On This Day in History - January 26th - Almanac

Today is Sunday, Jan. 26, the 26th day of 2020 with 340 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and Uranus. Evening stars are Mercury, Neptune, Uranus and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include French philosopher Claude Helvetius in 1715; first lady Julia Grant in 1826; U.S. Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur in 1880; Bessie Coleman, first female African-American/ Native-American pilot in 1892; Austrian singer Maria von Trapp in 1905; Louis Zamperini, American World War II prisoner of war and subject of the film Unbroken, in 1917; Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1918; author Philip Jose Farmer in 1918; actor Paul Newman in 1925; cartoonist/playwright/author Jules Feiffer in 1929 (age 91); sports personality Bob Uecker in 1934 (age 86); actor Scott Glenn in 1939 (age 81); political activist Angela Davis in 1944 (age 76); film critic Gene Siskel in 1946; actor David Strathairn in 1949 (age 71); former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in 1953 (age 67); singer Lucinda Williams in 1953 (age 67); musician Eddie Van Halen in 1955 (age 65); singer Anita Baker in 1958 (age 62); comedian Ellen DeGeneres in 1958 (age 62); hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky in 1961 (age 59); soccer coach Brendan Rodgers in 1973 (age 47); actor Colin O'Donoghue in 1981 (age 39); conductor Gustavo Dudamel in 1981 (age 39); wrestler Sasha Banks in 1992 (age 28).

On this date in history:

In 1788, the first shipload of British convicts arrived in Australia. The establishment of an Australian prison colony was aimed at relieving overcrowding in British prisons.

In 1837, Michigan joined the United States as the 26th state.

In 1861, Louisiana seceded from the United States.

In 1875, the electric dental drill was patented by George Green of Kalamazoo, Mich.

In 1918, to promote food conservation during World War I, the U.S. government called for one meatless day, two wheatless days and two porkless days each week.

In 1950, India ceased to be a British dominion and became the Republic of India, the most populous democracy in the world.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy named Dr. Janet Travell of New York City as his personal White House physician -- the first woman ever to be given such an assignment.

In 1988, The Phantom of the Opera opened on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre in New York.

In 1990, hurricane-force winds pounded the British Isles and much of Northern Europe, killing at least 92 people and knocking out power to nearly 1 million people.

In 1998, in response to allegations that he had an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, U.S. President Bill Clinton declared, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

In 2001, a magnitude-7.9 earthquake struck western India, killing more than 20,000 people, injuring tens of thousands and causing billions of dollars in damage.

In 2009, a 33-year-old single California mother, Nadya Suleman, who already had six children, gave birth to eight babies, only the second set of octuplets ever to be born alive in the United States. She became known as "Octomom."

In 2016, one of the occupiers in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge standoff in Oregon, LaVoy Finicum, was fatally shot by state troopers during a confrontation at a roadblock. Officers said he was reaching for a gun when they fired on him.

In 2019, Naomi Osaka beat Petra Kvitova to win the Australian Open, becoming Asia's first No. 1 ranked player in tennis.

A thought for the day: "Things are not quite so simple always as black and white." -- British-Zimbabwean writer Doris Lessing