DAY 31 - This day in legal and military history

January 31
 
NATIONAL Inspire your Heart with Art Day
 
NATIONAL Backwards Day
 
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1865 General Robert E. Lee was named general-in-chief of the Confederate armies
 
1990 The Soviet Union’s first McDonald’s fast food restaurant opens in Moscow.

2004 The Mars rover Opportunity rolled off its landing pad onto the surface of Mars

DAY 30 - This day in legal and military history

January 30
 
NATIONAL Croissant Day
 
NATIONAL Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day [last Monday in January]

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history 

1781 Articles of Confederation go into effect, establishing a perpetual union of "The United States of America"
 
1939 Hitler calls for extermination of Jews
 
1968 North Vietnamese forces launched attacks against the South Vietnamese - The Tet Offensive
 
1976 George HW Bush becomes director of the CIA
 
2008 United States District Court Judge Stanwood Duval dismisses a class action suit against the US Army Corps of Engineers over flooding from a levee breach in New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina
 
2014 US Attorney General Eric Holder announces that federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

DAY 29 - This day in legal and military history

January 29

NATIONAL Puzzle Day

NATIONAL Corn Chip Day 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1802 John Beckley became the first Librarian of Congress. He was paid $2 a day.
 
1813 Jane Austin publishes Pride and Prejudice.
 
1845 Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven was published.
 
1861 Kansas admitted to the US as the 34th state.
 
1904 New York subway opens

DAY 28 - This day in legal and military history

January 28
 
NATIONAL Have Fun at Work Day [does anyone else find it odd that this day is a Saturday?]
 
NATIONAL Data Privacy Day
 
NATIONAL Blueberry Pancake Day
 
NATIONAL Kazoo Day [bless you]
 
NATIONAL Seed Swap Day [last Saturday in January]
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1909 US troops leave Cuba, ending direct control of that country, with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.
 
1915 Congress passed legislation creating the US Coast Guard.
 
1916 The first Jewish Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Louis Brandeis, was appointed.
 
1986 The space shuttle Challenger explodes 72 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven crew members including civilian teacher Christa McAuliffe [I worked in aerospace at this time.  My entire company watched the launch, then sat in stunned silence and stared at the explosion.]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reagan_Space_Shuttle_Challenger_Speech.ogv

The Challenger astronauts 

DAY 27 - This day in legal and military history

January 27
 
NATIONAL Chocolate Cake Day 

NATIONAL e-Day
 
NATIONAL Big Wig Day
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1825 Congress approves Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for forced relocation of the Eastern Indians on the “Trail of Tears.”
 
1880 Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.
 
1945 Russian troops liberate the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.   At Stalag IXA, near Ziegenhain, when the Germans try to identify the Jewish men among the American prisoners, Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds says, "We are all Jews."
 
1959 NASA selects 110 candidates for the first US space flight.
 
1967 The United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union sign the Outer Space Treaty in Washington, DC, banning deployment of nuclear weapons in space, and limiting use of the moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes.

DAY 26 - This day in legal and military history

January 26
 
NATIONAL Spouses Day
 
NATIONAL Green Juice Day
 
NATIONAL Peanut Brittle Day
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1784 In a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin expressed unhappiness over the eagle as the symbol of America. He wanted the turkey.

1788 A fleet of ships carrying convicts from England lands at Sydney Cove in Australia. The day is since known as Australia’s national day.
 
1802 Congress passed an act calling for establishment of a library within the US Capitol.
 
1837 Michigan admitted to the US as the 26th state.
 
1861 Louisiana is the sixth state to secede from the Union.
 
1870 Virginia rejoins the Union.
 
1871 US income tax repealed.
 
2005 Condoleezza Rice is appointed as secretary of state. The post makes her the highest ranking African-American woman ever to serve in a US presidential cabinet.

DAY 25 - This day in legal and military history

January 25
 
NATIONAL Opposite Day
 
NATIONAL Irish Coffee Day
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1787 Shay’s Rebellion - Small farmers in Springfield, Massachusetts, led by Daniel Shays, revolt against tax laws.
 
1924 The first Winter Olympic games opened at Chamonix, France.

1961 President John F. Kennedy held the first presidential news conference carried live on radio and television.
 
1972 Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman elected to US Congress, announces candidacy for president.
 
2004 NASA’s Opportunity rover sent its first pictures of Mars to Earth, just hours after it bounced to a landing on the opposite side of Mars from its twin rover, Spirit.

DAY 24 - This day in legal and military history

January 24
 
NATIONAL Beer Can Appreciation Day

NATIONAL Compliment Day
 
NATIONAL Macintosh Computer Day
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1848 James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento, beginning the California Gold Rush
 
1908 Boy Scouts movement begins in England with the publication of the first installment of Robert Baden-Powell’s Scouting for Boys.  Robert Baden-Powell organized the first Boy Scout troop in England.
 
1933 The 20th Amendment to the US Constitution is ratified, changing the beginning and end of terms for all elected federal offices.
 
1958 After warming to 100,000,000 degrees, two light atoms were bashed together to create a heavier atom, resulting in the first man-made nuclear fusion.
 
1961 A B-52 breaks up over the North Carolina coast, losing two H-bombs, one of which is still missing.
 
1972 Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi was discovered hiding in the jungles of Guam, having spent 28 years thinking World War II was still going on.
 
1986 The Voyager 2 space probe swept within 50,679 miles of Uranus.

DAY 23 - This day in legal and military history

January 23

NATIONAL Handwriting Day [John Hancock's birthday]

NATIONAL Pie Day
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1556 The deadliest earthquake on record killed 830,000 in Shansi, China.
 
1845 US Congress decided all national elections would be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
 
1849 Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman physician in the US.
 
1964 The 24th amendment to the Constitution, eliminating the poll tax in federal elections, was ratified.
 
1973 President Nixon announced that an accord had been reached to end the Vietnam War.
 
1977 Alex Haley’s Roots begins a record-breaking eight-night broadcast on ABC.
 
2004 US District Judge in LA, Aubrey Collins, ruled that a part of the Patriot Act that makes it a crime to give expert advice to foreign terrorist organizations, was unconstitutional.
 
2013 The US Armed Forces overturns its ban on women serving in combat, reversing a 1994 rule and potentially clearing the way for women to serve in front-line units and elite commando forces. 

DAY 22 - This day in legal and military history

January 22
 
NATIONAL Hot Sauce Day
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

2004 NASA lost contact with the Mars Spirit rover
 

1997 The US Senate confirmed Madeleine Albright as the first female secretary of state

DAY 21 - This day in legal and military history

January 21
 
NATIONAL Squirrel Appreciation Day
 
NATIONAL Granola Bar Day
 
NATIONAL Hugging Day
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1790 Joseph Guillotine proposes a new, “more humane” method of execution: a machine designed to cut off the condemned person’s head as painlessly as possible

1903 The "Dick Act" creates the modern National Guard
 
1903 The US and Columbia sign the Hay-Herran Treaty, giving the US a 99 year lease and sovereignty over the Panama Canal Zone
 
1950 Former State Department official Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury
 
1974 The US Supreme Court decides that pregnant teachers can no longer be forced to take long leaves of absence
 
1977 President Carter urges 65 degrees as the maximum heat in homes to ease the energy crisis
 
1977 President Carter pardoned almost all Vietnam War draft evaders as long as they had not been involved in violent acts
 
2010 In a 5-4 decision that reversed previous decisions, the US Supreme Court rules in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that the government cannot restrict the spending of corporations for political campaigns

DAY 20 - This day in legal and military history

January 20
 
NATIONAL Penguin Awareness Day 

NATIONAL Buttercrunch Day
 
NATIONAL Cheese Lover's Day
 
NATIONAL Disc Jockey Day
 
NATIONAL US Presidential Inauguration Day [Donald Trump officially becomes President of the US today]
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1841 China cedes Hong Kong to the British [who return it in 1997]
 
1946 President Truman creates the Central Intelligence Group, the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
 
1964 The Beatles released their first album in the United States, "Meet the Beatles"
 
1981 President Reagan became the oldest president to take office (69 years and 349 days)
 
1981 After 444 days, 52 Americans held hostage by Iran are finally released
 
2009 Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th and first African-American President of the United States

DAY 19 - This day in legal and military history

January 19

NATIONAL Popcorn Day 

NATIONAL Tin Can Day
 
NATIONAL Get to Know Your Customers Day [third Thursday of each quarter]
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1861 Georgia is the fifth state to secede from the Union
 
1920 The Senate rejects American membership in the League of Nations
 
1953 Lucy Ricardo gave birth to baby Ricky on "I Love Lucy". More people watch this show than the inauguration of President Eisenhower.
 
1980 President Jimmy Carter announces the US boycott of the Summer Olympics in Moscow [Back in the 80s, I once wrote a “letter to the editor” of Newsweek Magazine on this topic, and it was printed!]
 
1986 The first IBM PC computer virus is released
 
2001 President Clinton admitted he made false statements under oath about Monica Lewinsky

DAY 18 - This day in legal and military history

January 18
 
NATIONAL Winnie the Pooh Day
 

NATIONAL Thesaurus Day
 
NATIONAL Peking Duck Day 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 
1775 The Continental Congress presents its petitions to the British Parliament
 
1915 The US Revenue Marine is renamed the US Coast Guard
 
1943 A wartime ban is introduced on the sale of pre-sliced bread in the United States, to save metal parts in slicing machines
 
1957 Three US Air Force jets complete a nonstop around-the-world flight, averaging over 500 miles per hour
 
1962 The United States begins spraying foliage with herbicides in South Vietnam, in order to reveal the whereabouts of Vietcong guerrillas
 
2014 NASA scientists beam a picture of the Mona Lisa to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a spacecraft orbiting the Moon, marking a first in laser communication

DAY 17 - This day in legal and military history

January 17
 
NATIONAL Ditch New Year's Resolutions Day
 

NATIONAL Kid Inventors Day
 
NATIONAL Bootlegger's Day
 
NATIONAL Hot Buttered Rum Day 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 
1893 Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii is overthrown by a group of American sugar planters led by Sanford Dole
 
1977 Gary Gilmore became the first person executed in the U.S. since the death penalty was reintroduced
 
1985 A jury in New Jersey rules that terminally ill patients have the right to starve themselves
 
1998 President Clinton became the first sitting US president to testify as a defendant in a criminal or civil suit
 
2007 President George W. Bush announces that the NSA is now required to obtain warrants for wiretapping and domestic surveillance

DAY 16 - This day in legal and military history

January 16

Martin Luther King Jr Day [third Monday in January]
 
NATIONAL Nothing Day
 
NATIONAL Fig Newton Day
 
NATIONAL Religious Freedom Day
 
NATIONAL Without a Scalpel Day
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1909 One of Ernest Shackleton‘s polar exploration teams reaches the Magnetic South Pole
 

1920 National Prohibition under the 18th Amendment goes into effect [repealed in 1933]
 
1945 Adolf Hitler takes to his underground bunker for 105 days until he commits suicide
 
1991 The Persian Gulf War begins with Operation Desert Storm

DAY 15 - This day in legal and military history

January 15
 
NATIONAL Hat Day
 
NATIONAL Strawberry Ice Cream Day


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1870 The Donkey was first used as a symbol for the Democratic party
 

1920 Prohibition began in the US
 
1943 The Pentagon was completed
 
1974 First women enlisted in the US Coast Guard
 
2001 Wikipedia goes online
 
2009 Pilot Chesley B Sullenberger successfully landed the disabled Flight 1549 in the Hudson River

DAY 14 - This day in legal and military history

January 14
 
NATIONAL Dress Up Your Pet Day
 

NATIONAL Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day
 
NATIONAL Organize Your Home Day
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 
1784 The US ratified a treaty with England to end the Revolutionary War
 
1867 Alfred Nobel makes the first public demonstration of dynamite
 
1943 Franklin D Roosevelt becomes the first US president to fly by airplane while in office
 
1960 Elvis Presley promoted to Sergeant in the US Army
 
1973 The Miami Dolphins have a perfect, undefeated season
 
1990 The Simpsons premiered on television
 
2005 Huygens probe lands on Saturn's moon Titan
 
2008 Messenger, a NASA spacecraft, flies by Mercury

DAY 13 - This day in legal and military history

January 13
 
NATIONAL Rubber Ducky Day
 

NATIONAL Sticker Day
 
NATIONAL Blame Someone Else Day [first Friday the 13th of the year]
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 
1919 California votes to ratify prohibition amendment
 
1927 First woman sits on the NY Stock Exchange
 
1990 Douglas Wilder of Virginia became the first black elected governor

DAY 12 - This day in legal and military history

January 12 

NATIONAL Pharmacist Day

NATIONAL Curried Chicken Day 

[Did that say curried chicken?  I thought it said CARRIED chicken.  Sorry.  My bad.]


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 
1863 Jefferson Davis delivers “State of the Confederacy” address
 
1915 The US House of Representatives rejected a proposal to allow women to vote
 
1932 Hattie W. Caraway [D-Arkansas] became the first woman elected to the US Senate
 
1991 A divided Congress allowed President Bush to enter the Persian Gulf War
 
2010 A magnitude 7.0 earthquake devastates Haiti

DAY 11 - This day in legal and military history

January 11 

NATIONAL Milk Day
 
NATIONAL Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friends Day
 

NATIONAL Learn Your Name in Morse Code Day
-.. . -. .- / .--. .- .-- .-.. .. -. --.
http://morsecode.scphillips.com/translator.html



Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1785 The Continental Congress convenes in NY   
 
1861 Alabama secedes from the US
 
1940 Benjamin O Davis Sr becomes the first black US Army general
 
1964 US Surgeon General issued the first report that cigarette smoking was dangerous
 
1973 Baseball's American League adopted the “designated hitter” to hit for the pitcher

DAY 10 - This day in legal and military history

January 10
 
NATIONAL Bittersweet Chocolate Day
 

NATIONAL Cut Your Energy Costs Day
 
NATIONAL Peculiar People Day [I qualify as this.]
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1776 Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense
 
1861 Florida secedes from the US

DAY 9 - This day in legal and military history

January 9
 
NATIONAL Static Electricity Day
 
NATIONAL Word Nerd Day [I qualify as this.]
 
NATIONAL Clean Off Your Desk Day [second Monday in January]
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 
1788 Connecticut admitted to the US as the 5th state
 
1861 Mississippi is the second state to secede from the US, first shot of the US Civil War
 
1968 Surveyor 7, the last US unmanned probe, lands on the moon
 
2007 Steve Jobs announces first iPhone

DAY 8 - This day in legal and military history

January 8

NATIONAL Bubble Bath Day

 

NATIONAL Earth's Rotation Day [It doesn't rotate the other days?]

 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 

1790 George Washington delivers the first State of the Union address

 

1835 The US National Debt was zero for the first and only time

DAY 7 - This day in legal and military history

January 7
 
NATIONAL Bobblehead Day
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 
1914 First ship crossed the Panama Canal
 
1927 Transatlantic commercial telephone service began between NYC and London
 
1990 Safety concerns force the closure of the Leaning Tower of Pisa

1999 Senate trial to impeach President Bill Clinton begins

DAY 6 - This day in legal and military history

January 6
 
NATIONAL Cuddle Up Day [of course I had to include a cute kitty photo at least once!]
 

NATIONAL Shortbread Day
 
NATIONAL Technology Day
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 
1838 Samuel Morse gave the first public demonstration of the telegraph
 
1912 New Mexico admitted to the US as the 47th state

DAY 5 - This day in legal and military history

January 5

NATIONAL Screenwriter's Day

NATIONAL Whipped Cream Day


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1914 Henry Ford astounds the world by announcing he will pay a minimum wage of $5 per day 

1925 Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first woman governor of a state – Wyoming
 
1940 FM radio first demonstrated to FCC
 
1972 President Richard Nixon orders the development of a space shuttle program
 
2000 INS Commissioner Doris Meissner ruled that 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez must be returned to Cuba

DAY 4 - This day in legal and military history

January 4
 
NATIONAL Spaghetti Day
 
NATIONAL Trivia Day
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 
1896 Utah admitted to the US as the 45th state
 
1980 President Carter announces US boycott of Moscow Olympics
 
1999 The euro goes into effect as currency in Europe
 
2004 NASA spacecraft Spirit landed on Mars
 

Spirit/Opportunity    Sojourner            Curiosity

2007 Nancy Pelosi [D-California] becomes the first female Speaker of the House

DAY 3 - This day in legal and military history

January 3
 
NATIONAL Chocolate Covered Cherry Day
 
NATIONAL Drinking Straw Day
 
NATIONAL Fruitcake Toss Day [who keeps them this long?]
 
NATIONAL Festival of Sleep Day [now here's a holiday I can get into!]

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1521 Martin Luther excommunicated from Catholic Church
 
1920 NY Yankees acquired Babe Ruth
 
1947 Proceedings of US Congress are televised for the first time
 
1958 Sir Edmund Hillary reached the South Pole
 
1959 Alaska admitted to the US as the 49th state
 
1962 Fidel Castro excommunicated from Catholic Church
 
1977 Apple Computers incorporates
 
1996 First mobile flip phone goes on sale
 
1999 Mars Polar Lander launched
 
2000 The last original weekday Peanuts comic strip is published after a 50-year run

DAY 2 - This day in legal and military history

January 2
 
NATIONAL Science Fiction Day
 
NATIONAL Thank God It's Monday Day [first Monday of the year]
 
NATIONAL Run it Up the Flagpole and See if Anyone Salutes Day 


 
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 
1788 Georgia admitted to the US as the 4th state
 
1839 Photographer Louis Daguerre takes the first photograph of the moon.  [I wonder if he found any cheese.]
 
1870 Construction begins on the Brooklyn Bridge
 

2017 Rose Parade on January 2 because of a long-ago agreement to never hold it on Sunday, to avoid spooking horses tethered outside churches.  We take down our Christmas tree and decorations while watching the parade, which is broadcast live and then re-runs ALL day in SoCal.

DAY 1 - This day in legal and military history

New for 2017!  This year my goal is to post something every day – This day in legal and military history.  Obscure national days.  Occasional personal info.  Let's see how far into the year I can get before I self-destruct.


January 1 

New Year's Day
 
NATIONAL Hangover Day [very aptly named]
 
NATIONAL Polar Bear Plunge Day [I'm cold just thinking about this.  Time for a hot shower.]
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1863 Emancipation Proclamation frees all US slaves
 
1946 An American soldier stationed in the Philippines accepts the surrender of 20 Japanese soldiers who learned that the war ended back in September 1945 by reading about it in a newspaper
 
1950 US Navy commissions its first female doctor, Mary T Sproul
 
1959 Fidel Castro seizes power in Cuba
 
1962 US Navy SEALS begin
 
1983 The ARPANET officially changed to using Internet Protocol, creating the internet [sorry Dan Quayle]
 
2000 The arrival of Y2K did not result in the end of the world.  It did, however, result in my computer-programmer husband being laid off later that year.  The week before Christmas.  Ouch.