What Happened On
Recording TV Ruled Legal Thanks to Mr. Rogers
January 17, 1984
In what became known as the "Betamax case", the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that copying television programs for the purposes of time shifting does not constitute copyright infringement and that manufacturers of home video recording devices cannot be held liable for consumers violating copyright laws.
Walt Disney Company and Universal Studies had sued Sony, claiming their Betamax recorder could be used for copyright infringement and they were therefore liable for damages.
TV personality Mister Rogers testified that some television programs willingly allowed time shifting, thus providing a legitimate use for recorders. Part of the court's decision was a need to prove that home recorders had a legitimate legal use.
Eisenhower Farewell Address
January 17, 1961
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warns of the Military Industrial Complex buildup: "Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense. We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security alone more than the net income of all United States corporations.
Now this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence—economic, political, even spiritual—is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet, we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved. So is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
He also warned of scientific research becoming a chase for government funding instead of the search for knowledge.
Captain Marvel mask used in the robbery
Photo Credit: fbi.gov
Captain Marvel mask used in the robberyPhoto Credit: fbi.gov
Great Brink's Robbery
January 17, 1950
They are robbed in Boston by seven masked bandits of $2.8 million ($35.1 million today) of which $1.2 million was cash. This was the largest robbery in the U.S. at the time.
In 1955, one of the bandits confessed. He said they had in previous operations removed door locks in the Brink's facility, took them to have keys made, and then replaced the locks. This allowed them to enter quickly and quietly on the night of the robbery.
Frank "Rocky" Fiegel and the Popeye character
Frank "Rocky" Fiegel and the Popeye character
Popeye
January 17, 1929
The cartoon character Popeye makes his debut. Popeye is hired by Castor Oyl, a character in the strip Thimble Theatre, to navigate his ship. Popeye's first line in the strip upon being asked if he was a sailor was, "Ja think I'm a cowboy?"
The Popeye character was based on a real person named Frank "Rocky" Fiegel, who was unusually strong, had a characteristic pipe, and a propensity for fist-fighting. Fiegel was from Popeye creator E. C. Segar's hometown and according to Popeye historian Michael Brooks, Segar regularly sent him money.
Segar drew inspiration for a number of his Popeye characters from real people he knew in his home town, such as Dora Paskel from whom he based the Olive Oyl character.
Authorities Destroying Illegal Alcohol
Authorities Destroying Illegal Alcohol
Prohibition Begins
January 17, 1920
The 18th Amendment goes into effect. While it did not prohibit the consumption of alcohol, it did ban the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. The Volstead Act, which defined the terms used in the 18th Amendment, defined an intoxicating liquor as any beverage containing more than 0.5 percent alcohol. This caused beer and wine to also be prohibited.
The 18th Amendment was repealed in 1933 by the 21st Amendment.
Photo Credit: Anthony Giorgio
Photo Credit: Anthony Giorgio
U.S. Purchases Virgin Islands
January 17, 1917
The treaty purchasing the Danish Virgin Islands from Denmark, for $25,000,000 in gold, is ratified by the U.S., with the U.S. purchasing them the following week and taking possession two months later.
The U.S. Virgin Islands are the only place in the U.S. where traffic drives on the left.
Cable Streetcar Patented
January 17, 1871
Andrew Hallidie receives a patent for his streetcar. The first one went into operation 2½ years later in San Francisco.
Danny Bonaduce and Donny Osmond Slug it Out
January 17, 1994
"Donny the Stormin' Mormon vs. Danny the Dude Bonaduce" - Danny Bonaduce (who played Danny Partridge on the TV series The Partridge Family) wins a 2-1 decision over singer Donny Osmond in a charity boxing match.
Jack in the Box Food Poisoning
January 17, 1993
The Washington State Health Department confirms that an outbreak of E. coli infections is linked to the fast-food restaurants. Three children died and more than 500 people were sickened by the outbreak.
Iran-Contra Affair
January 17, 1986
U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a secret order authorizing exceptions to the Iranian arms embargo.
The Iran-Contra Affair centered around the Reagan administration secretly facilitating the sale of arms to Iran between 1981 and 1986 to to use the proceeds to fund the Contras, an anti-Sandinista rebel group in Nicaragua. Iran was subject to an arms embargo at the time, making the sale of arms to them illegal.
The administration's justification for the arms shipments was that they were part of an operation to free seven U.S. hostages being held in Lebanon.
Birthdays
Andy Kaufman
Born January 17, 1949 d. 1984
American actor, comedian. TV: Taxi (1978-83, Latka Gravas). He was banned from Saturday Night Live after losing a viewer phone-in vote by 26,358 votes.
Known as a performance artist, he once stated in an interview, "I am not a comic, I have never told a joke. The comedian's promise is that he will go out there and make you laugh with him. My only promise is that I will try to entertain you as best I can."
Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay)
Born January 17, 1942 d. 2016
American boxer, three-time world heavyweight champion (1964-67, 74-78, 78-79). He was arrested, found guilty of draft evasion, and stripped of his title for refusing to serve in the Vietnam War.
Shari Lewis (Phyllis Naomi Hurwitz)
Born January 17, 1933 d. 1998
American ventriloquist, with puppets Lamb Chop and Charlie Horse. In 1952, Lewis and her puppets won first prize on the CBS television series Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. Lamb Chop's first television appearance was in 1956 with Lewis as a guest on Captain Kangaroo.
She and her husband wrote the 1969 Star Trek episode The Lights of Zetar.
TV: The Shari Lewis Show (1960-63, 68-75) and Lamb Chop's Play-Along (1992-97).
Kitt as Catwoman in Batman
Kitt as Catwoman in Batman
Eartha Kitt (Eartha Mae Keith)
Born January 17, 1927 d. 2008
American Emmy-winning actress, singer. TV: Batman (1966, Catwoman). Film: The Emperor's New Groove (2000, voice of Yzma). Music: The Christmas novelty Santa Baby (1953 - Eartha died on Christmas Day 2008).
Mississippi Burning Killer
Edgar Ray Killen
Born January 17, 1925 d. 2018
American preacher, Ku Klux Klan (KKK) organizer. Killen was convicted of manslaughter in the 1964 "Mississippi Burning" killing. In 2005, he was found guilty of recruiting the mob that killed three civil rights activists (two white, one black) participating in the Freedom Summer of 1964 and sentenced to 60 years in prison, where he died. His conviction was on the 41st anniversary of the crime. His original 1966 trial ended in a hung jury, with the jurors deadlocked 11-1 in favor of conviction. The lone holdout said that she could not convict a preacher.
The film Mississippi Burning (1988) was based on these crimes.
Betty White as Sue Ann Nivens (left) and as Rose Nylund
Betty White as Sue Ann Nivens (left) and as Rose Nylund
Betty White (Betty Marion White)
Born January 17, 1922 d. 2021
American Emmy-winning actress. She had the longest television career of any entertainer, spanning 80 years and was the first woman to produce a TV sitcom (1953-55, Life with Elizabeth). Known as "The First Lady of Game Shows", she was a regular on such games shows as Password, Match Game, Hollywood Squares, and The $25,000 Pyramid.
TV: Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1962-72, co-host with Lorne Greene), The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1973-77, Sue Ann Nivens), The Golden Girls (1985-92, Rose Nylund), and Hot in Cleveland (2010-15, Elka Ostrovsky).
Mug shot of Capone (1930, Miami, Florida)
Mug shot of Capone (1930, Miami, Florida)
"Scarface" Al Capone (Alphonse Gabriel Capone)
Born January 17, 1899 d. 1947
Italian-born American gangster. The FBI estimates that his organizaton made $108 million in 1927 alone. He was convicted of tax evasion and served time in Alcatraz (1931-39). Terminally ill with syphilis, he died penniless of a brain hemorrhage at home in Miami, Florida.
Benjamin Franklin
Born January 17, 1706 d. 1790
American founding father. Signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, and for whom the short-lived State of Franklin was named.
Franklin owned two slaves who worked as house servants. In his later years, he came to despise slavery and freed them. In 1787, he became president of a Pennsylvania abolitionist society and in 1790 petitioned Congress to grant liberty "to those unhappy men who alone in this land of freedom are degraded into perpetual bondage."
Randy Boone
Born January 17, 1942
American actor. TV: The Virginian (Randy).
Maury Povich
Born January 17, 1939
American TV host. TV: A Current Affair and The Maury Povich Show.
1969 State Senate campaign poster
1969 State Senate campaign poster
First Elected African-American U.S. State Governor
Lawrence Douglas Wilder
Born January 17, 1931
American politician. He was the first elected African American U.S. state governor (1990-94, Virginia) and the first African American state governor since P. B. S. Pinchback more than one hundred years earlier. He also served on the Virginia senate (1970-86), being the first African-American elected to the Virginia Senate since Reconstruction.
He earned a Bronze Star Medal for actions during the Battle of Pork Chop Hill during the Korean War when he and two other men bluffed 19 Chinese soldiers into surrendering.
James Earl Jones
Born January 17, 1931 d. 2024
American Oscar, Tony, Emmy, Grammy-winning actor. Film: Dr. Strangelove (1964, Lt. Lothar Zogg), Star Wars (1977, voice of Darth Vader), and The Lion King (1994, voice of Mufasa). TV: Tarzan (1967-68, Chief Bella).
Vidal Sassoon
Born January 17, 1928 d. 2012
English hair stylist, beauty salon founder.
Mack Sennett (Michael Sinnott)
Born January 17, 1880 d. 1960
Canadian-born American Oscar-winning director, producer, actor. He was the creator of the Keystone Kops and was known as the "King of Comedy." He produced over 1,000 silent films.
Discovered X-rays Inhibit the Growth of Tumors
Georg Perthes (Georg Clemens Perthes)
Born January 17, 1869 d. 1927
German surgeon. He discovered that X-rays inhibit the growth of tumors (1903), and proposed the use of X-rays to treat cancer.
Carl Laemmle
Born January 17, 1867 d. 1939
German-born American motion picture executive. He founded Universal Pictures (1912) and was one of the first to promote actors by their own names.
Salvation Army logos past and present and founders William and Catherine Booth
Salvation Army logos past and present and founders William and Catherine Booth
Mother of the Salvation Army
Catherine Booth
Born January 17, 1829 d. 1890
English preacher. "Mother of the Salvation Army." She and her husband William Booth founded the Salvation Army in London in 1865.
Charles Brockden Brown
Born January 17, 1771 d. 1810
American novelist, "The father of the American novel." Writings: Wieland (1798) and Ormond (1799).
Saint Pius V
Born January 17, 1504 d. 1572
Italian religious leader, 225th Pope (1566-72). Canonized in 1712, he excommunicated Elizabeth I of England, expelled the Jews from Church states, and was dedicated to the extermination of the Huguenots.
Leonhard Fuchs
Born January 17, 1501 d. 1566
German botanist for whom the shrub Fuchsia is named.
Deaths
Patented the Automobile
George B. Selden
Died January 17, 1922 b. 1846
American inventor. In 1895, he received U.S. patent #549160A for the gas-powered automobile. He collected royalties from U.S. automobile makers until Henry Ford contested his patent and won in 1911 after an eight-year legal battle. Ford won the case on the basis that the engine used in automobiles was not based on the Brayton engine, which Selden had improved, but on the Otto engine.
Rutherford B. Hayes
Died January 17, 1893 b. 1822
American politician. 19th U.S. President (1877-81), governor of Ohio (1876-77, 1868-72), U.S. House of Representatives (1865-67). He was opposed to fighting a civil war to restore the Union and suggested to the Union "let them go." However, he joined the Union army as an officer and was wounded five times during the war.
Hayes was the first U.S. president to have his voice recorded. However, the recording has since been lost. The oldest surviving recording of a U.S. president is of Benjamin Harrison.
Rutherford received a Siamese cat as a gift from the American Consul in Bangkok. A female named Siam, she was the first Siamese cat in the U.S.
Chang and Eng Bunker
Died January 17, 1874 b. 1811
Siamese-born American twins joined at the chest. They are they source of the term "Siamese Twins." They toured Europe and the U.S., eventually settling in North Carolina where they married two sisters, who bore them 22 children. "Chang" and "Eng" is Thai for "Left" and "Right."
Jules Feiffer (Jules Ralph Feiffer)
Died January 17, 2025 b. 1929
American Pulitzer-winning Hall of Fame cartoonist, author. At one time he was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. His 1960 animated short Munro won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
Bobby Fischer (Robert James Fischer)
Died January 17, 2008 b. 1943
American chess champion. He was the first American to win the world chess championship (1972) in what was called the "Chess Match of the Century". He won his first U.S. championship at age 14.
Art Buchwald
Died January 17, 2007 b. 1925
American Pulitzer-winning newspaper columnist. The book Fatal Subtraction: The Inside Story of Buchwald v. Paramount (1992) was about his lawsuit against Paramount for stealing his script treatment used in the Eddie Murphy movie Coming to America (1988).
Richard Crenna
Died January 17, 2003 b. 1926
American Emmy-winning actor. Film: The Flamingo Kid (1984) and First Blood (1982, Rambo's former commanding officer). TV: Our Miss Brooks (Walter Denton, 1952-56) and The Real McCoys (Luke, 1957-63).
Tombaugh with his homemade 9-inch telescope
Tombaugh with his homemade 9-inch telescope
Clyde Tombaugh (Clyde William Tombaugh)
Died January 17, 1997 b. 1906
American astronomer. He discovered the dwarf planet Pluto (1930). He also discovered nearly 800 asteroids.
The Naked Spy
Yevgeny Ivanov
Died January 17, 1994 b. 1926
Russian spy. In 1963, British secretary of state for war, John Profumo, resigned after it was discovered that he was having an affair with the same woman as Ivanov. This became known as the "Profumo Affair." In his memoirs, The Naked Spy (1992), he claimed he had been able to obtain significant military intelligence by accessing British political circles.
Barbara Britton
Died January 17, 1980 b. 1919
American actress. TV: Mr. and Mrs. North (Pamela North).
Gary Gilmore
Died January 17, 1977 b. 1940
American criminal. He was executed by a Utah firing squad, the first execution in the U.S. since 1967. In 1976, Gilmore robbed and murdered gas station employee Max Jensen. The next evening, he robbed and murdered motel manager Bennie Bushnell. Both men had complied with his demands. While disposing of the pistol used in the killings, Gilmore accidentally shot himself in his right hand, leaving a trail of blood to the service garage where he had left his truck. He was witnessed by a mechanic hiding the gun in the bushes. Gilmore's cousin turned him in to the police after he phoned her asking for bandages and painkillers for his injured hand.
Louis Comfort Tiffany
Died January 17, 1933 b. 1848
American artist, glassmaker.
Juliette Gordon Low (center) standing with two Girl Scouts
Juliette Gordon Low (center) standing with two Girl Scouts
Juliette Gordon Low
Died January 17, 1927 b. 1860
American woman. She founded the Girl Scouts of America (1912).
George Bancroft
Died January 17, 1891 b. 1800
American historian, Father of American History.
Alexander Anderson
Died January 17, 1870 b. 1775
America's first wood engraver. He illustrated more than 100 volumes of English classics, including Bell's Anatomy and Webster's Spelling Book.