January In History
Compiled by Chris Rowan
A New Year
Since ancient times, the beginning of a new year has been celebrated as a time to mark the beginning of the harvest. The month of January is named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings. Janus had two faces, one for looking backward, the other for looking forward.
Martin Luther King, Jr.: Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was born January 15, 1929. On January 20, 1986, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was observed as a national holiday for the first time. The holiday falls on the third Monday in January.
Firsts: On January 5, 1925, Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first woman governor in the United States when she became governor of Wyoming.
The first Presidential inaugural in January was held on January 20, 1937 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt (born January 30, 1882 in Hyde Park, New York), was inaugurated to his second term.
January 1, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
January 1, 1959 Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba.
January 6, 1941 President Franklin Roosevelt gave a speech describing “four freedoms” as essential: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from fear and freedom from want.
January 7, 1927, the first transatlantic commercial telephone service began between New York and London.
January 10, 1901, the first great oil strike occurred in Texas.
January 16, 1979 Muhmmad Reza Shah Pahlavi was forced to leave Iran during the Iranian Islamic Revolution, On January 16, 1991 “Operation Desert Storm” began—the first Persian Gulf war in which U.S. forces were involved.
January 24, 1848, gold was discovered in California.
January 27, 1973 a cease fire ended participation by American troops in the Vietnam War.
January 28, 1986 The Space Shuttle Explorer exploded after takeoff, killing 6 astronauts and a school teacher, Christa McAuliffe.#
