January 15th in History

Today in History

  • Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England (1559)
  • The Coca-Cola Company is incorporated (1889)
  • James Naismith publishes the rules of basketball (1892)
  • A molasses flood in Boston kills 21 and injures 150 (1919)
  • The Pentagon building is dedicated (1943)
  • Ilse Koch, the “Witch of Buchenwald,” is sentenced to life imprisonment (1951)
  • The first Super Bowl is played (1967)
  • Wikipedia goes online (2001)
  • Captain “Sully” Sullenberger successfully lands US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River, saving the lives of all aboard (2009)

Birthdays

  • Molière, playwright (1622)
  • Saud, Saudi Arabian monarch (1902)
  • Edward Teller, “father of the H-Bomb” (1908)
  • Jean Bugatti, car designer (1909)
  • Gene Krupa, drummer (1909)
  • Lloyd Bridges, actor (1913)
  • Gamal Abdel Nasser. Egyptian president (1918)
  • Phyllis Coates, actress, “Lois Lane” on the TV Superman series (1927)
  • Martin Luther King, Jr., activist and minister (1929)
  • Robert Silverberg, science fiction writer (1935)
  • Captain Beefheart, singer-songwriter (1941)
  • Andrea Martin, comedienne (1947)
  • Charo, singer (1951)
  • Randy White, football player (1953)
  • Mario Van Peebles, actor and director (1957)
  • Lisa Lisa, singer (1966)
  • Matt Holliday, baseball player (1980)

Deaths

  • Fanny Kemble, actress (1893)
  • Hap Arnold, US general (1950)
  • Jack Teagarden, jazz musician (1964)
  • William Piper, aircraft designer (1970)
  • Meyer Lansky, gangster (1983)
  • Ray Bolger, actor (1987)
  • Sammy Cahn, songwriter (1993)
  • Harry Nilsson, singer-songwriter (1994)
  • Ruth Warrick, actress (2005)
  • Susannah York, actress (2011)
  • John Dobson, inventor of the Dobsonian telescope (2014)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Arbor Day (Egypt)
  • Armed Forces Day (Nigeria)
  • Humanitarian Day, celebrated on the actual birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • Indian Army Day (India)
  • John Chilembwe Day (Malawi)
  • Korean Alphabet Day (North Korea)
  • Sagichō at Tsurugaoia Hachimangū (Kamakura, Japan)
  • Teacher’s Day (Venezuela)