# Today in History **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [July 10, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530 "2016-07-10T04:53:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/362 "2017-01-01T19:18:00Z")
**January 1, 1898:** New York, New York annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The four initial boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, are joined on January 25 by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/363 "2017-01-02T01:13:33Z")
**January 1, 1953** Gary Johnson, former New Mexico governor and failed Libertarian Party candidate for President was born. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/364 "2017-01-02T05:37:41Z")
**January 1, 45 BC:** The Julian calendar takes effect for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/365 "2017-01-02T10:59:46Z")
**January 2, 1860:** The discovery of the planet [Vulcan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_(hypothetical_planet)) is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/366 "2017-01-04T04:52:49Z")
**January 3, 1777:** General George Washington defeats the godless British at Princeton, New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/367 "2017-01-04T04:56:34Z")
January 3, 1956: A fire damages the top part of the Eiffel Tower. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/368 "2017-01-04T06:06:59Z")
**January 4, 1958** : After 3 months in space, Sputnik falls back to Earth— burning up on the way down. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/369 "2017-01-04T11:08:16Z")
**January 4, 1903:** Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by the owners of Luna Park, Coney Island. The Edison film company shoots the film _Electrocuting an Elephant_ of Topsy’s death. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/370 "2017-01-05T06:08:28Z")
**January 5, 1939** : Amelia Earhart is declared legally dead. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/371 "2017-01-05T09:23:52Z")
**January 5, 1933:** Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/372 "2017-01-06T03:48:57Z")
**January 5, 1930:** Bonnie Elizabeth Parker meets Clyde Chestnut Barrow at the home of Clyde’s friend Clarence Clay who lived at 105 Herbert Street in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of West Dallas. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/373 "2017-01-06T08:24:03Z")
**January 6, 1994** : Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked by baton-wielding hit-man Shane Stant in Detroit. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/374 "2017-01-06T08:59:19Z")
**January 6, 1912:** German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presents his theory of continental drift. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/375 "2017-01-07T05:22:33Z")
**January 6, 1939:** The “Superman” daily newspaper comic strip debuts. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/376 "2017-01-07T07:59:48Z")
**January 7, 1955:** Contralto Marian Anderson becomes the first person of color to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in Giuseppe Verdi’s _Un ballo in maschera._ ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/377 "2017-01-08T20:49:08Z")
**January 8, 1956:** On his 21st birthday, Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel/Hound Dog” single goes to #1 and stays there for 11 weeks, a new record for a single. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/378 "2017-01-09T02:02:08Z")
**January 8, 1835:** The United States national debt is zero for the only time. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/379 "2017-01-09T03:20:09Z")
**Jan 8th, 1938:** Bob Eubanks (host of _The Newlywed Game_) is born. **Jan 8th, 1941:** Graham Chapman (of _Monty Python’s_) is born. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/380 "2017-01-09T07:44:11Z")
**January 9, 1349:** The Jewish population of Basel, Switzerland, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, is rounded up and incinerated. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/381 "2017-01-09T15:03:43Z")
\*\* January 9, 1988 \*\* - Andrew Lloyd Webber’s _Phantom of the Opera_ begins previews at Broadway’s Majestic Theatre. It’s still there, and is trhe longest running show on Broadway ever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=20)