January 20, 1954: The lowest temperature ever recorded in the lower 48 states, -70 degrees Fahrenheit, is measured at Rogers Pass, Montana.
January 22, 1915: The Guadalajara Train Disaster kills over 600 people in Mexico.
January 22, 1984: The Apple Macintosh, the first consumer computer to popularize the computer mouse and the graphical user interface, is introduced during a Super Bowl XVIII television commercial.
**January 23, 1812 **: The second of the three major New Madrid earthquakes strikes in Southeastern Missouri. This quake is estimated between 7.3 and 7.6 on the Richter scale.
**January 24, 1915 **: The German warship SMS Blucher is sunk during the Battle of Dogger Bank. Between 750 and 1000 are killed.
January 25, 1904: The Harwick Mine Explosion in Cheswick, Pennsylvania kills 179 miners and 2 aid workers.
January, 26, 1531: An earthquake strikes Lisbon, Portugal. This quake and the resulting tsunami kill an estimated 30,000.
**January 26, 1998: **U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had “sexual relations” with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
January 27, 1891: 109 miners are killed in the Mammoth Mine Explosionin southwestern Pennsylvania.
January 26, 1988 - Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera opens on Broadway.*
*still running
January 29, 1921: The Great Blowdown storm strikes Oregon and Washington with hurricane force winds.
January 30, 1895: The SS Elbe passenger ship collides with the steamship *Crathie *during the night in the North Sea. The crew of the *Crathie * later claim they did not know the *Elbe *was sinking, and their boat continues on while the Elbe sinks. 332 die. 20 survive in the sole lifeboat that was safely launched. This was quite a miracle, as the subzero temperatures, rough seas and damaged lifeboat made it unlikely to be found. However a fishing boat happened upon the lifeboat five hours later and the 20 lives were saved. At the time it was said the lifeboat had been falling apart and the passengers could not have survived another hour adrift.
January 31, 1953: During a violent storm,
the passenger car ferry MV Princess Victoria sinks in the North Channel between Ireland and Great Britain. 133 lives are lost.
January 31, 1747: The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
February 1, 1974 The Joelma Building, a highrise in Sao Paulo catches fire. The death toll is between 160 and 170, many of whom jump to their deaths from several burning stories high above.
February 2, 1979: Sid Vicious dies of a heroin overdose.
February 3, 1954: The Kumbh Mela Stampede in India results in the deaths of over 800 people. Another 2000 are injured.
February 3, 1959: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson are killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.
February 4, 1797: The 1797 Riobamba earthquakemeasures 8.3 on the Richter Scale and causes nearly 40,000 casualties. This is the strongest known earthquake in Ecuador’s history.
February 4, 1967: Lunar Orbiter 3 lifts off from Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 13 on its mission to identify possible landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo spacecraft.