January 15
1559
Queen Elizabeth I was crowned in Westminster Abbey.
1759
The British Museum opened.
1777
The Republic of New Connecticut declared its independence. Six months later it was renamed Vermont.
1870
The donkey was first used as the symbol of the Democratic Party in Harper’s Weekly.
1943
The world’s largest office building, the Pentagon, was completed.
1967
The first Super Bowl was played: Green Bay Packers 35, Kansas City Chiefs 10.
1973
President Nixon orders halt to offensive operations in North Vietnam.
1992
The European Community recognized Croatia and Slovenia as separate states, effectively ending the Yugoslav federation, founded in 1918.
2009
After allegedly striking a flock of geese, US Airways Flight 1549, en route from La Guardia Airport, New York City, to Charlotte, N.C., is forced to land in the Hudson River. All 150 passengers and 5 crew members survived. The pilot, Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III, was hailed as the “Hero of the Hudson” for his quick thinking and deft landing of the plane.
Birthdays
Martin Luther King, Jr.
1929–1968, American Civil Rights Leader.
Moliere
playwright (1622)
Abigail Kelley Foster
abolitionist (1810)
Edward Teller
atomic physicist (1908)
Lloyd Bridges
actor (1913)
Robert Byrd
political leader (1917)
Gamal Nasser
political leader (1918)