January 28

Birthdays:

1981 ~ Elijah Wood, American actor.

1980 ~ Michael Hastings (d. June 18, 2013), journalist whose article on General Stanley McCrystal let to the Afghanistan Commander’s dismissal from the military.  He died in a car crash at age 33.

1969 ~ Mo Rocca (né Maurice Alberto Rocca), American comedian and television journalist.

1955 ~ Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France from May 2007 until May 2012.

1947 ~ Jeanne Shaheen (née Cynthia Jeanne Bowers Shaheen), 78^th Governor of New Hampshire.  She served as Governor from January 1997 until January 2003.  In January 2009, she became a United States Senator.

1936 ~ Alan Alda (né Alphonso Joseph D’Abruzzo), American actor.

1935 ~ David John Lodge, English author.

1922 ~ Robert William Holley (d. Feb. 11, 1993), American biochemist and recipient of the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died 14 days after his 71^st birthday.

1912 ~ Jackson Pollock (né Paul Jackson Pollock, d. Aug. 11, 1956), American artist.  He was killed in a car accident at age 44.

1890 ~ Robert Stroud (d. Nov. 21, 1963), American murderer and ornithologist.  He was known as the Bird Man of Alcatraz, although he was not actually able to keep birds at that prison.  He had, however, kept birds while at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth.  He died in prison at age 73.

1887 ~ Arthur Rubinstein (d. Dec. 20, 1982), Polish-born American pianist.  He died at age 95.

1873 ~ Colette (née Sidonie-Gabrielle Collette, d. Aug. 3, 1954), French writer, best known for her novel, Gigi.  She died at age 81.

1865 ~ Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg (d. Sept. 22, 1952), 1^st President of Finland.  He served in this office from July 1919 until March 1925.  He died at age 87.

1864 ~ Charles Williams Nash (d. June 6, 1948), American automobile entrepreneur and founder of the Nash Motors company.  He died at age 84.

1841 ~ Sir Henry Morgan Stanley (d. May 10, 1904), Welsh-born explorer and journalist.  He is best known for his search for the Scottish explorer and missionary, David Livingston.  He died at age 63.

1818 ~ George Sewell Boutwell (d. Feb. 27, 1905), 28^th Secretary of the Treasury.  He served under President Ulysses S. Grant from March 1869 to March 1873.  Prior to his service in the Federal Government, he had served as the 20^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He died a month after 87^th birthday.

1784 ~ George Hamilton-Gordon, 4^th Earl of Aberdeen (d. Dec. 14, 1860), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He died at age 76.

1701 ~ Charles Marie de la Condamine (d. Feb. 4, 1774), French mathematician.  He died 7 days after his 73^rd birthday.

1600 ~ Pope Clement IX (né Giulio Rospigliosi, d. Dec. 9, 1669).  He was Pope from 1667 until his death at age 69 in December 1669.

1540 ~ Ludolph van Ceulen (d. Dec. 31, 1610), German-Dutch mathematician.  He died 29 days before his 71^st birthday.

1457 ~ King Henry VII of England (d. Apr. 21, 1509).  He died at age 52 and was succeeded by King Henry VIII.

1312 ~ Queen Joan II of Navarre (d. Oct. 6, 1349).  She died at age 37.

599 ~ Tai Zong (d. July 10, 649), Chinese emperor of the Tang Dynasty.  He ruled from September 626 until his death in July 649.  He died at age 51.

Events that Changed the World:

2011 ~ Hundreds of thousands of protesters demonstrated throughout Egypt to protest the Mubarak regime.

1986 ~ The Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated shortly after liftoff, killing all seven crew members, including New Hampshire school teacher Christa McAuliffe (1948 ~ 1986).

1958 ~ The Lego company, a Danish company, patented the design of its Lego bricks.

1956 ~ Elvis Presley (1935 ~ 1977) made his first US Television appearance.

1935 ~ Iceland legalized therapeutic abortions, thereby becoming the first Western country to do so.

1934 ~ The first ski tows in the United States begin operating at Woodstock, Vermont.  They had previously been used since 1908 in Germany.

1922 ~ Washington D.C., experiences its biggest recorded snowfall.  The roof of the Knickerbocker Theater collapsed due to heavy snow, killing many people.

1915 ~ The United States Coast Guard was created.

1909 ~ The United States withdraws its troops from Cuba.  They had been a presence in Cuba since the Spanish-American War.  The US retained the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, however.

1902 ~ The Carnegie Institution of Washington was founded in Washington, D.C., with a $10M gift from Andrew Carnegie (1835 ~ 1919).

1896 ~ Walter Arnold of East Packham, Kent England became the first person to be convicted of speeding when he exceeded the speed limit of 2 miles per hour.  He had been traveling at the high rate of 8 miles per hour.

1851 ~ Northwestern University became the first chartered university in Illinois.

1813 ~ Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice was first published.

1724 ~ The St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences was founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great.  In 1917, the name was changed to the Russian Academy of Sciences.

1624 ~ The first British colony was founded on the island of St. Kitts, in the Caribbean by Sir Thomas Warner (1580 ~ 1649).

1573 ~ The Articles of the Warsaw Confederation were signed guaranteeing freedom of religion in Poland.

1547 ~ Edward VI (1537 ~ 1553) became the first protestant King of England upon the death of his father Henry VIII (1491 ~ 1547).  He was 9 years old at the time.  He ruled for only 6 years before he died at age 15.

1521 ~ The Diet of Worms began and lasted through May 25, 1521.  This assembly discussed Martin Luther (1483 ~ 1546) and the effect of the Protestant Reformation.

Good-byes:

2007 ~ Father Robert Frederick Drinan (b. Nov. 15, 1920), American priest and politician from Massachusetts.  He died at age 86.

2004 ~ Lloyd Mark Bucher (b. Sept. 1, 1927), US Navy officer best remembers as the Captain of the USS Pueblo, which was capture by North Korea in January 1968.  He died at age 76.

2002 ~ Astrid Lindgren (née Astrid Anna Emilia Ericsson, b. Nov. 14, 1907), Swedish author best known for creating Pippi Longstocking.  She died at age 94.

1996 ~ Joseph Brodsky (b. May 24, 1940), Russian-born poet and recipient of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died of a heart attack at age 55.

1996 ~ Jerry Siegel (né Jerome Siegel, b. Oct. 17, 1914), American writer and illustrator.  He, along with his friend Joseph Shuster, was the co-creator of Superman.  He died at age 81.

1986 ~ Astronauts on the ill-fated Space Shuttle Challenger

• 1986 ~ Ronald McNair (d. Oct. 21, 1950), American astronaut.  He was killed in the Challenger explosion.  He died at age 35.
• 1986 ~ Judith Resnik (b. Apr. 5, 1949), American astronaut who was killed in the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger.  She was 36 years old. 
• 1986 ~ Christa McAuliffe (née Sharon Christa McAuliffe, b. Sept. 2, 1948), American schoolteacher from Concord, New Hampshire, who was selected to join the ill-fated Space Shuttle Challenger crew.  The shuttle exploded upon take-off and she was one of the seven crew members and the only civilian killed in the disaster.  She was 37 years old.
• 1986 ~ Ellison Shoji Onizuka (b. June 24, 1946), American astronaut who was killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.  He was 39 years old.
• 1986 ~ Michael J. Smith (b. Apr. 30, 1945), American astronaut who was killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.  He was 40 years old.
• 1986 ~ Gregory Bruce Jarvis (b. Aug. 24, 1944), American astronaut who was killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.  He was 41 years old.
• 1986 ~ Francis Richard Scobee (b. May 19, 1939), American commander who was killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.  He was 46 years old.

1960 ~ Zora Neale Hurston (b. Jan. 7, 1891), African-American author.  She died 2 weeks after her 69^th birthday.

1950 ~ Nikolai Luzin (b. Dec. 9, 1883), Russian mathematician. He died at age 66.

1939 ~ William Butler Yeats (b. June 13, 1865), Irish poet and playwright.  He was the recipient of the 1923 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 73.

1936 ~ Richard Albert Loeb (b. June 11, 1905), American murderer.  In 1924, he, along with his college friend, Nathan F. Leopold, Jr. (1904 ~ 1971), kidnapped and murdered a 14-year old boy simply because they thought they could get away with the “perfect crime.”  They were quickly arrested and tried for the crime.  Both were sentenced to life in prison.  Leopold was paroled in 1958 and died of a heart attack at age 66.  Loeb was killed in prison by a fellow inmate.  He was 30 years old.

1936 ~ Oscar K. Allen (d. Aug. 8, 1882), 42^nd Governor of Louisiana.  He was Governor from May 1932 until his death.  He died at age 53 of a cerebral hemorrhage while in office.

1859 ~ F. J. Robinson, 1^st Earl of Ripon, 1^st Viscount Goderich (né Frederick John Robinson, b. Nov. 1, 1782), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He served as Prime Minister from August 1827 until January 1928, which was during the reign of King George IV.  He died at age 76.

1621 ~ Pope Paul V (né Camillo Borghese, b. Sept. 17, 1550).  He was Pope from May 1605 until his death 16 years later at age 68.

1595 ~ Sir Francis Drake (b. 1540), English explorer.  The exact date of his birth is not known.  He is believed to have been 55 at the time of his death.

1549 ~ Elia Levita (b. Feb. 13, 1469), Renaissance Hebrew grammarian.  He died 18 days after his 80^th birthday.

1547 ~ King Henry VIII of England (b. June 28, 1491).  He was King from April 1509 until his death at age 55 in January 1547.

1271 ~ Isabella of Aragon (b. 1247), Queen of Philip III of France.  She died from injuries from a fall from a horse when she was six months pregnant with her fifth child.  The exact date of her birth is not known, but she is believed to have been about 22 or 23 at the time of her death.

814 ~ Charlemagne (b. Apr. 2, 742), King of the Franks.  He is also sometimes referred to as Charles the Great.  He died pleurisy at age 71.