 18 and he was 42. I said I'd never gone out with anyone older than 24, and he said, 'That's all right. Neither have I.' We hit it off right away, and it lasted for eight years!"
Benton was Hugh Hefner's girlfriend throughout the 1970s. She also became a recording star, a Las Vegas headliner and a movie actress, with credits including Deathstalker, The Naughty Cheerleader and Hospital Massacre. Although none of the films were particular box office successes, they enjoy a cult status among fans of B-movies.
While being perhaps the best known woman whose fame derives from appearing in Playboy magazine, contrary to popular belief, Barbi Benton has never been featured as a Playmate of the Month centerfold in the magazine. She also never worked as a Playboy Bunny.
She left Hefner when she eventually realized that he was not interested in starting a new family. Benton married George Gradow, a successful real estate developer on October 14, 1979.

1956. Elvis Presley makes his first US TV appearance.

1958. Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate begin their murder spree with the killings of her parents and infant sister. Starkweather murdered 11 victims in Nebraska and Wyoming during a road trip with his underage girlfriend. He became a national fascination, eventually inspiring the films The Sadist, Badlands and Natural Born Killers and the Bruce Springsteen song Nebraska.
On this date in 1958, he went to visit Caril Ann. At her house, he argued with and shot Caril Ann's mother and stepfather and strangled Caril Ann's two-year-old sister. Starkweather hid the bodies at various places behind the house before Caril came home from school. The two stayed in the house for several more days, turning people away with a note taped to the door, written by Caril, that read: "Stay a Way Every Body is sick with the Flue [sic]." Caril Ann's grandmother became suspicious and called the police.
When they arrived, Charles and Caril Ann had already left. In the following three days, Starkweather shot and stabbed seven people to death. Over 1,200 police officers and National Guard members searched for the couple, who were finally arrested in Douglas, Wyoming. Upon being discovered by a Wyoming State Trooper, Caril ran to him, yelling something to the effect of "It's Starkweather! He's going to kill me!"
Starkweather first claimed Caril Ann had nothing to do with the murders, but changed his story many times finally testifying at her trial that she was a willing participant. Caril has always maintained he was holding her hostage by threatening to kill her family who she says she did not know was already dead. He was executed in the electric chair at the Nebraska State Penitentiary on June 25, 1959. Caril Ann was sentenced to life in prison but was paroled in 1976.
Having introduced the killing spree to America, the couple became the inspiration for the film Badlands by Terrence Malick, as well as The Sadist, Wild at Heart (based on a book by Barry Gifford), Kalifornia, and Natural Born Killers. Starkweather has also appeared in some of Stephen King's novels (King was fascinated by him and kept a scrap book during his killing spree).
1964. An unarmed USAF T-39 Sabreliner on a training mission is shot down over Erfurt, East Germany, by a Soviet MiG-19.
1968. Judy in Disguise (With Glasses) by John Fed and his Playboys is the number one hit in the United States. The song, co-written with bandmate Andrew Bernard, was a parody of The Beatles' hit, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. According to The Billboard Book of Number One Hits by Fred Bronson, the song was inspired by Fred's listening to Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and mistakenly believing that the lyrics to the song were "Lucy in disguise with diamonds." Ironically, it went on to knock Hello Goodbye, another Beatles tune, off of the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in January 1968. However, it also stuck Fred with a novelty act image he was never able to shake.
1977. It is the first day of the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977, which severely affects and cripples much of Upstate New York, but Buffalo, NY, Syracuse, NY, Watertown, NY, and surrounding areas are most affected, each area accumulating close to 10 feet (3.0 m) of snow on this one day.
1984. Tropical Storm Domoina makes landfall in southern Mozambique, eventually causing 214 deaths and some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region.
1986. The Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart 73 seconds after liftoff killing all seven astronauts on board, including Christa McAuliffe, who was supposed to be the first teacher in space. Failure blamed on leaking Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster.
1994. The first trial of accused murderer Lyle Menendez ends in a mistrial. He and his brother Erik are later found guilty of killing their parents and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
1996. American cartoonist Jerome "Jerry" Siegel dies; he also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S. Fine, Siegel was the co-creator of Superman (along with Joe Shuster), the first of the great comic book superheroes and one of the most recognizable of the 20th century.
2002. TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100 crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia, killing 92.
2007. Emma Tillman dies. She held the title of the world's oldest living person from January 24-28, 2007.
Emma Fanchon Faust Tillman (November 22, 1892 – January 28, 2007) was an American supercentenarian and the oldest validated living person in the world. Tillman's death at age 114 years and 67 days around 10:10PM EST means that her title reign of just four days was the shortest ever, breaking the previous record of shortest tenure, 13 days, held by Mitoyo Kawate of Japan. Her successor was Yone Minagawa, also of Japan. Tillman is buried at Spring Grove Cemetery in Hartford, Connecticut.
2011. Fresh protests take place across Egypt. Police target protesters in Cairo with tear gas and water cannon, while tear gas is used on protesters in Alexandria. The Egyptian government announces a curfew for cities nationwide starting at 6 pm local time and running through to 7 am on Saturday. President Mubarak orders the army into the streets as buildings and police vehicles burn.
2012. Fires rage through Dakar after Senegal's top court rules that President Abdoulaye Wade can run for a third term in office next month and prevents his best-known opponent,Grammy Award-winning musician Youssou N'Dour, from running against him.
Elsewhere, a police officer and four journalists associated with British tabloid The Sun are arrested in relation to the News International phone hacking scandal, by detectives investigating payments made to police by journalists.

 

[Eulalia]

Henry's Walk to Casanova​

​

Canossa, I think ​

(as in next paragraph)​

not to be confused with Casanova!​

​

​

 

[Eulalia]

Jan 27th: Devota (Dévote) of Corsica and Monaco, virgin martyr (c303): born around 283 at Mariana in Corsica. According to her legend, as a young virgin she decided to devote herself fully to the service of God. During the Diocletian/ Maimimian persecution, by order of the prefect Barbarus, she was imprisoned and tortured for her faith. Her mouth was crushed, and her body was dragged through rocks and brambles. She was martyred at Mariana, by being either racked or stoned to death.

After her death, the governor of the province ordered for her body to be burnt to prevent its veneration. However, it was saved from the flames by Christians. It was placed on a boat bound for Africa. Gratianus (Graziano), the boat's pilot, Benedict (Benenato), a priest; and Apollinaris, his deacon; believed it would receive proper Christian burial there. However, a storm overtook the boat and a dove flew out from the mouth of the saint. The dove guided the boat to Les Gaumates, today part of the Principality of Monaco.

Her mutilated body was discovered by fishermen. In her honor a chapel was built, which stands in Monaco still. Reports of miracles soon sprung in connection with the tomb. The chapel is first mentioned about 1070, when Antinope, the captain of a Florentine ship, attempted to steal the reliquary containing Devota's relics. The legend states that a violent wind impeded him from escaping with the relics. He was arrested, and Prince Ugo Grimaldi ordered his ears and nose to be cut off. Antinope's boat was then burnt on the beach of Monaco.

​

In 1924, Prince Louis II of Monaco introduced the custom of setting fire to a fishing boat on the evening of January 26, in memory of this. A white dove symbolizing her spirit is also released. On January 27, there is a procession of the relics, accompanied by fireworks and blessings of the palace, the town, and the sea.

The first book written in Monagesque was A legenda de Santa Devota (The legend of Saint Devote), composed in 1927 by the poet Louis Notan, Traditionally, flowers are said to bloom before their season on January 27, the saint's feast day.

In 1820, the first bishop of the diocese of Corsica proclaimed both Saint Devota and Saint Julia to be the principal patron saints of Corsica, but some scholars think Devota was actually the same saint as Julia, the girl from Carthage captured by slavers and crucified on Corsica (May 22nd), 'Devota' being added as an honorific name.

 

[thehangingtree]

sigh... there she goes again...

Tree

 

[admihoek]

sigh... there she goes again...

Tree

 

[messaline]

Oh, Hansi! So, beautiful!.....

 

[admihoek]

Oh, Hansi! So, beautiful!.....

 

[Eulalia]

Congratulations to your new King, Admi! ​

​

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21237254​

 

[admihoek]

Congratulations to your new King, Admi! ​

​

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21237254​

not so happy with that........................ only them and their problems on all our tv and radio broadcast

 

[thehangingtree]

Tree take to the throne every morning after his coffee and enjoys a newspaper...

Tree

 

[Eulalia]

. only them and their problems on all our tv and radio broadcast

yes, they go over the top with Royal stories here too -
not that we're expecting any similar announcements this side of the North Sea any day soon!

 

[admihoek]

yes, they go over the top with Royal stories here too -
not that we're expecting any similar announcements this side of the North Sea any day soon!

our intended king, isn't divorce, a nice intended queen but has a father-in-law who was almost as bad as his granddad and that is why he is not welcome in our country but he has a nice daughter

 

[Eulalia]

Maxima? ​

 

[admihoek]

yep you've guessed it.......... not gifted with our kink

 

[Eulalia]

how can you be so sure?​

state secrets!

​

 

[admihoek]

how can you be so sure?​

state secrets!​

​

could even be,........................... because they have all much social media contacts..................years

 

[admihoek]

January 29 has seen a deadly shooting spree because the killer didn't like Mondays, as well as the first publication of an American poem that has become a classic.

904. Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher. Sergius III reigned in two intervals between 897 and April 14, 911, during a period of feudal violence and disorder in central Italy, where the Papacy was a pawn of warring aristocratic factions.
It was also the dawn of an age of powerful women. The pontificate of Sergius III, according to a hostile chronicler, was remarkable for the rise of the "pornocracy," or rule of the harlots, with women in power -- Theodora, characterized as a "shameless whore... [who] exercised power on the Roman citizenry like a man" and her daughter Marozia, the mother of Pope John XI (931–935) and reputed to be the mistress of Sergius III.
Sergius III owed his rise to the power of his patron, the military commander Theophylact, Count of Tusculum who held the position of vestarius in control of the disbursements at the top of papal patronage. Sergius III and his party opposed Pope Formosus (891–896), who ordained him bishop of Caere (Cerveteri) -- in order to remove him from Rome.
He was his faction's unsuccessful candidate for the papacy in 896; when Pope John IX (898–900) was elected instead, he excommunicated Sergius III, who had to withdraw from his see at Cerveteri for safety. Elected Pope in 897, Sergius III was forcibly exiled by Lambert, duke of Spoleto, and all the official records were destroyed; consequently most of the surviving documentation about Sergius comes from his opponents.
When antipope Christopher (903–904) seized the seat of St. Peter by force, the Theophylact faction of Romans revolted and ejected him in 903–904. They then invited Sergius III to come out of retirement. His return is marked as January 29, 904.
Sergius III honored pope Stephen VI (896–897), who had been responsible for the infamous "Cadaver Synod" that had condemned and mutilated the corpse of Pope Formosus. He then reportedly had the much-abused corpse of Formosus exhumed once more, tried, found guilty again, and beheaded.
1595. William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet is probably first performed. It is perhaps the most famous of his plays, one of his earliest theatrical triumphs, and is thought to be the most archetypal love story of the Renaissance. For free download :
http://books.google.nl/books/about/Romeo_And_Juliet.html?id=EcyVPwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y
1676. Feodor III becomes Tsar of Russia at the age of 15. He was endowed with a fine intellect and a noble disposition; he had received an excellent education, knew Polish, and even possessed the unusual accomplishment of Latin; but, horribly disfigured and half paralyzed by a mysterious disease, supposed to be scurvy, he had been a hopeless invalid from the day of his birth.
His native energy, though crippled, was not crushed by his terrible disabilities; and he soon showed that he was as thorough and devoted a reformer as a man incompetent to lead armies and obliged to issue his orders from his litter, or his bed-chamber, could possibly be. The atmosphere of the court ceased to be oppressive; the light of a new liberalism shone in the highest places; and the severity of the penal laws was considerably mitigated. Although twice married, Feodor died without surviving issue in 1682.
1736. Thomas Paine is born [O.S. date}. Paine was an author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual, revolutionary, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Born in England, Paine emigrated to the British American colonies in 1774 in time to participate in the American Revolution.
His principal contributions were the powerful, widely-read pamphlet Common Sense (1776), advocating colonial America's independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and The American Crisis (1776–1783), a pro-revolutionary pamphlet series. He coined the term "sunshine patriot" and the aphorism "these are the times that try men's souls."
He was also a powerful influence on the French Revolution; even though he spoke no French, Paine was elected to the National Assembly. Howeverr, he ran afoul of Robespierre and was imprisoned though he managed to avoid the guillotine and was later released.
1777. Facing a surprise British counterassault in the bitter cold and with a snowstorm approaching, American commander Major General William Heath and his army of 6,000 abandon their siege on Fort Independence, in Bronx County, New York, during the American Revolution. Acting on orders from General George Washington, General Heath and his men had begun their assault on Fort Independence 11 days earlier on January 18, 1777.
On January 25, a torrential rainstorm overflowed the Bronx River and muddied the battlefield, making troop movement nearly impossible for the Patriots. A British counterassault and the pending snowstorm forced General Heath to admit defeat, and he ordered his troops to retreat on January 29.
1819. Stamford Raffles lands on the island of Singapore. Raffles was a British statesman, best known for his founding of the city of Singapore (now the city-state of the Republic of Singapore). He is often described as the "Father of Singapore". He was also heavily involved in the conquest of the Indonesian island of Java from Dutch and French military forces during the Napoleonic Wars and contributed to the expansion of the British Empire.
1820. Ten years after mental illness forced him to retire from public life, King George III, the British king who lost the American colonies, dies at the age of 82. In 1765, the king suffered a short nervous breakdown and in the winter of 1788-89 a more prolonged mental illness. By 1810, he was permanently insane. It has been suggested that he was a victim of the hereditary disease porphyria, a defect of the blood that can cause mental illness when not treated. He spent the rest of his life in the care of his devoted wife, Charlotte Sophia, whom he had married in 1761. Following his retirement from public life, his son, the Prince of Wales, was named regent and upon his father's death in 1820 ascended to the throne as King George IV.
1834. U.S. President Andrew Jackson orders the first use of federal soldiers to suppress a labor dispute during the digging of a canal.. Construction teams consisted primarily of Irish, German, Dutch and black workers who, with primitive tools, were forced to work long hours for low wages in dangerous conditions. Fed up, the workers rioted on January 29, but were quickly put down by federal troops. The move set a dangerous precedent for future labor-management relations.
1845. The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe is published in the New York Evening Mirror. The Raven is a narrative poem noted for its musicality, stylized language and supernatural atmosphere, it tells of the mysterious visit of a talking raven to a distraught lover, tracing the lover's slow descent into madness. This link is to the complete text of the poem's first publication. http://www.eapoe.org/works/poems/ravena.htm

1856. Queen Victoria of Great Britain institutes the Victoria Cross.

1861. Kansas is admitted to the Union as the 34th U.S. state, or the 28th state if the secession of eight Southern states over the previous six weeks is taken into account. Kansas, deeply divided over the issue of slavery, was granted statehood as a free state in a gesture of support for Kansas' militant anti-slavery forces, which had been in armed conflict with pro-slavery groups since Kansas became a territory in 1854.
Trouble in territorial Kansas began with the signing of the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act by President Franklin Pierce. The act stipulated that settlers in the newly created territories of Nebraska and Kansas would decide by popular vote whether their territory would be free or slave. In early 1855, Kansas' first election proved a violent affair, as more than 5,000 so-called Border Ruffians invaded the territory from western Missouri and forced the election of a pro-slavery legislature. A few months later, the Kansas Free State forces were formed, armed by supporters in the North and featuring the leadership of militant abolitionist John Brown.
During the next four years, raids, skirmishes, and massacres continued in "Bleeding Kansas," as it became popularly known. The territory's admittance into the Union in January 1861 only increased tension, but just three and a half months later the irrepressible differences in Kansas were swallowed up by the full-scale outbreak of the American Civil War. During the Civil War, Kansas suffered the highest rate of fatal casualties of any Union state, largely because of its great internal divisions over the issue of slavery.
1886. Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.
1907. Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes the first Native American U.S. Senator.
1915. In the Argonne region of France during World War I, German lieutenant Erwin Rommel leads his company in the daring capture of four French block-houses, the structures used on the front to house artillery positions.
Rommel was awarded the Iron Cross, First Class, for his bravery in the Argonne; he was the first officer of his regiment to be so honored. Where Rommel is, there is the front, became a popular slogan within his regiment. The bravery and ingenuity he displayed throughout the Great War, even in light of the eventual German defeat, led to Rommel's promotion through the ranks of the army in the post-war years.
In May 1940, Erwin Rommel was at the head of the 7th Panzer Division that invaded France with devastating success at the beginning of the Second World War. Promoted to general and later to field marshal, he was sent to North Africa at the head of the German forces sent to aid Hitler's ally, Benito Mussolini. Known as the Desert Fox, Rommel engineered impressive victories against Britain in Libya and Egypt before his troops were decisively defeated at El Alamein in Egypt in 1943 and forced to retreat from the region.
Back in France to see the success of the Allied invasion in June and July 1944, Rommel warned Hitler that the end of the war was near. "The unequal struggle is nearing its end," Rommel sent in a teletype message on July 15. "I must ask you immediately to draw the necessary conclusions from this situation."
Suspected by Hitler of conspiring against him in the so-called July Plot, Rommel was presented with an ultimatum: suicide, with a state funeral and protection for his family, or trial for high treason. Rommel chose the former, taking poison pills on October 14, 1944. He was buried with full military honors.
1922. Heavy snowfall from a blizzard causes the Knickebocker Theatre collapse in Washington, DC. The blizzard formed in the Carolinas on January 26 and moved into the Washington area the following day. For two days, snow blanketed the nation's capital, resulting in accumulations of more than two feet. The large amount of snow crippled transportation in Washington and shut down the government.
By Saturday night, things were beginning to return to normal, and some 300 people attended a movie at Knickerbocker Theatre, at the corner of 18th Street and Columbia Road. In the middle of the film, the accumulated snow on the theater's roof collapsed the building and tons of steel and concrete fell down on top of the theatergoers. One hundred and eight people were killed, including five in a single family. Another 133 were hospitalized. Rescuers worked through the night to pull out the injured from beneath the rubble.
1929. The Seeing Eye Dog organization is formed.
1933. President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg appoints Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany. Hitler's National Socialists (Nazis) were the largest party in the Reichstag but did not hold a majority so a coalition government was formed with the Nationalist Party. Hitler's appointment was the result of back room wheeling-and-dealing and most of the cabinet appointments went to his coalition partners in an attempt to hem him in and make him a figurehead only. The scheme did not play out as intended.
1940. Three trains on the Sakurajima Line, in Osaka, Japan, collide and explode while approaching Ajikawaguchi Station. 181 people are killed.

1944. In World War II, about 38 men, women, and children die in the Koniuchy Massacre in Poland. The village was attacked by Soviet partisan units under the command of the Central Partisan Command in Moscow. The raid was carried out by 100-120 partisans from various units including 50 Jewish partisans from the Kaunas Ghetto and the Vilnius Ghetto under the command of Jacob Penner and Shmuel Kaplinsky. Previously, the partisans had often commandeered by force various supplies including food, clothes and cattle from the village. Due to these earlier raids and thefts, a small self defense unit was created in the village.

The village was not fortified, and the villagers were armed with only a few rifles. The village had about 60 households and about 300 inhabitants. A total of about 38 men (as reported by the IPN, although earlier reports stated higher numbers of deaths), women and children were massacred indiscriminately and most of the households destroyed. In Poland and Lithuania, the Koniuchy massacre is treated as one of the many examples of communist crimes against humanity.
1958. One of Hollywood’s most enduring marriages begins on this day, when Paul Newman weds Joanne Woodward in Las Vegas, Nevada. Newman and Woodward celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in January 2008. Later that year, Newman was set to direct a stage production of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men at the Westport Country Playhouse in Westport, Connecticut, where Woodward is the artistic director. He withdrew from the production in June, citing health reasons, and it was later reported that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Newman died on September 26, 2008, at the age of 83.
1959. Sleeping Beauty, an animated feature produced by Walt Disney based on a fairy tale, is released. The film spent nearly the entire decade of the 1950s in production: the story work began in 1951, voices were recorded in 1952, animation production took from 1953 until 1958, and the stereophonic musical score was recorded in 1957. Sleeping Beauty holds a notable position in Disney animation as the last Disney feature to use hand-inked cels. Its art direction, which Walt Disney wanted to look like a living illustration and who was inspired by medieval art, was not in the typical Disney style.
1964. The IX Olympic Winter Games open in Innsbruck, Austria.
1967. The "ultimate high" of the hippie era, the Mantra-Rock Dance, takes place in San Francisco and features Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, and Allen Ginsberg.
1970. American actress Heather Graham is born as Heather Joan Graham in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her father, Jim, is a retired FBI agent and her mother, Joan, is a noted author of children's books. The family followed a strict traditional Catholic upbringing but Heather has since left the Catholic Church, saying it is: "made up of closed-minded men who believe a woman's sexuality is evil...Why do I have to do what all these men are saying?" Heather has practiced transcendental meditation since 1991. She is a convert to Hinduism.
Initially, Heather's parents were supportive of her budding acting career. However, her parents were concerned that she should not appear in any movie featuring sex or nudity. Breaking away from that mold, Heather appeared fully nude in several scenes in her breakout role in Boogie Nights. (See pictures.)

Heather is currently estranged from her parents, who are still devout Catholics.
Her breakthrough role was as 1970s porn starlet Roller Girl in Boogie Nights (1997), for which she received several award nominations. Her first starring role was in 1999 with her lead role as Felicity Shagwell in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. She also appeared in the music video for "American Woman" -- a song which Lenny Kravitz covered for the film's soundtrack. More recently, she starred as Mary Kelly in the film From Hell (2001), based on the story of Jack the Ripper.

1978. Sweden outlaws aerosol sprays due to their harmful effect on the ozone layer, becoming the first nation to enact such a ban.

1979. Brenda Ann Spencer kills nine people and wounds two in a shooting spree at Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, California. The school was across the street from her house. She used the rifle she had recently been given by her father for Christmas.
When the six-hour incident ended and the sixteen-year-old was asked why she had committed the crime, she shrugged and replied, "I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day." She also said: "I had no reason for it, and it was just a lot of fun," "It was just like shooting ducks in a pond," and "(The children) looked like a herd of cows standing around, it was really easy pickings."
She pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon, and was sentenced to prison for 25 years to life, currently being served at The California Institution for Women in Corona.
1985. The final recording session takes place of We Are The World, by the supergroup USA for Africa. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World. With sales in excess of 20 million copies, it is one of the fewer than thirty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) copies worldwide.
1989. Hungary establishes diplomatic relations with South Korea, making it the first Eastern Bloc nation to do so.
1996. La Fenice, Venice's opera house, is destroyed by fire.
1998. In Birmingham, Alabama, a bomb explodes at an abortion clinic, killing one and severely wounding another. Serial bomber Eric Robert Rudolph is suspected as the culprit.
2002. In his State of the Union Address, United States President George W. Bush describes "regimes that sponsor terror" as an Axis of Evil, in which he includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea.

2008. Margaret Truman, the only child of President Harry S Truman, dies at age 83.

2011. Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs triples the base salary of its chief executive Lloyd Blankfein to $2 million, up from $600,000, after the bank's profit falls by 38 per cent.
Meanwhile, close to 8,000 protesters rally in Hamilton, Ontario to support workers locked out from Stelco after disagreeing against pension changes made by U.S. Steel. Analysts predict that similar protests may spread across the country.

2012. Police confront protesters with tear gas and stun grenades in the U.S. city of Oakland, California; more than 100 arrests are made.
Elsewhere, Syrian Army forces launch an offensive in areas of the capital Damascus, as 60 people are killed across the country in the latest violence. The Free Syrian Army orders a tactical withdrawal from the affected suburbs of Damascus.