On This Day In History
On this day in 1834, Alabama expanded its laws prohibiting free Black people from settling in the state, and authorized white enslavers to capture and sell free Black people into slavery. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history. https://t.co/rRGC8A2E6H
— Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) January 17, 2022
January 18th
532 Nika uprising against Emperor Justinian I in Constantinople fails, 30,000 killed by troops loyal to the Emperor in the Hippodrome
1591 King Naresuan of Siam kills Crown Prince Minchit Sra of Burma in single combat, date is now observed as Royal Thai Armed Forces day
1788 First elements of the First Fleet carrying 736 convicts from England to Australia arrives at Botany Bay to set up a penal colony
1817 José de San Martín leads a revolutionary army over the Andes to attack Spanish royalists in Chile
1871 Second German Empire proclaimed by Kaiser Wilhelm I and Otto von Bismarck
1943 Soviets announce they have broken the long Siege of Leningrad by Nazi Germany by opening a narrow land corridor, though the siege would not be fully lifted until a year later
Did You Know?
World's 62 richest people are now as wealthy as half the world's population according to a report published by Oxfam
Today in History in 2016
Would You Believe?
Perplexed Pilgrims in Boston reported America's 1st UFO sighting
Today in History in 1644
In November 1971, the Irish government brought a case against the British government for its treatment of “the hooded men” – 14 Catholics interned that year.
On this day in 1978, the ECHR found that the UK was in breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. pic.twitter.com/u8XX8KAc51
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) January 18, 2022
Auschwitz prisoner Seweryna Szmaglewska escaped from a evacuation transport in Poland #OTD in 1945. Her memoir, 'Smoke Over Birkenau,' became one of the first personal testimonies of the Holocaust, and was used in evidence at the Nuremberg trials in 1946. https://t.co/Kv3CxYuWJo
— On This Day She (@OnThisDayShe) January 18, 2022
On this day in 1771, North Carolina approved payments of nearly 1,000 pounds, or the equivalent of $230,000 today, to "reimburse" white "owners" for enslaved Black people executed by the State. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history. https://t.co/lcyNNiAgUc
— Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) January 18, 2022
January 19th
379 Theodosius installed as co-emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire
1812 Peninsular War: After a ten day siege, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, orders British soldiers of the Light and third divisions to storm Ciudad Rodrigo
1883 The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey
1966 Indira Gandhi elected India's 4th Prime Minister
2013 Calcium deposits are discovered on Mars by NASA’s Curiosity Rover
Did You Know?
Coopers Inc. sells the world's first men's briefs in Chicago, calls it the "Jockey"
Today in History in 1935
Would You Believe?
World's largest crowd gathering - the Hindu Kumbh Mela in India attracts a then record 15 million people
Today in History in 1977
This day 75 years ago – 19 January 1947 – Ireland was hit with an anticyclone weather phenomenon that lasted two months, bringing freezing temperatures of -14 degrees centigrade.
By 19 February, the death rate of Dublin had more than doubled.
It became known as the Big Freeze. pic.twitter.com/VwFk7AN3Zb
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) January 19, 2022
#OTD in 1897 magician Adelaide Herrmann, more famous than Houdini in her lifetime, performed the magic bullet trick for the first time, catching six bullets. Still today, only 8% of performing magicians are female. Hear Herrmann's story here: https://t.co/SFqpAJ1AQw pic.twitter.com/lBt0lR2oB0
— On This Day She (@OnThisDayShe) January 19, 2022
On this day in 1930, mobs of white people roamed Watsonville, California, attacking Filipino farmworkers after Filipino men were seen dancing with white women at a dance hall. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history. https://t.co/TXBqmXnIWQ
— Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) January 19, 2022
January 20th
1265 First English Parliament summoned other than by royal command (in this instance by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester) mets in Westminster Hall
1841 China cedes Hong Kong to the British during the 1st Opium War
1921 Republic of Turkey declared out of remnants of Ottoman Empire
1942 Nazi officials hold notorious Wannsee Conference in Berlin to organize the "final solution", the extermination of Europe's Jews
1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt sworn-in for an unprecedented (and never to be repeated) 4th term as US President
1981 Ronald Reagan inaugurated as the 40th President of the United States of America
2009 Barack Obama, inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, becomes the United States' first African-American president
Did You Know?
Houston Cougars defeat the UCLA Bruins 71-69 to win basketball’s Game of the Century and end UCLA’s 47 game winning streak
Today in History in 1968
Would You Believe?
Heavy metal musician Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off a bat on stage in Des Moines, Iowa
Today in History in 1982
This day 61 years ago – 20 January 1961 – John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as U.S. President, the first ever Roman Catholic.
Kennedy was sworn in on a bible that his great-grandfather, Thomas Fitzgerald, brought with him when he emigrated from the village of Bruff, Co Limerick. pic.twitter.com/dvLl380UH5
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) January 20, 2022
In 1885, Irish astronomer and author Agnes Mary Clerke published her best known book, A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century. Highly respected in the field, she wrote much of the astronomy content for @Britannica. A crater on the moon is named after her. pic.twitter.com/MDYmJY3AE0
— On This Day She (@OnThisDayShe) January 20, 2022
On this day in 1870, Hiram Rhodes Revels became the first African American to serve in the U.S. Congress. White officials tried to declare his election null and void. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history. https://t.co/BCfT822mTw
— Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) January 20, 2022
Audrey Hepburn was only 63 years old when she died on #ThisDayInHistory in 1993, but the Hollywood legend packed a lot into her time on earth. #DidYouKnow She is one of few actresses to win an Emmy, Tony, Grammy, and Academy Award. https://t.co/URuI7tX2AA
— HISTORY (@HISTORY) January 20, 2022
I'm gonna go into the future because I'm a little bit perplexed.🤔
From next year there's gonna be a Bank/Public holiday to celebrate Saint Brigid's day. According to Leo it will be the first Monday of every February "apart from when Saint Brigid's day falls on the 1st".
I thought it always fell on the 1st of February.🤔
I'm not sure if that was something Leo Varadkar said or was quoted as saying, BR, but the official line quoted was:
"From next year, Ireland will have an extra public holiday at the start of February to mark Imbolc/St Brigid’s day. It will be observed on the first Monday of February except where the 1st of February falls on a Friday in which case it will be observed on that day. This will be the first Irish public holiday named after a woman. It marks the half-way point between the winter solstice and the equinox, the beginning of spring and the Celtic New Year. The creation of a tenth public holiday will bring Ireland more into line with the European average and it is one of five new workers’ rights that I am establishing this year. The others are the right to statutory sick pay, the right to request remote working, new rights around redundancy for people laid off during the pandemic, and better protection of workplace tips."
I've no idea what "workplace tips" are except when someone fails to tidy up after themselves. 😂
Quote from Charlie Charles IV on January 20, 2022, 9:37 pmI’m not sure if that was something Leo Varadkar said or was quoted as saying, BR, but the official line quoted was:
“From next year, Ireland will have an extra public holiday at the start of February to mark Imbolc/St Brigid’s day. It will be observed on the first Monday of February except where the 1st of February falls on a Friday in which case it will be observed on that day. This will be the first Irish public holiday named after a woman. It marks the half-way point between the winter solstice and the equinox, the beginning of spring and the Celtic New Year. The creation of a tenth public holiday will bring Ireland more into line with the European average and it is one of five new workers’ rights that I am establishing this year. The others are the right to statutory sick pay, the right to request remote working, new rights around redundancy for people laid off during the pandemic, and better protection of workplace tips.”
I’ve no idea what “workplace tips” are except when someone fails to tidy up after themselves. 😂
Ah ! Now that makes more sense.