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.