January 21

This Day in American History

    1642 – Director of the New Netherlands colony, Willem Kieft, calls for a meeting of the Twelve (family representatives) to organize a military response to the increasing raids of the Hudson River Valley Tribe. This tribe is reacting to pressure from the growing Iroquois to the north and increasing European settlement in the south. 
    1648- Margaret Brent made her claim as America's first feminist by demanding a voice and vote for herself in the Maryland colonial assembly. Brent came to America in 1638 and was the first woman to own property in Maryland. At the time of her demands she was serving as secretary to Governor Leonard Calvert. She was ejected from the meetings, but when Calvert died she became his executor and acting governor, presiding over the General Assembly. History records this event as the beginning of the woman suffrage movement in America. In 1640, she became the first woman barrister in America, officially the colonial attorney for Cecilius Calvert, Lord Proprietor of Maryland.
http://www.fa-ir.org/15_2.htm
http://earlyamerica.com/review/1998/brent.html
    1738- Ethan Allan, Revolutionary War soldier and leader of the Vermont "Green Mountain Boys." born at Lichfield, CT, he died at Burlington, VT, Feb 12, 1789. History finds him quite an opportunist who high school history books have painted quite a different picture of his actual deeds. He actually missed most of the revolutionary war because he was in British prison. He led several movements, including a military effort, to join both New York and Vermont with Canada.
http://personalweb.smcvt.edu/thefort/History/EthanAllen.htm
( see: Legends, Lies and Cherished Myths of American History by Richard Shenkman )
    1785 - Chippewa, Delaware, Ottawa and Wyandot tribes signed a treaty of Fort McIntosh, ceding present-day Ohio to the United States    
    1801 -- "Federal Bonfire Number Two": a mysterious fire sweeps the offices of the Department of Treasury, destroying books and papers, after Republicans demanded proof that the expenditures of Timothy Pickering, the recently replaced Federalist Secretary of War, could be properly accounted for. He was censured by Congress. He was re-elected to Congress for two more terms, then retired.
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=p000324
http://www.qmfound.com/COL_Timothy_Pickering.htm
    1812 - The famous Y-bridge in Zanesville, Ohio, was given approval for construction.
http://www.vintageviews.org/vv-3/bridges/pages/bdg07_003.html
http://www.coz.org/
    1824-Birthday of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Confederate general and one of the most famous soldiers of the American Civil War, best known as "Stonewall" Jackson. Born at Clarksburg, VA (now WV). At the first Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861, Union forces under Gen. Irvin McDowell were defeated by the Confederates. McDowell delayed the attack for two days, allowing Confederate Gen. Beauregard to call on reinforcements from the Shenandoah Valley. Their arrival late in the day gave the Confederates a numerical advantage. It was in this battle that Confederate Gen. Thomas J. Jackson was nicked named ‘Stonewall” for his firm stand at a crucial moment. May 2, 1963, General Stonewall Jackson, leading a large part of General lee's army, delivered a devastating blow on General Hooker's right flank. The Battle of Chancellorsville, 50 miles southwest of Washington, DC had started the day before. It was Lee goal to capture Washington, and the chance encounter in Gettysburg stopped him. In this battle, General Robert E. Lee won his greatest victory over huge Union forces under General Joseph Hooker, considered a military idiot, who allowed his men to party and bring prostitutes along ( thus the name Hookers ). In the North, 17,275 were killed or wounded; in the South, 12,821. Reconnoitering with his staff at day's end on May 2, Jackson and his group were mistaken for Union Soldiers and fired upon by their own forces. Jackson's shattered left arm had to be amputated. While he was hospitalized pneumonia set in; his death came on May 10 th in Chancellorsvile, VA.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan21.html
    1844- John Browning, world famous gun maker and inventor who was taught gunsmithing by his Mormon pioneer father, Jonathan Browning, was born at Ogden, UT. Starting the J.M. & M.S. Browning Arms Company with his brother, he designed guns for Winchester, Remington, Stevens and Colt arms companies, as well as American and European armies. Browning had more gun patents than any other gunsmith in the world. He is best known worldwide for inventing the machine gun in 1890 and the automatic pistol in 1896. He died suddenly Nov 26, 1926- at age 71, while at Belgium on business. The company he founded, known now as Browning Arms Company, is located at Morgan, UT.
    1853- Dr. Russell L. Hawes of Worcester, MA, received a patent for an envelope folding machine that proved practical commercially. It was not self-gumming, but nevertheless it enable three girls to produce the finished product at the rate of about 25,000 envelopes in 10 hours, thus allowing “junk mail” to be economically sent..
    1863 - A severe coastal storm dropped heavy rain on the Fredericksburg area of Virginia. It disrupted a Union Army offensive in an ill famed "mud march"
    1867 -- Patrol Special Officer, Armand Barbier, arrests His Majesty Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, for involuntary treatment of a mental disorder and thereby creates a major civic uproar. San Francisco Police Chief Patrick Crowley apologizes to His Majesty & orders him released. Several scathing newspaper editorials follow the arrest. All police officers begin to salute His Majesty when he passed them on the street.
http://www.notfrisco.com/nortoniana/index.html 
http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/nort.html 
    1880- the first sewage –disposal system separate from the city water system was built in Memphis, TN, under the direction of George Edwin Waring. The pipes were sewage only and kept constantly cleansed with water and were well ventilated. Other cities copied this new “sewer system.”
    1884- Roger Baldwin, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, called the "country's unofficial agitator for, and defender of, its civil liberties." Born at Wellesley, MA, he died Aug 26, 1981, at Ridgewood, NJ.
    1943-Birthday of bass player Steve Gilmore, Trenton, NJ
http://www.philwoods.com/gilmore.htm
http://www.playjazz.com/BA033.html
    1915- First Kiwanis Club chartered at Detroit, MI. 
http://www.kiwanis.org/
    1917-Birthday of pianist Billy Maxted, born Racine, WI. Great pianist, he wrote many arrangements for Ray Eberle; Red Nichols; Will Bradley, and even Benny Goodman. At the end of the big band era, Billy has his own band briefly.
http://www.jazzmanrecords.com/bilmaxbigswi.html
    1920 -- Palmer "Red" Raids now target labor activists and radicals for US government repression. Attorney General A.Mitchell Palmer orders the roundup of all suspected for prosecution & deportation where possible. The man in charge is J. Edgar Hoover. Thousands of people are arrested in a nationwide sweep, most arrests are illegal, without warrants or justification. Thousands are eventually deported.
http://www.msu.edu/course/mc/112/1920s/Palmer/newsandpalmer.html
    1920 -- Author Ernest Hemingway returns to America after his World War I experiences.
http://www.hemingwayhome.com/HTML/main_menu.html
http://www.hemingway.org/
http://www.ernest.hemingway.com/
    1936-Birthday of Malka Cohen, of the 1960's Canadian folk duo of Malka and Joso, was born in Israel. She met her singing partner, Joso Spralja, in the early '60s at a Toronto coffeehouse, Yorkville 71. The couple toured Canada, and in 1966 appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York. The following year, Malka and Joso appeared before Princess Margaret in England. But 1967 also marked the end of their partnership. Malka Cohen began a second career as an independent radio interviewer.
http://www.malkamarom.com/music.html
http://www.toronto.com/profile/146821 
    1936-Birthday of New Orleans blues singer and guitarist Snooks Eaglin.
http://www.mnblues.com/profile/snookseaglin2000.html
http://www.bluesaccess.com/No_38/snooks.html
http://user.mc.net/~snooks/snooks/bigman.html
    1938- “Wolfman Jack” born Robert Smith at Brooklyn, NY. He became famous as a disc jockey for radio stations at Mexico in the 1960s. Wolfman Jack was influential as a border radio voice because the Mexican station broadcast at 250,000 watts, five times the legal limit for American stations at the time, and therefore he was heard over a vast part of the US. During his night shift he played blues, hillbilly and other black and white music that wasn't getting a lot of exposure. He later appeared on American radio, movies and television as an icon of 1960s radio. Wolfman Jack died July 1, 1995, at Belvedere, NC.
    1940- golfer Jack Nicklaus born Columbus, Ohio
http://www.nicklaus.com/
    1941—Birthday of singer/song writer, guitarist Richie Haven
http://www.richiehavens.com/
http://www.mathie.demon.co.uk/rh/biograph.html
    1942- Duke Ellington records C Jam Blues, Perdidio.
    1943-Birthday of bass player Steve Gilmore, Trenton, NJ
http://www.philwoods.com/gilmore.htm
http://www.playjazz.com/BA033.html
    1946 - On ABC radio, "The Fat Man" debuted, starring J. Scott Smart as the portly detective, who weighed 270 pounds in real life. This was one of my favorite radio shows that I remember listening to, perhaps in the late 1940's. “There he goes. Into that drug store. He's stepping on the scales. Weight? 237 pounds. Fortune? Danger. Whoooo is it? The FAT MANNNNNNNNNNN.” Later I learned perhaps my favorite author Dashiell Hammet was involved in writing for the radio show.
http://www.old-time.com/sights/fatman.html
http://www.otrcat.com/
    1949—Top Hits 
Buttons and Bows - Dinah Shore 
A Little Bird Told Me - Evelyn Knight 
On a Slow Boat to China - The Kay Kyser Orchestra (vocal: Harry Babbitt & Gloria Wood) 
I Love You So Much It Hurts - Jimmy Wakely
    1949- First Miles Davis Birth of the “Cool” session, Capital 1762
    1950-Birthday of singer Billy Ocean, musician, songwriter, born Leslie Charles, Trinidad, West Indies.
    1951 - Mildred (Babe Didrikson) Zaharias set a new women's golf record when she won the Tampa Women's Open with a medal play score at a record 288 for 72 holes. In the 1932 Olympics, Babe won two gold and one silver medal for the javelin throw, the 80-meter hurdles and the high jump, respectively. She also skilled at basketball, baseball, billiards and golf. As well as being a member of the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame, LPGA Hall of Fame (Babe was a founding member of the LPGA), National Track and Field Hall of Fame, Olympic Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame.
http://www.famoustexans.com/babedidrikson.htm
    1953- the first gas-turbine car made was the XP-21 Firebird, built by General Motors. The 370-horespower Whirlfire turbojet was installed in the rear of the car. It had a plastic body and accommodated only the driver. Its speed was 150 miles per hour, but it was believed capable of 235 miles per hour. Since it consumed fuel faster than conventional cards, it was not commercially produced.
    1954 - The first atomic-powered submarine, the "Nautilus," was launched in Groton, Connecticut, after First Lady, Mamie Eisenhower, christened it with a bottle of champagne.
http://www.ussnautilus.org/
    1954 - In New York City, the gas turbine automobile was introduced with a 370 horsepower, ‘whirlfire' turbopower jet powering it.
    1957---Top Hits 
Singing the Blues - Guy Mitchell 
The Banana Boat Song - The Tarriers 
Young Love - Tab Hunter 
Singing the Blues - Marty Robbins
    1957- country singer Patsy Cline won an Arthur Godfrey's "Talent Scout" show, singing "Walking After Midnight." Her single of the contest-winning song was on both the country and pop charts for a number of weeks. During the next few years, Patsy Cline became one of the top female country singers. She was killed in a plane crash in 1963.
    1959 - The Kingston Trio, with members Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds and Dave Guard; was awarded a gold record for their single, "Tom Dooley", about a man named Tom Dooley who was going to be hanged - "poor boy, you're bound to, die." The Kingston Trio recorded many other hits, including: "Greenback Dollar", "M.T.A.", "Reverend Mr. Black", "Tijuana Jail", and the war protest song, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?".
    1961- The first cabinet member who was the brother of the president was Robert F. Kennedy, who took office as attorney general in the cabinet of President John F. Kennedy in Washington, DC. 1962- Snow falls in San Francisco
    1964 - After 3 years, Carl Rowen took over for Edward R. Murrow as head of the United States Information Agency (USIA), managing force of the worldwide Voice of America. Rowen had something else in common with Murrow, they both came from news backgrounds, Rowen from NBC, and Murrow from CBS.
    1965---Top Hits 
Come See About Me - The Supremes 
Love Potion Number Nine - The Searchers 
Downtown - Petula Clark 
Once a Day - Connie Smith
    1966 -- promoter Bill Graham began his notorious three-day "Trips Festival" at the Longshoreman's Hall in San Francisco. Music and LSD were available in large quantities.. The Festival at 400 North Point St. featured the Grateful Dead, Big Brother & the Holding Company, The Loading Zone, Chinese New Years' Lion Dancers & Drum & Bugle Corps, Stroboscopic Trampoline, & 
Ken Kesey & His Merry Pranksters .
"Pray for the (grateful) dead & fight like hell for the living!"
— (with apologies to) Mother Jones
http://www.accessplace.com/gdtc/biograh.htm
http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=112
http://www.summeroflove.com/text/haight.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/chronicle/article.cgi?PK5621.DTL:/
chronicle/archive/1996/05/19 
http://www.halcyon.com/colinp/hipshops.htm
http://www.diggers.org/
http://www.bbhc.com/BigBrother.htm  
    1967 -US female Figure Skating championship won by Peggy Fleming
http://www.peggyfleming.net/
    1968 --Battle for Khe Sanh begins
One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins at Khe Sanh, 14 miles below the DMZ and six miles from the Laotian border. Seized and activated by the U.S. Marines a year earlier, the base, which had been an old French outpost, was used as a staging area for forward patrols and was a potential launch point for contemplated future operations to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. The battle began on this date with a brisk firefight involving the 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines and a North Vietnamese battalion entrenched between two hills northwest of the base. During the 66-day siege, U.S. planes, dropping 5,000 bombs daily, exploded the equivalent of five Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs in the area. The siege was finally lifted on April 6 when the cavalrymen linked up with the 9th Marines south of the Khe Sanh airstrip. The official casualty count for the Battle of Khe Sanh was 205 Marines killed in action and over 1,600 wounded (this figure did not include the American and South Vietnamese soldiers killed in other battles in the region). The U.S. military headquarters in Saigon estimated that the North Vietnamese lost between 10,000 and 15,000 men in the fighting at Khe Sanh.
    1969 -- The Navajo Community College, the first tribally established & operated community college in the U.S., opens at Many Farms, Arizona. Now called Dine College.
http://acept.la.asu.edu/collaborators/dine.html
http://www.dinecollege.edu/
http://shiprock.dinecollege.edu/
    1970 - ABC-TV aired "The Johnny Cash Show" in prime time, after its run as a summer replacement ended. The regular season series was a shot in the arm for country music. Cash wore black, his signature, in the all-color show.
    1970- Boeing, Seattle, WA introduced the Jumbo Jet, Boeing 747. It could carry up to 490 passengers, plus could be handled by terminal facilities of the time. the wide-bodied, two-decked aircraft was taller than a six-story building and could carry up to 490 passengers, more than could easily be handled by the terminal facilities of the time. The first 747s went into transatlantic service for Pan American Airlines.
    1973---Top Hits 
You're So Vain - Carly Simon 
Superstition - Stevie Wonder 
Crocodile Rock - Elton John 
Soul Song - Joe Stampley 
    1974 -- Four-day postal strike begins at Jersey City, N.J.
    1975- officials at the National Hockey League All-Star game made history by allowing female reporters in the players' locker rooms, a first for American professional sports. The coaches of the two squads arranged for reporters to interview players before they took their showers.
    1977 -- President Jimmy Carter issues unconditional pardon to most Vietnam draft resisters on his first full day in office. Affects between 100,000 to 500,000 people.
    1978 - The soundtrack to the film "Saturday Night Fever" reached #1 on the album chart (BeeGees)
    1979 -- Terry Bradshaw passes for a record four touchdowns to lead the Steelers to a 35-31 victory over the Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII. The Steelers become the first team to win three Super Bowls.
http://images.nfl.com/history/images/0121.jpg
    1981---Top Hits 
(Just Like) Starting Over - John Lennon 
Love on the Rocks - Neil Diamond 
The Tide is High - Blondie 
I Love a Rainy Night - Eddie Rabbitt 
    1982 -- Blues guitar giant B.B. King donates his entire record collection (including about 7,000 rare blues records he played when he was a disc jockey) to the University of Mississippi's Center for the Study of Southern Culture.
http://www.island.net/~blues/bb.html 
http://www.worldblues.com/bbking/
    1982 - The second of two major snowstorms to hit southern Minnesota came to an end. Minneapolis received 20 inches of snow in 24 hours to break the previous record of 17 inches in 24 hours established just a few days earlier. A record 38 inches of snow covered the ground following the two storms, with drifts ten feet high.
    1984 - Van Halen's single, Jump, entered the Billboard pop charts on this date, and later was in the Number 1 spot for 5 weeks, remaining on the charts for a total of 15 weeks. It eventually was certified gold.s for a 6 month stay.
    1984-Yes hits number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with their only Top Ten hit, "Owner of a Lonely Heart".
    1985 -19ºF (-28ºC), Caesar's Head, South Carolina (state record) 
    1985 -34ºF (-37ºC), Mt Mitchell, North Carolina (state record)
    1985- Don DeLillo wins the American Book Award for his breakthrough novel,White Noise .
    1985 - Actor Patrick Duffy announced he was leaving the CBS show, "Dallas", at the end of the television season. His request that the character of Bobby Ewing not be recast by another actor was thankfully heeded as Bobby showed up in the new season, after a miraculous rise from the dead. His first appearance after his resurrection was in the shower, when he had clearly been killed in a tremendous car crash the previous season. And Duffy continued in the role of Bobby Ewing through the final episode in 1991.
    1985 - Three days of snow squalls at Buffalo NY finally came to an end. The squalls, induced by relatively warm water in Lake Erie, produced 34 inches of snow at the International Airport, with up to 47 inches reported in the suburbs of Buffalo. The New York "blizzard of 85" left many counties disaster areas. (19th-21st) (Weather Channel) (Storm Data) President Reagan was sworn in for a second term in the coldest Inauguration Ceremony of record. Cold and wind resulted in wind chill readings as much as 30 degrees below zero.
    1986 - Former major-league baseball player, Randy Bass, signed a contract making him the highest-paid baseball player in Japanese history. Bass signed for three years at $3.25 million to play for the Hanshin Tigers.
    1986- more than 100 students from Purdue University ran naked through the streets of West Lafayette, IN, in the schools quite unofficial Nude Olympics. the runners were undeterred by a temperature just a few degrees above freezing.
    1987-The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts the Coasters, Eddie Cochran, Bo Diddley, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Bill Haley, B.B. King, Clyde McPhatter, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Smokey Robinson, Muddy Waters, Hank Williams and Jackie Wilson.
    1989---Top Hits 
Two Hearts - Phil Collins 
Don't Rush Me - Taylor Dayne 
Armageddon It - Def Leppard 
She's Crazy for Leavin' - Rodney Crowell
    1990- Tennis player John McEnroe's temper tantrum at the Australian Open got him disqualified form the tournament McEnroe, leading his match against Mikael Performs, became the first player ever tossed from this tournament.
    1990 - Unseasonably warm weather prevailed across the state of Florida. Eight cities reported record high temperatures for the date, including West Palm Beach with a reading of 86 degrees. Rain in southern New England changed to freezing rain, then to sleet, and then to heavy snow during the late morning. Most of Massachusetts was blanketed with 6 to 10 inches of snow.
    1994 -- Lorena Bobbitt found temporarily insane for chopping off spouse's penis.
http://recollectionbooks.com/bleed/images/humor/bok5.jpg
    1996-- US male Figure Skating championship won by Rudy Galindo
http://www.rudy-galindo.com/

Superbowl Champions This Date

    1979 Pittsburgh Steelers