January 26
1788
The first European settlers landed in Sydney, Australia.
1802
Congress passed an act calling for the establishment of a library within the US Capitol.
1837
Michigan became the 26th state in the United States.
1950
India, three years after gaining its independence from the United Kingdom, formally became a republic.
1979
Former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller died in New York at age 70.
1988
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera opened on Broadway. It would go on to become the longest-running Broadway show.
1993
Vaclav Havel was elected president of the new Czech Republic.
2001
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake rocked the Indian state of Gujarat, killing more than 20,000 people.
2004
President Hamid Karzai signed the new constitution of Afghanistan.
Birthdays
Douglas MacArthur
1880–1964, American General.
Charles XIV
king of Sweden and Norway (1763)
Bessie Coleman
aviator (1893)
Paul Newman
actor (1925)
Jules Feiffer
cartoonist and writer (1927)
Angela Davis
activist (1944)
David Strathairn
actor (1949)
Ellen DeGeneres
comedienne, actress (1958)
Wayne Gretzky
hockey player (1961)