January 18
1919
Leaders of the Allied powers—France, Great Britain, the United States and Italy meet in Paris to begin the negotiations that would officially mark the end of the First World War. For most of the conference, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson struggled to support his idea of a “peace without victory” and make sure that Germany, the leader of the Central Powers and the major loser of the war, was not treated too harshly. Other leaders wanted members of the Central power severely punished to justify the immense costs of the war. In the end, Wilson compromised on the treatment of Germany in order to push through the creation of his pet project, an international peacekeeping organization called the League of Nations.
1958
Hockey player Willie O’Ree of the Boston Bruins takes to the ice for a game against the Montreal Canadiens, becoming the first black hockey player to play in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Bruins sold O’Ree’s contract to the Los Angeles Blades of the Western Hockey League (WHL) the next season, and O’Ree spent most of the rest of his career out west, playing 11 years with the Blades and the San Diego Gulls and twice winning the WHL’s scoring title. After one season with the New Haven Nighthawks of the AHL, he went back to California. He took a two-year break from playing in the late 1970s, then returned for a final season with the Pacific Hockey League’s San Diego Hawks in 1978-79. He retired at the end of that season, at the age of 43, after a professional hockey career of 19 seasons and 10 teams.
1975
Barry Manilow scored his first #1 single with “Mandy." At the height of Barry Manilow’s popularity, none other than Frank Sinatra himself said of Manilow, “He’s next.” Yet even in his heyday, the more youthful arbiters of “cool” were not kind to him. They called Manilow’s music bombastic and schmaltzy, even as Americans devoured his every release. But critics may have missed the point. Barry Manilow never fancied himself hip or cool—far from it. “I have purposely tried not to stay in sync with the times,” he has said. “I just do what feels good.” After getting his start as Bette Midler's piano player and then musical director, he would go on to sell 75 million records. He amassed mre than 21 top-40 hits between 1975 and 1983, which earned him Billboard's top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time.
January 19
1840
During an exploring expedition, Captain Charles Wilkes sighted the coast of eastern Antarctica and claimed it for the United States. Wilkes’ group had set out in 1838, sailing around South America to the South Pacific and then to Antarctica, where they explored a 1,500-mile stretch of the eastern Antarctic coast that later became known as Wilkes Land. During the 1930s, the United States, which led the world in the establishment of scientific bases, enacted an official policy of making no territorial claims of Antarctica while recognizing no other nation’s claims. In 1959, the Antarctic Treaty made Antarctica an international zone, set guidelines for scientific cooperation, and prohibited military operations, nuclear explosions, and the disposal of radioactive waste on the continent.
1972
36-year-old Sandy Koufax, the former Los Angeles Dodgers star, became the youngest player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. "This is the only thing that's made having to retire early a little easier," says Koufax, who retired at age 30. He was the most dominant pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1961-1965, winning three Cy Young Awards and the 1963 Most Valuable Player Award. He also led the league in ERA for five straight seasons, helping the Dodgers to three NL pennants as well as World Series titles in 1963 and 1965. Koufax was diagnosed with traumatic arthritis in his throwing arm in 1964, but played through constant pain. He entered the Hall alongside catcher Yogi Berra, who had famously said of Koufax’s 1963 season: “I can see how he won 25 games. What I don’t understand is how he lost five.”
1992
The "Nature Boy" Ric Flair became WWF champ at the Royal Rumble. It was the first of only two times in which the promotion's world championship was the prize of the Royal Rumble match. Ric Flair would go onto headline Wrestlemania that year and be voted Wrestler of the Year by both Pro Wrestling Illustrated and Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
January 20
1945
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the only president to be elected to three terms in office, was inaugurated to his fourth—and final—term. With WW2 not yet won in 1944, Roosevelt was reelected to a fourth term. Three months after his inauguration, he died. Roosevelt’s unparalleled 13 years as president led to the 1947 passing of the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, limiting future presidents to a maximum of two elected terms in office, or one elected term if the president already served more than two years of another president’s elected term.
1971
Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On?" was released. The song marked a turning point in Gaye's career and in the trajectory of Motown. Gaye, whose brother had recently returned from the war and whose cousin had died in it, referenced the violent rifts in American society and explicitly questions the war. The single reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and would go on to be named the fourth-greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone.
1973
Jerry Lee Lewis rocked the Grand Ole Opry. Years after he was known as “The Killer,” a rock pioneer who released such rock standards as “Great Balls of Fire” and “Breathless,” Jerry Lee Lewis made a name for himself in a very different musical genre: country. Jerry Lee put the full complexity of his musical background and colorful personality on display. “I am a rock-and-rollin’, country-and-western, rhythm-and-blues singing [expletive deleted]!” Lewis declared from country music’s greatest stage before launching into a rousing set that included all of the late '50s rock-and-roll classics he’d promised Opry officials not to play.
January 21
1950
In the conclusion to one of the most spectacular trials in U.S. history, former State Department official Alger Hiss was convicted of perjury. He was convicted of having perjured himself in regards to testimony about his alleged involvement in a Soviet spy ring before and during World War II. Hiss served nearly four years in jail. The battle over the Hiss case continued long after the guilty verdict was handed down. Though many believed that Hiss was a much-maligned official who became a victim of the anticommunist hysteria of the late-1940s, others felt strongly that he was a lying communist agent. Until his death at the age of 92 on November 15, 1996, Hiss never deviated from his claim of innocence.
1977
U.S. President Jimmy Carter granted an unconditional pardon to hundreds of thousands of men who evaded the draft during the Vietnam War as a way of putting the war and the bitter divisions it caused firmly in the past. In total, some 100,000 young Americans went abroad in the late 1960s and early '70s to avoid serving in the war. Ninety percent went to Canada, where after some initial controversy they were eventually welcomed as immigrants. Still others hid inside the United States. In addition to those who avoided the draft, a relatively small number—about 1,000—of deserters from the U.S. armed forces also headed to Canada.
1990
At the Australian Open in Melbourne, American tennis player John McEnroe became the first player since 1963 to be disqualified from a Grand Slam tournament for misconduct. During a changeover, he stopped in front of a lineswoman he thought had made a bad call, glaring at her while bouncing a ball on his racket. The chair umpire, Gerry Armstrong, gave McEnroe a conduct code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct. McEnroe gained two more code violations for racket abuse and swearing that lead to the chair umpire declaring, “Default Mr. McEnroe. Game, set, match.”
January 22
1968
"Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin released her twelfth studio album, Lady Soul. The masterpiece includes some of her biggest hit singles: "Chain of Fools", (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone." The album reached number 2 on the Billboard 200 upon its release and, in 2020, it ranked at number 75 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list. Album personnel included Cissy Houston (mother of Whitney Houston) and Eric Clapton.
1973
Former President Lyndon Baines Johnson died in Johnson City, Texas, at the age of 64. After leaving the White House in 1968, L.B.J. returned to his beloved home state, Texas, with his wife, Lady Bird Johnson, and immersed himself in the activity dearest to him: ranching. Although retired, L.B.J. kept up a busy daily schedule reminiscent of his days in the White House. Beneath the bustle, Johnson remained, in his own words, miserable. For a man who had wanted to carve out a legacy as the creator of a Great Society in America, his disappointment that his part in escalating the Vietnam War overshadowed his other accomplishments was immense. Johnson’s impressive record included successful social and economic reforms such as the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act, improvements in housing and urban development and strong support for America’s space program.
1998
In a Sacramento, California, courtroom, Theodore J. Kaczynski plead guilty to all federal charges against him, acknowledging his responsibility for a 17-year campaign of package bombings attributed to the “Unabomber.” In 1995, the Washington Post (in collaboration with the New York Times) published a 35,000-word anti-technology manifesto written by a person claiming to be the Unabomber. Recognizing elements of his brother’s writings, David Kaczynski went to authorities with his suspicions, and Ted Kaczynski was arrested in April 1996. In his cabin, federal investigators found ample evidence linking him to the bombings, including bomb parts, journal entries and drafts of the manifesto.
January 23
1849
At a graduation ceremony at a church in Geneva, New York, Geneva Medical College bestowed a medical degree upon Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman in the United States to receive one. Blackwell faced discrimination and obstacles in college, but she eventually earned the respect of professors and classmates, graduating first in her class. She continued her training at London and Paris hospitals, though doctors there relegated her to midwifery or nursing. In 1868, Blackwell opened a medical college in New York City. A year later, she placed her sister in charge and returned permanently to London, where in 1875, she became a professor of gynecology at the new London School of Medicine for Women. She also helped found the National Health Society and published several books, including an autobiography, Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women (1895).
1941
Charles A. Lindbergh, a national hero since his nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic, testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the Lend-Lease policy-and suggests that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Hitler. After the kidnapping of his son, Lindbergh moved to Europe and found himself enamored of the Germany national “revitalization” he encountered, and allowed himself to be decorated by Hitler’s government, which drew tremendous criticism back home. He eventually contributed to the war effort, though, flying 50 combat missions over the Pacific. His participation in the war, along with a popular Pulitzer Prize-winning book and a movie based on his exploits all worked to redeem him in the public’s eyes.
1957
Machines at the Wham-O toy company rolled out the first batch of their aerodynamic plastic discs—now known to millions of fans all over the world as Frisbees. The story of the Frisbee began in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where William Frisbie opened the Frisbie Pie Company in 1871. Students from nearby universities would throw the empty pie tins to each other, yelling “Frisbie!” as they let go. In 1948, Walter Frederick Morrison and his partner Warren Franscioni invented a plastic version of the disc called the “Flying Saucer” that could fly further and more accurately than the tin pie plates. In 1967, Ed Headrick, a designer for Wham-O, patented the design for the modern Frisbee, adding a band of raised ridges on the disc’s surface–called the Rings–to stabilize flight. By aggressively marketing Frisbee-playing as a new sport, Wham-O sold over 100 million units of its famous toy by 1977.
January 24
1781
Patriot commanders Lieutenant Colonel Light Horse Henry Lee and Brigadier General Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion of the South Carolina militia combined forces and conduct a raid on Georgetown, South Carolina, which was defended by 200 British soldiers. Marion won fame and the Swamp Fox moniker for his ability to strike and then quickly retreat into the South Carolina swamps without a trace. His military strategy is considered an 18th-century example of guerilla warfare and served as partial inspiration for the film The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson. The Patriots under Marion and Lee managed to arrive at Georgetown undetected and captured at least three officers, including the British commander. .
1847
Gold was found on Sutter's Creek in California, igniting the world's largest gold rush and changing the course of history in the American West. The 1850 census showed California with a population of 93,000 whielthe Oregon and Utah territories had about 12,000 each. The gold rush “jump-started” California’s incredible growth over the next century, eventually making it the largest state in the nation. The rush also made it the most ethnically diverse state, a position it still maintains. The $2 billion worth of gold produced over the century following its discovery represents less than half the value of a single year of California’s agricultural output in the mid 20th century. The soil itself turned out to be a greater treasure than all the gold extracted from it.
1935
Canned beer makes its debut when, in partnership with the American Can Company, the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company delivered 2,000 cans of Krueger’s Finest Beer and Krueger’s Cream Ale to faithful Krueger drinkers in Richmond, Virginia. 91% of the drinkers approved of the canned beer, driving Krueger to give the green light to further production. The response was overwhelming. Within three months, over 80% of distributors were handling Krueger’s canned beer, and Krueger’s was eating into the market share of the “big three” national brewers–Anheuser-Busch, Pabst and Schlitz. Competitors soon followed suit, and by the end of 1935, over 200 million cans had been produced and sold. Today, canned beer accounts for approximately half of the $20 billion U.S. beer industry.