This Day in History – January 12, 2012

1493 – Last day for all Jews to leave Sicily 1773 – The first public Colonial American museum opens in Charleston, South Carolina. 1777 – Mission Santa Clara de Asís is founded in what is now Santa Clara, California. 1808 – The organizational meeting that led to the creation of the Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is held in Edinburgh. 1812 – First cargo arrives in New Orleans by steam, from Natchez 1816 – France decrees Bonaparte family excluded from the country forever 1863 – President Davis delivers his “State of the Confederacy” address 1866 – The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in London. 1875 – Kwang-su becomes emperor of China. 1895 – The National Trust is founded in the United Kingdom. 1896 – First X-ray photo in US (Dr Henry Smith, Davidson NC) 1906 – First time Dow Jones closes above 100 (100.26) 1906 – Football rules committee legalizes the forward pass 1906 – Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman’s cabinet (which included amongst its members H. H. Asquith, David Lloyd George, and Winston Churchill) embarks on sweeping social reforms after a Liberal landslide in the British general election. 1908 – A long-distance radio message is sent from the Eiffel Tower for the first time. 1911 – The University of the Philippines College of Law is formally established; three future Philippine presidents are among the first enrollees. 1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park is formed by an act of U.S. Congress. 1915 – The United States House of Representatives rejects a proposal to give women the right to vote. 1921 – Acting to restore confidence in baseball after the Black Sox Scandal, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis is elected as Major League Baseball’s first commissioner. 1926 – Original Sam ‘n’ Henry aired on Chicago radio later renamed Amos ‘n’ Andy in 1928. 1932 – Hattie W. Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate. 1942 – World War II: President Franklin Roosevelt creates the National War Labor Board. 1948 – First Supermarket in UK opens 1952 – University of Tennessee admits its first black student 1966 – “Batman” with Adam West & Burt Ward premieres on ABC TV 1966 – Lyndon B. Johnson states that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there is ended. 1967 – Dr. James Bedford becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation. 1969 – Super Bowl III: New York Jets beat Baltimore Colts, 16-7 in Miami; Super Bowl MVP Joe Namath (who guaranteed a victory), New York Jets, Quarterback 1970 – Boeing 747 makes its maiden voyage 1971 – “All in the Family” premieres on CBS featuring 1st toilet flush on TV 1971 – The Harrisburg Seven: The Reverend Philip Berrigan and five others are indicted on charges of conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger and of plotting to blow up the heating tunnels of federal buildings in Washington, D.C. 1975 – Chrysler Corp offers first car rebates 1975 – Super Bowl IX: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Minnesota Vikings, 16-6 in New Orleans; Super Bowl MVP Franco Harris, Pittsburgh, Running Back 1976 – The UN Security Council votes 11-1 to allow the Palestine Liberation Organization to participate in a Security Council debate but the PLO will not have voting rights. 1981 – “Dynasty”, a prime time soap opera inspired by Dallas, starring Joan Collins, premieres on ABC-TV 1986 – Space Shuttle program: Congressman Bill Nelson lifts off from Kennedy Space Center aboard Columbia on mission STS-61C as a Mission Specialist. 1989 – Idi Amin expelled from Zaire 1991 – Gulf War: An act of the U.S. Congress authorizes the use of military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait. 1994 – Malcolm X’s daughter arrested for plotting Louis Farrakhan’s murder 1995 – Major earthquake kills 5,092 in Kobe Japan 1995 – Murder trial against OJ Simpson, begins in Los Angeles 1998 – Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning. 2001 – Downtown Disney opens to the public as part of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. 2004 – The world’s largest ocean liner, RMS Queen Mary 2, makes its maiden voyage. 2005 – Deep Impact launches from Cape Canaveral on a Delta 2 rocket. 2006 – A stampede during the Stoning the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims. 2007 – Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) reaches perihelion becoming the brightest comet in more than 40 years. 2010 – The 2010 Haiti earthquake occurs killing an estimated 316,000 and destroying the majority of the capital Port-au-Prince.    ]]]]> ]]>