In 1778, English navigator Captain James Cook reached the present-day Hawaiian Islands, which he named the “Sandwich Islands.”
In 1911, the first landing of an aircraft on a ship took place as pilot Eugene B. Ely brought his Curtiss biplane in for a safe landing on the deck of the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Harbor.
In 1919, in Paris, France, some of the most powerful people in the world meet to begin the long, complicated negotiations that would officially mark the end of the First World War. Leaders of the victorious Allied powers would make most of the crucial decisions. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson struggled to support his idea of a “peace without victory” and make sure that Germany was not treated too harshly. On the other hand, France and the UK argued to punish Germany adequately. Wilson compromised in order to push through his pet project, an international peacekeeping organization called the League of Nations.
In 1943, during World War II, Jewish insurgents in the Warsaw (Poland) Ghetto launched their initial armed resistance against Nazi troops, who eventually succeeded in crushing the rebellion.
In 1961, officials at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. - under pressure from the state - closed its doors after students protested those kicked out of school for taking part in sit-ins. State police occupied the campus to try and end these protests, and when SNCC field secretary Dion Diamond tried to meet with students, police jailed him on charges of criminal anarchy for “attempting to overthrow the state of Louisiana.” 1962: Southern Unniversity of Baton Rouge closes after protest - Mississippi Today
In 1975, the situation comedy “The Jeffersons,” a spin-off from “All in the Family,” premiered on CBS-TV.
In 1991, financially strapped Eastern Airlines shut down after more than six decades in business.
In 1993, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was observed in all 50 states for the first time.
In 2005, the world’s largest commercial jet, the Airbus A380 “superjumbo” capable of flying up to 800 passengers, was unveiled in Toulouse, France.
In 2012, President Barack Obama rejected the Keystone XL project, a Canadian company’s plan to build a 1,700-mile pipeline to carry oil across six U.S. states to Texas refineries.
In 2013, former Democratic New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was indicted on charges that he’d used his office for personal gain, accepting payoffs, free trips and gratuities from contractors while the city was struggling to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. (Nagin was later convicted and released from prison in 2020.)
In 2020, ahead of opening statements in the first Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, House prosecutors wrote that Trump had “used his official powers to pressure a foreign government to interfere in a United States election for his personal political gain,” while Trump’s legal team denounced what it called a “brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election.” (History.com 01/18/24)
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