more events on January 15
-
2001
Wikipedia goes online.
-
1992
Slovenia and Croatia’s independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is recognized by the international community.
-
1991
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II approves Australia instituting its own Victoria Cross honors system, the first county in the British Commonwealth permitted to do so.
-
UN deadline for Iraq to withdraw its forces from occupied Kuwait passes, setting the stage for Operation Desert Storm.
-
1982
Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia.
-
1976
Sara Jane Moore sentenced to life in prison for her failed attempt to assassinate US President Gerald Ford.
-
1975
The Alvor Agreement is signed, ending the Angolan War of independence and granting the country independence from Portugal.
-
1973
Four of six remaining Watergate defendants plead guilty.
-
US President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action by US troops in Vietnam.
-
1967
Some 462 Yale faculty members call for an end to the bombing in North Vietnam.
-
1965
Sir Winston Churchill suffers a severe stroke.
-
1949
Chinese Communists occupy Tientsin after a 27-hour battle with Nationalist forces.
-
1948
Ronnie Van Zant, singer, songwriter; founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd band.
-
1945
Princess Michael of Kent (Baroness Marie Christine Anna Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz), married to Prince Michael of Kent, grandson of Britain’s King George V.
-
1944
The U.S. Fifth Army successfully breaks the German Winter Line in Italy with the capture of Mount Trocchio.
-
1936
In London, Japan quits all naval disarmament talks after being denied equality.
-
1930
Amelia Earhart sets an aviation record for women at 171 mph in a Lockheed Vega.
-
1929
Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
-
The U.S. Senate ratifies the Kellogg-Briand anti-war pact.
-
1927
The Dumbarton Bridge opens in San Francisco carrying the first auto traffic across the bay.
-
1920
The United States approves a $150 million loan to Poland, Austria and Armenia to aid in their war with the Russian communists.
-
The Dry Law goes into effect in the United States. Selling liquor and beer becomes illegal.
-
1919
Peasants in Central Russia rise against the Bolsheviks.
-
1913
The first telephone line between Berlin and New York is inaugurated.
-
1908
Edward Teller, Hungarian-born U.S. physicist known as the “Father of the H-bomb.”
-
1906
Aristotle Onassis, Greek tycoon.
-
1865
Union troops capture Fort Fisher, North Carolina.
-
1823
Mathew Brady, Civil War photographer.
-
1811
In a secret session, Congress plans to annex Spanish East Florida.
-
1716
Philip Livingston, signatory to the Declaration of Independence.
-
1624
Riots flare in Mexico when it is announced that all churches are to be closed.
-
1622
Moliere [Jean Baptiste Poquelin], French comic dramatist best remembered for his play La Tartuffe.