January 29
1802
John Beckley became the first Librarian of Congress. He was paid $2 a day.
1845
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven was published.
1850
Henry Clay introduced the Compromise of 1850 to the Senate.
1861
Kansas became the 34th state in the United States.
1886
Karl Benz received a patent for the first successful gasoline-driven car.
1936
Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson were the first players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
1963
Poet Robert Frost died in Boston.
2002
In his State of the Union address, President Bush labels Iraq, Iran, and North Korea an “axis of evil.”
Birthdays
William McKinley
1843–1901, American President.
Emanuel Swedenborg
scientist, religious teacher (1688)
Jeffrey Amherst
army officer (1717)
Thomas Paine
political theorist and writer (1737)
Anton Chekhov
writer (1860)
Frederick Delius
composer (1862)
John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
philanthropist (1874)
W. C. Fields
actor (1880)
Edward Abbey
writer (1927)
Tom Selleck
actor (1945)
Oprah Winfrey
T.V. personality (1954)
Greg Louganis
diver (1960)