This Day in History – January 6, 2012

1497 – Jews are expelled from Graz (Syria) 1535 – City of Lima, Peru founded by Francisco Pizarro 1540 – King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves, his 4th wife. 1639 – Virginia is First colony to order surplus crops (tobacco) destroyed 1838 – Samuel Morse first successfully tests the electrical telegraph. 1839 – The most damaging storm in 300 years sweeps across Ireland, damaging or destroying more than 20% of the houses in Dublin.  Becomes known as “The Big Wind.” 1853 – President-elect of the United States Franklin Pierce and his family are involved in a train wreck near Andover, Massachusetts. 1861 – Florida troops seize Federal arsenal at Apalachicola 1893 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress. The charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison. 1907 – Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working class children in Rome. 1912 – German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presents his theory of continental drift. 1912 – New Mexico is admitted as the 47th U.S. state. 1929 – Mother Teresa arrives in Calcutta to begin her work among India’s poorest and sick people. 1930 – The first diesel-engined automobile trip is completed in a Packard sedan, from Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York City. 1931 – Thomas Edison submits his last patent application. 1941 – President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms Speech in the State of the Union Address. 1942 – Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to schedule a flight around the world. 1945 – Future President George Bush marries Barbara Pierce in Rye, NY 1950 – The United Kingdom recognizes the People’s Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with the UK in response. 1957 – Elvis Presley makes his 7th & final appearance on Ed Sullivan Show 1958 – Gibson patents the Flying V Guitar 1960 – National Airlines Flight 2511 is destroyed in mid-air by a bomb, while en route from New York City to Miami. 1963 – “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” with Marlin Perkins begins on NBC 1964 – Rolling Stones’ First tour as headline act (with Ronettes) 1967 – “Milton Berle Show” last airs on ABC-TV 1973 – “Schoolhouse Rock” premieres on ABC-TV with Multiplication Rock 1974 – In response to the 1973 energy crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly four months early in the United States. 1975 – “Wheel Of Fortune” debuts on NBC-TV 1976 – Ted Turner purchases Atlanta Braves for reported $12 million 1977 – EMI records drop punk rock group Sex Pistols 1978 – The Crown of St. Stephen (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) is returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II. 1978 – First postage stamp copyrighted by US (Carl Sandburg stamp) 1987 – 100th US Congress convenes 1987 – Astronomers at University of California see First sight of birth of a galaxy 1993 – Bill Wyman announces he will leave Rolling Stones 1994 – Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed on the knee at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit. 1995 – Atlanta Hawks’ Lenny Wilkens becomes NBA’s winningest coach (939) 2005 – A train collision in Graniteville, South Carolina, releases about 60 tons of chlorine gas. 2005 – American Civil Rights Movement: Edgar Ray Killen is arrested as a suspect in the 1964 murders of three civil rights workers near Philadelphia, Mississippi. 2009 – Gaza War: Israeli Defense Forces retaliated against mortar attacks in the Gaza Strip by firing on or near a school. 2011 – Vicksburg Daily News goes online with beta site, first two stories posted are about the opening day of the Mississippi Legislature’s 2011 session and the murder of Timothy Harmon]]]]> ]]>