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)