What Happened On
Vietnam War protesters
Photo Credit: uwdigitalcollections
Vietnam War protestersPhoto Credit: uwdigitalcollections
Vietnam Draft Dodgers Pardoned
January 21, 1977
U.S. President Jimmy Carter pardons the Vietnam draft dodgers. This pardoned those who violated the draft between August 4, 1964 and March 28, 1973. It is estimated that over 500,000 men had dodged the draft. However, this did not pardon military personnel who went AWOL.
U.S. Soldiers moving towards Khe Sanh Combat Base
U.S. Soldiers moving towards Khe Sanh Combat Base
Vietnam War - Battle of Khe Sanh
January 21, 1968
The North Vietnamese launch an attack on the U.S. Marine base near Laos, in what was one of the largest sieges of the war. The battle lasted until July 9th. During this time, the base and its outposts were subjected to constant North Vietnamese artillery, mortar, and rocket attacks. The U.S. Air Force defended the base by dropping over 100,000 tons of bombs and 158,000 artillery rounds. Both sides claimed victory after the U.S. withdrew from the base. The North Vietnamese claimed victory for causing the evacuation, while the U.S. claimed victory citing that they withdrew because the base was no longer needed.
The gunner being rescued from the crash
The gunner being rescued from the crash
Broken Arrow Nuclear Accident
January 21, 1968
Radiation from four hydrogen bombs is released into the atmosphere when a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber carrying them crashed near Greenland. A cabin fire forced the crew to abandon the aircraft before they could make an emergency landing at Thule Air Base. Six crew members ejected safely, but one who did not have an ejection seat was killed while trying to bail out. When the abandoned bomber crashed onto sea ice, the conventional high-explosive components of the nuclear bombs detonated spreading radioactive contamination.
The fire started when a heater malfunction caused three cloth-covered foam cushions placed on a heater vent to ignite. The cushions had been placed on the vent by one of the pilots.
The incident was designated a "Broken Arrow" accident, which is an accident involving a nuclear weapon, but which does not present a risk of war.
Switzer as Alfalfa
Switzer as Alfalfa
Alfalfa Killed in Fight Over $50
January 21, 1959
The American child actor, Carl Switzer who played Alfalfa in The Little Rascals, is shot to death after allegedly attacking a man with a knife during an argument over $50. Switzer had been training a hunting dog for Moses Samuel Stiltz. When the dog escaped, Switzer paid a reward for his recovery and believed that Stiltz should reimburse him. When he confronted Stiltz about the reward money, a fight ensued and Stiltz shot and killed him.
The shooting was judged to be self-defense at the time. In 2001 Tom Corrigan who as a child was present on the night of the killing, said "It was more like murder," claiming Switzer threatened to beat up Stiltz and then Stiltz pointed a gun at him. A scuffle ensued and a shot was fired into the ceiling and Corrigan was struck in the leg by a fragment. Corrigan said Switzer then said, "Well, we shot Tommy, enough of this" and was starting to leave when Stiltz shot him.
Corrigan was the son of Western movie star Ray "Crash" Corrigan and stepson of Moses Stiltz.
Natural Born Killers
January 21, 1958
19-year-old Charles Starkweather and his 14-year-old girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate begin a killing spree with Starkweather's killing of Fugate's mother and stepfather and their two-year-old daughter.
On January 21, 1958, Fugate's parents had expressed disapproval of her relationship with Starkweather and told him to stay away from her. Starkweather then fatally shot them and strangled their two-year-old daughter. Starkweather later claimed Fugate was present for the murders, but she claimed she arrived later and Starkweather told her he was holding them hostage and she believed they were still alive. They stayed at the home until January 27, leaving shortly before the police arrived after having been alerted by Fugate's suspicious grandmother. They then began a killing spree, killing seven other people before they were apprehended on January 29th. Starkweather had also killed a gas station attendant the previous November.
Starkweather claimed Fugate participated in the murders, while she claimed she was a hostage and didn't kill anyone. Starkweather was executed in 1959 and Fugate was sentenced to life in prison, but released in 1976 after serving 17½ years.
Their murder spree inspired the film Natural Born Killers (1994).
Patsy Cline Wins TV Talent Show
January 21, 1957
The future country music star Patsy Cline wins on TV's Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts with the song Walkin' After Midnight. The song went on to become her first top 10 hit.
Launching the Nautilus
Launching the Nautilus
First Nuclear Submarine
January 21, 1954
The USS Nautilus (SSN-571) is launched. The launch was attended by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his wife Mamie Eisenhower.
It also became the first submarine to complete a submerged transit of the North Pole (1958).
Flag of Quebec
January 21, 1948
The Fleurdelisé is adopted for the province by the government of Quebec. January 21 is celebrated as Quebec's Flag Day. It was the first provincial flag officially adopted in Canada.
Ban On Allowing Women to Smoke
January 21, 1908
The Sullivan Ordinance is passed in New York City by the board of alderman banning the management of a public place from allowing women to smoke there. It didn't actually ban women from smoking, but banned the management from allowing it. The following day, Katie Mulcahey became the only person cited for breaking this ordinance. She was fined $5 for smoking in public and then arrested when she refused to pay the fine. But, since the ordinance itself did not mention fines nor did it ban women from smoking in public, she was released the next day.
The whole incident started when city alderman Timothy "Little Tim" Sullivan heard that certain restaurants in New York would permit women to smoke in their establishments during the upcoming New Year's Eve celebrations and into the new year. He felt that that the practice of women smoking was unseemly and immoral and proposed the ordinance. It passed unanimously, but was vetoed two weeks later by Mayor George B. McClellan Jr.
Civil War
January 21, 1861
Jefferson Davis, in what he later described as "the saddest day of my life," resigns from the U.S. Senate and returns to Mississippi, following its succession from the Union earlier that month. He became president of the confederacy the following month.
Davis had previously served as U.S. Secretary of War (1853-57).
Size Comparison of Pluto, Earth, and Moon
Size Comparison of Pluto, Earth, and Moon
Pluto
January 21, 1930
Photos of the dwarf planet Pluto are taken at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, although the planet wasn't identified until a month later.
Kiwanis
January 21, 1915
The benevolent organization Kiwanis is founded in Detroit, Michigan.
First Novel Written in America by an American Author
January 21, 1789
The Power of Sympathy is published. Originally credited to Sarah Wentworth Morton, it is now credited to her neighbor William Hill Brown.
Indians Cede Their Land
January 21, 1785
The Chippewa, Delaware, Ottawa, and Wyandot Indians cede their lands south of the Ohio to the U.S. with the Treaty of Fort McIntosh. The treaty created a large Indian reservation out of Ohio Country. The area comprised about 1/3 of modern day Ohio in the northwest, and a wedge of eastern Indiana extending to Kekionga (future Fort Wayne). The tribes also ceded areas surrounding Fort Detroit and Fort Michilimackinac to the U.S. and gave back captives taken in raids along the frontier.
Birthdays
Paul Allen (left) and Bill Gates (1970) and ad for MS-DOS
Paul Allen (left) and Bill Gates (1970) and ad for MS-DOS
Paul Allen
Born January 21, 1953 d. 2018
American businessman. He and Bill Gates founded Microsoft in 1975. After dropping out of Washington State University in order to work as a programmer, he convinced Gates to drop out of Harvard University in order to create Microsoft. Allen is credited with coming up with the name Micro-Soft as a combination of "microcomputer" and "software".
Allen also scored a perfect 1600 on the SAT.
Allen owned the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League and the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association, and was part-owner of the Seattle Sounders FC, which joined Major League Soccer in 2009.
Allen died from complications of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Wolfman Jack (Robert Smith)
Born January 21, 1938 d. 1995
American Radio Hall of Fame deejay. The disc jockey Wolfman Jack is known for his gravelly voice and his role as himself in the 1973 film American Graffiti.
In 1962, Smith began working at a country music radio station in Shreveport, Louisiana where he adopted his DJ persona of Wolfman Jack. In 1963, he moved his act to the Mexican border-blaster station XERF-AM in Ciudad Acuña, broadcasting at much higher power than allowed by U.S. stations. XERF's signal could be picked up all over North America and sometimes even in Europe and the Soviet Union. His shows were punctuated with howls and him urging his listeners to "get naked" or "lay your hands on the radio and squeeze my knobs".
In 1971, he moved to station KDAY 1580 Los Angeles and began selling tapes of his shows to other stations. At his peak, he was on more than 2,000 stations in 53 countries, including Armed Forces Radio from 1970 to 1986.
He also recorded several music albums, including the 1965 Boogie With The Wolfman by Wolfman Jack & the Wolfpack, was featured on The Guess Who's 1974 hit Clap for the Wolfman, and hosted the TV show The Midnight Special (1972-81).
Reeves in the movie Hercules
Reeves in the movie Hercules
Steve Reeves
Born January 21, 1926 d. 2000
American actor, body builder. He held the Mr. America (1947), Mr. World (1948), and Mr. Universe (1950) titles. At one time, he was the highest paid actor in Europe. Film: Hercules (1958).
Grigori Rasputin
Born January 21, 1869 d. 1916
Russian mystic, monk. Known as the Mad Monk, he held a hypnotic influence over the Russian emperor and empress, Nicholas II and Alexandra. Notoriously corrupt, he was killed by Russian noblemen.
The Melting Pot
Israel Zangwill
Born January 21, 1864 d. 1926
English-born writer, Zionist. The use of the term "melting pot" to describe American absorption of immigrants was popularized by Zangwill's play The Melting Pot.
He founded an organization called the Jewish Territorialist Organization (1905), to try to create a Jewish homeland, the location of which did not necessarily have to be in what is today the state of Israel.
He once commented on author George Bernard Shaw, "The way Shaw behaves himself is very refreshing in these atheistic days when so many people believe in no God at all".
Writngs: Children of the Ghetto (1892) and The Melting Pot (1908).
Stonewall Jackson (Thomas Jonathan Jackson)
Born January 21, 1824 d. 1863
Confederate Civil War general. He was shot by friendly fire. His injuries required the amputation of his left arm. He died eight days later from pneumonia. Quote: "War means fighting. The business of the soldier is to fight. Armies are not called out to dig trenches, to live in camps, but to find the enemy and strike him; to invade his country, and do him all possible damage in the shortest possible time. This will involve great destruction of life and property while it lasts; but such a war will of necessity be of brief continuance, and so would be an economy of life and property in the end."
Steamboat Pioneer
John Fitch
Born January 21, 1743 d. 1798
American pioneer steamboat builder. Operated the first steamboat service in the U.S. He launched his first steamboat in 1787.
Christopher John Bollig
Born January 21, 1989
American ancestor. His birth made 109-year-old Augusta Bunge a great-great-great-great-grandmother. This made for the most generations alive in a single family - Augusta's daughter (89), her grand-daughter (70), her great-grand-daughter (52), her great-great grand-daughter (33), and her great-great-great grand-daughter (15) were all still alive. Source: Guinness Book of World Records
Charlotte Ross
Born January 21, 1968
American actress, singer. TV: Days of Our Lives (Eve Donovan) and The Heights. Music: How Do You Talk To an Angel? (1992, from the TV show The Heights).
Robby Benson
Born January 21, 1956
American actor. Film: One on One (1977). TV: Search For Tomorrow (Bruce Carson). He directed White Hot (1988), which was the first American film shot directly on High Definition Video (HDTV).
Geena Davis (Virginia Elizabeth Davis)
Born January 21, 1956
American Oscar-winning actress. Film: Tootsie (1982), The Fly (1986), Beetlejuice (1988), Thelma & Louise (1991), The Accidental Tourist (1988, Oscar), and Earth Girls are Easy (1989).
Billy Ocean (Leslie Sebastian Charles)
Born January 21, 1950
British singer. Music: Caribbean Queen (1984, #1, Grammy) and Loverboy (1984).
Jill Eikenberry
Born January 21, 1947
American actress, Ann Kelsey of L.A. Law. She is married to Michael Tucker who plays her husband on L.A. Law.
Chris Britton (Charles Christopher Britton)
Born January 21, 1944
British guitarist, with the Troggs. Music: Wild Thing (1966, #1).
Jack Nicklaus
Born January 21, 1940
American golfer, 6-time Masters winner, and 5-time PGA player of the year. He is the all-time leader in major tournament wins.
Benny Hill (Alfred Hawthorne Hill)
Born January 21, 1924 d. 1992
English comedian, singer. His father and grandfather had both been circus clowns. Quote: "I'm not against half naked girls - not as often as I'd like to be." TV: The Benny Hill Show (1955-89). Music: Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West) (1971, British #1).
Telly Savalas (Aristotle Savalas)
Born January 21, 1922 d. 1994
American Emmy-winning actor. He covered the song If in a mostly spoken version which became a UK #1 single.
Film: Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965, Pontius Pilate - for which he shaved his head), The Dirty Dozen (1967, Archer Maggott) and On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969, James Bond's foe Ernst Stavro Blofeld).
TV: Victim of Talky Tina on The Twilight Zone Episode: "Living Doll" (1963), and Kojak (1973-78, detective Theo Kojak, Emmy).
Barney B. Clark
Born January 21, 1921 d. 1983
American dentist. He was the first person to have a permanent artificial heart successfully implanted (Dec. 2, 1982), performed by Dr. Robert Jarvik.
Karl Wallenda
Born January 21, 1905 d. 1978
German-American tight-rope walker, with the Great Wallendas. At the age of 73, he fell over 100 feet to his death during a performance in Puerto Rico.
First to Use Laughing Gas for Dental Anesthesia
Horace Wells
Born January 21, 1815 d. 1848
American dentist. First to use nitrous oxide (laughing gas) for dental anesthesia (1844).
The word anesthesia is from the Greek for "without sensation".
Major General John Charles Fremont
Born January 21, 1813 d. 1890
American explorer, mapmaker, Governor of Arizona (1878-81), U.S. Senator (California 1850-51), Military Governor of California (1847). He explored the Western U.S., and was the first Republican candidate for U.S. president (1856). He was court-martialed and convicted of mutiny by the U.S. Army (1847-48) over a dispute of who was military governor of California. President James K. Polk commuted his sentence of dishonorable discharge and reinstated him into the Army; however, Fremont resigned his commission in protest.
During the Civil War, he issued the Fremont Emancipation which freed the slaves of Missouri. For this, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln relieved him of command.
Ethan Allen
Born January 21, 1738 d. 1789
American Revolutionary War commander. He organized the Green Mountain Boys (1770).
Deaths
Elvis Presley and Tom Parker
Elvis Presley and Tom Parker
Talent Manager of Elvis Presley
Col. Tom Parker (Andreas Cornelius Van Kuijk)
Died January 21, 1997 b. 1909
Dutch impresario, Elvis Presley's manager. He also managed Hank Snow and Eddy Arnold. Parker, who was not a U.S. citizen and couldn't get a visa, was afraid that if he left the states he would not be allowed back in. Consequently, Elvis never toured Europe.
Switzer as Alfalfa
Switzer as Alfalfa
Alfalfa
Carl Switzer
Died January 21, 1959 b. 1927
American actor. Film: The Little Rascals (Alfalfa) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946, Freddie Othello, from whom George Bailey steals Mary away from while they were dancing. Switzer's character retaliates by pressing the button that opens the pool that George and Mary fall into).
Switzer was shot to death after allegedly attacking a man with a knife during an argument over $50. He was training a hunting dog for Moses Samuel Stiltz. When the dog escaped, Switzer paid a reward for his recovery and believed that Stiltz should reimburse him. When he confronted Stiltz about the reward money, a fight ensued and Stiltz shot and killed him. The shooting was judged to be self-defense at the time. In 2001 Tom Corrigan who as a child was present on the night of the killing, said "It was more like murder," claiming Switzer threatened to beat up Stiltz and then Stiltz pointed a gun at him. A scuffle ensued and a shot was fired into the ceiling and Corrigan was struck in the leg by a fragment. Corrigan said Switzer then said, "Well, we shot Tommy, enough of this" and was starting to leave when Stiltz shot him.
Corrigan was the son of Western movie star Ray "Crash" Corrigan and stepson of Moses Stiltz.
George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair)
Died January 21, 1950 b. 1903
English author. Writings: Animal Farm (1945) and 1984 (1949).
Vladimir Lenin (Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov)
Died January 21, 1924 b. 1870
Russian revolutionary. Founder of the Soviet Union (1917).
Kaye Ballard (Catherine Gloria Balotta)
Died January 21, 2019 b. 1925
American actress. Her catchphrase was "Good luck with your MOUTH!", a phrase her mother would scold her with as a child.
Peggy Lee (Norma Egstrom)
Died January 21, 2002 b. 1920
American singer, actress. Music: Somebody Else Is Taking My Place (1942, #1). Film: Pete Kelly's Blues (1955).
Susan Strasberg
Died January 21, 1999 b. 1938
American actress. At age 18, she became the youngest actress to star on Broadway with her name above the marquee title, for her role in The Diary of Anne Frank (1955, title role).
Jack Lord (John Joseph Ryan)
Died January 21, 1998 b. 1920
American actor. TV: Hawaii Five-O (1968-80, detective Steve McGarrett) and Stoney Burke (1962-63, title role). Film: Dr. No (1962, CIA Agent Felix Leiter).
According to William Shatner, in 1966 Lord was offered the role of Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek, but Lord asked for 50% ownership of the show, so the role was given Shatner.
J. R. "Bob" Dobbs
Died January 21, 1984 b. ????
American founder of the Church of the SubGenius. He was a salesman in the 1950s until he saw a vision of God on a television set (1953). The vision inspired him to write the "PreScriptures" (as described in the Book of the SubGenius) and found his Church. He was assassinated in San Francisco in 1984 by his own followers, though the Church states that he has come back from the dead several times since then.
Quote: "Eternal Salvation - Or Triple Your Money Back."
Edward J. Daly
Died January 21, 1984 b. 1922
American businessman. President of World Airways. Towards the end of the Vietnam War, he used his own plane and money to rescue 54 orphans out of Vietnam.
Cecil B. DeMille (Cecil Blount DeMille)
Died January 21, 1959 b. 1881
American Oscar-winning film director, called the founder of Hollywood. Film: The Ten Commandments (1923 and 1956), The King of Kings (1927), Cleopatra (1934), and Samson and Delilah (1949).
First ship to transit the canal, the SS Ancon (1914)
First ship to transit the canal, the SS Ancon (1914)
George Washington Goethals
Died January 21, 1928 b. 1858
American engineer. He built the Panama Canal (1914) and was the first governor of the Canal Zone (1914-16).
Elisha Gray
Died January 21, 1901 b. 1835
American inventor. He filed a patent for the telephone the same day as Alexander Graham Bell (1876). A long legal battle ensued which Bell ultimately won (1888). He also invented a teleautograph for transmitting handwriting.
John Couch Adams
Died January 21, 1892 b. 1819
English astronomer. In 1845, he correctly predicted the existence of the planet Neptune, which was discovered the following year.
Louis XVI
Died January 21, 1793 b. 1754
King of France (1774-92). He is responsible for square handkerchiefs; as a favor to Marie Antoinette he decreed that all handkerchiefs must have this shape. He was beheaded by French revolutionaries.
Charity Hospital - circa 1900
Charity Hospital - circa 1900
Jean Louis
Died January 21, 1736 b. ????
French seaman and shipbuilder. His will established a charity hospital in New Orleans, which would become the second oldest continuously-operated public hospital in the U.S. It was closed as result of Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Joseph Justus Scaliger
Died January 21, 1609 b. 1540
French scholar, founder of modern chronology. He created the Julian Period calendar - which starts on January 1, 4713 B.C.
Paschal II
Died January 21, 1118 b. ????
religious leader, 160th Pope (1099-1118).