January 1
The Present Past in American History
1735 | Paul Revere was born.
1745 | Anthony Wayne was born.
1752 | Betsy Ross was born.
1772 | Thomas Jefferson wed Martha Wayles Skelton.
1777 | Poet Micah Hawkins was born.
1781 | War of Independence: Pennsylvania Line Mutiny Starts
1787 | Arthur Middleton died.
1788 | Civil Rights: Pennsylvania Quakers emancipate slaves.
1808 | Civil Rights: Congress bans the importation of slaves.
1811 | James Fenimore Cooper weds Susan Se Lance.
1818 | War of 1812: The White House reopens after British destruction.
1824 | President James Polk wed Sarah Childress.
1840 | The first bowling match on record occurred at the Knickerbocker in NYC.
1847 | Civil Rights: Michigan becomes the first state to ban capital punishment.
1852 | The first public bath in America opened in NYC.
1853 | The first practical horse-drawn fire engine goes into service.
1854 | Ashman Institute, a black college, later named Lincoln University, opens.
1862 | Republican Abraham Lincoln enacts the first U.S. income tax.
1863 | Civil Rights: Republican President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation.
1874 | NYC annexes the Bronx.
1890 | The first Rose Parade occurred in Pasadena, California.
1892 | Ellis Island opens as an Immigration Station.
1893 | University of Chicago launches the first extension course for credit.
1895 | J. Eggar Hoover was born.
1897 | First football game between HBCs Atlanta and Tuskegee.
1898 | NYC annexes Brooklynn.
1902 | First Rose Bowl Tournament in Pasadena, California.
1902 | First public demonstration of a radio.
1903 | Republican President Theodore Roosevelt unveils renovations to the White House, including the new West Wing.
1907 | Republican President Theodore Roosevelt set a record for the number of hands shaken in a single day (8,513).
1913 | U.S Post Office begins parcel delivery.
1919 | Novelist Jerome David Salinger is born.
1919 | Edsel Ford succeeded his father, Henry Ford, as CEO of Ford Motor Company.
1923 | Entertainer Hank Williams was born.
1927 | Economist Vernon L. Smith was born.
1928 | The first air-conditioned office building opened in San Antonio, Texas.
1928 | Author Ernest R. Tidyman was born.
1934 | Alcatraz becomes an official federal prison.
1934 | Federal Deposit Insurance Corp goes into effect.
1935 | Eddie Rickenbacker becomes General Manager of Eastern Airlines.
1936 | New York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to microfilm its publication.
1936 | Entrepreneur James Sinegal was born.
1939 | Entrepreneurs Dave Packard and Bill Hewlett founded Hewlett-Packard.
1944 | WWII: General Patton is replaced by General Clark as head of the Seventh Army.
1948 | First color newsreel filmed.
1951 | National Radio debut of the Paul Harvey News and Comment.
1951 | Korean War: Massive Chinese Offensive begins.
1960 | Entertainer Johnny Cash played a music show behind bars at San Quentin with Merle Haggard as an onlooker.
1962 | The U.S. Navy Seals are established.
1966 | Mass Transit workers went on strike in NYC for 12 days, shutting down the subway.
1966 | All U.S. cigarette packages are required to carry a health warning.
1969 | Actor Verne Troyer was born.
1971 | The U.S. bans cigarette advertising on television.
1975 | Three operatives are convicted in association with the Watergate break-ins.
1979 | The U.S. and Communist China formally begin diplomatic relations.
1983 | TCP/IP protocols became the standard on ARPANET.
1985 | The Internet’s Domain Name system was established.
1985 | New York establishes the nation’s first mandatory seat-belt law.
1985 | VH-1 debuts.
1994 | The North America Free Trade Agreement goes into effect.
1994 | Actor Cesar Romero died.
1998 | California becomes the first state to require bars and restaurants to be smoke-free.