What Happened On
Named In Honor of Black Child They Refused to Serve
January 29, 2011
The Ronald McNair Life History Center opens.
In the summer of 1959, 8-year-old African-American Ronald McNair visited the segregated Lake City, South Carolina public library, but they only served white patrons and wouldn't allow him to check out any books. When he refused to leave, the police and his mother were called. The library begrudgingly relented when the officer asked, "Why don't you just give him the books?" McNair went on to earn a Ph.D. degree in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and became a NASA astronaut. Unfortunately, he was killed on his second mission in the 1986 Challenger Disaster.
That library has since been turned into a museum named the "Ronald McNair Life History Center" in his honor. The museum tells the story of Dr. McNair from his childhood battling discrimination in the South to his death.
I Don't Like Mondays
January 29, 1979
16-year-old Brenda Spencer opens fire on children in an elementary school playground. She killed two adults and injured eight children and a police officer. She stated, "I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day".
The Boomtown Rats hit I Don't Like Mondays (1980) was based on this event.
Freddie Prinze Suicide
January 29, 1977
Twenty-two-year-old actor Freddie Prinze dies after a self-inflicted gunshot wound the previous day.
Prinze is best known for his role as Chico in TV's Chico and the Man (1974-78), with his catch phrase, "Looking good!"
Prinze suffered from depression and was going through a divorce when he called family and friends to tell them he was going to commit suicide. His business manager came over to help the distraught Prinze, but while he was there Prinze put a gun to his head and shot himself. He was rushed to the hospital, but died the following day. A presumed suicide note was found, stating "I can't go on". His death was initially ruled a suicide. However, in 1983 his mother filed a civil suit and the jury ruled that his death was medication induced and accidental, enabling the family to receive a significant life insurance settlement.
Just months before his death, Prinze had signed a five-year deal with NBC worth $6 million.
The Raven
January 29, 1845
The poem The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe is first published. It was published in the New York Evening Mirror, instantly making him famous, although it did not bring him much financial success.
"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping…"
Axis of Evil
January 29, 2002
U.S. President George W. Bush first uses the term "Axis of Evil" during a State of the Union address to describe North Korea, Iran, and Iraq.
Gays in the Military
January 29, 1992
U.S. President Bill Clinton partially lifts the ban on gays in the military, stating he will eventually lift the ban altogether.
Patty Hearst
January 29, 1979
Patty Hearst is given clemency by U.S. President Jimmy Carter after serving 22 months of a seven-year prison sentence for bank robbery. She was released three days later. President Bill Clinton gave her a full pardon in 2001.
In 1974, she was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). They demanded the Hearst family deliver $70 worth of food to every needy person in California. The estimated cost of such an operation would have been about $400,000,000. Patty Hearst's father tried to donate $2,000,000 worth of food to the Bay Area, but the distribution turned into chaos and the SLA refused to release Patty.
She later participated in a bank robbery with the SLA for which she was convicted. She claimed she was raped and tortured to coerce her into participating in their crimes, claiming she was a victim of Stockholm Syndrome, in which a hostage bonds with their captors.
Baseball Hall of Fame
January 29, 1936
Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson are selected as the first inductees.
Photo Credit: Kritzolina
First U.S. Guide Dog School
January 29, 1929
Morris Frank, himself blind, founds The Seeing Eye in Nashville, Tennessee. Frank had brought the first U.S. seeing-eye dog, Buddy, into the U.S. from Switzerland.
Kansas
January 29, 1861
Kansas becomes the 34th state. Kansas is Sioux for "south wind people."
Birthdays
Oprah Winfrey
Born January 29, 1954
American talk show hostess. She won the title of Miss Black Tennessee.
Allen Balcom DuMont
Born January 29, 1901 d. 1965
American inventor. He developed the first commercially practical cathode ray tube (1931), marketed the first home TV receiver (1939), and established the DuMont Television Network (1946), which was the first licensed television network. He founded DuMont Laboratories (1931), which developed the first consumer all-electronic television. They also extended the life of the TV's picture tube from about 24 hours to 1,000 hours making television sets practical.
W.C. Fields (William Claude Dukenfield)
Born January 29, 1880 d. 1946
American actor. Film: You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939) and My Little Chickadee (1940).
Quote: "A thing worth having is a thing worth cheating for."
Quote: "'Twas a woman who drove me to drink. I never had the courtesy to thank her."
Quote: "I spent half my money on gambling, alcohol and wild women. The other half I wasted."
William McKinley
Born January 29, 1843 d. 1901
American politician. 25th U.S. President (1897-1901). He was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz. McKinley signed the Gold Standard Act (1900), using a gold pen to do so. His portrait graces the U.S. $500 bill.
Thomas Paine
Born January 29, 1737 d. 1809
American patriot. He wrote Common Sense (1776) which advocated American independence and The Age of Reason (1795) which argued for deism and the existence of a creator God, but criticized institutionalized religion and the legitimacy of the Bible.
After the American Revolution, Paine participated in the French Revolution, writing the Rights of Man (1791) in support of the French Revolution and in defense of the rights of the people to overthrow their government. In 1793, he was arrested and placed in a Paris prison, where he worked on The Age of Reason. Paine was released from prison after almost a year, largely due to the efforts of future U.S. President James Monroe, then American Minister to France.
Quote: "To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture."
Ann Jillian
Born January 29, 1950
American singer, dancer, actress. TV: It's A Living (1980-82, 85, Cassie) and The Ann Jillian Story (1988, which chronicled her real-life battle with breast cancer).
Tom Selleck
Born January 29, 1945
American actor. TV: Magnum P.I. (1980-88, Thomas Magnum), Jesse Stone TV movies (2005-, Jesse Stone), and Blue Bloods (2010-, Commissioner Reagan). He appeared twice on The Dating Game, but was never chosen.
Katherine Ross
Born January 29, 1940
American actress. Film: The Graduate (1967, Elaine Robinson) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969, Etta Place). TV: The Colbys (Francesca).
Dorothy Malone (Dorothy Maloney)
Born January 29, 1924 d. 2018
American Oscar-winning actress. Film: Written on the Wind (1956, Oscar). TV: Peyton Place (1964-68, Constance Mackenzie Carson).
Paddy Chayefsky (Sidney Chayefsky)
Born January 29, 1923 d. 1981
American Oscar-winning screenwriter. Film: Paint Your Wagon (1969), Network (1976, Oscar), and Altered States (1979).
John Forsythe (John Freund)
Born January 29, 1918 d. 2010
American actor. TV: Charlie's Angels (1976-81, voice of Charlie) and Dynasty (1981-89, Blake Carrington).
Victor Mature
Born January 29, 1913 d. 1999
American actor, starring in many Biblical epics. He was billed as "A beautiful hunk of man." Film: One Million B.C. (1940, Tumak the caveman), Samson and Delilah (1949, Samson) and After the Fox. Quote: "Actually, I am a golfer. That is my real occupation. I never was an actor; ask anybody, particularly the critics." (1966).
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
Born January 29, 1860 d. 1904
Russian author, The Three Sisters (1901) and The Cherry Orchard (1904).
Deaths
John Graham, Jr.
Died January 29, 1991 b. 1908
American architect. In the late 1940s, he designed what became the modern shopping center. He also designed the Space Needle for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair and the first revolving restaurant (Honolulu, Hawaii).
Jimmy Durante
Died January 29, 1980 b. 1893
American comedian. Known for his Schnozzola (from the Yiddish slang "Schnoz" for big nose), which became his nickname. His trademark lines include "Ink-a-Dink-a-Doo" and "Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are."
Freddie Prinze (Frederick Karl Pruetzel)
Died January 29, 1977 b. 1954
American actor. Freddie Prinze is best known for his role as Chico in TV's Chico and the Man (1974-78), with his catch phrase, "Looking good!" Early in his career, he roomed with Jay Leno who taught him how to drive.
Prinze suffered from depression and was going through a divorce when he called family and friends to tell them he was going to commit suicide. His business manager came over to help the distraught Prinze, but while he was there Prinze put a gun to his head and shot himself. He was rushed to the hospital, but died the following day. A presumed suicide note was found, stating "I can't go on". His death was initially ruled a suicide. However, in 1983 his mother filed a civil suit and the jury ruled that his death was medication induced and accidental, enabling the family to receive a significant life insurance settlement.
He had a 10-month-old son and just months before his death, Prinze had signed a five-year deal with NBC worth $6 million.
Invented Safety Glass
Édouard Bénédictus
Died January 29, 1930 b. 1878
French artist, inventor. In 1903, Édouard Bénédictus accidentally knocked over a glass beaker. He was surprised to see that instead of shattering into many pieces, it cracked but held its form keeping the pieces together. He deduced that this was due to the plastic cellulose nitrate that the beaker had contained. After some experimentation he created laminated glass in which a layer of celluloid was sandwiched between two layers of glass. He patented his invention in 1909 after hearing about a car crash where two women were severely injured by glass debris from the windshield.
Bénédictus was also renowned for his art deco designs.
Popularized Limericks
Edward Lear
Died January 29, 1888 b. 1812
English artist, author. Writings: Book of Nonsense (1846), which was responsible for popularizing limericks.
There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, "It is just as I feared!
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!"
Howard Hesseman
Died January 29, 2022 b. 1940
American actor. TV: WKRP in Cincinnati (1978-82, Dr. Johnny Fever), One Day at a Time (1982-84, Ann Romano's second husband Sam), and Head of the Class (1986-90, Mr. Moore). Film: Billy Jack (1971, Howard Johnson) and This Is Spinal Tap (1984, Terry Ladd).
Hesseman worked as a real DJ in the 1960s under the name Don Sturdy at KMPX in San Francisco. KMPX is best known as the birthplace of the freeform progressive rock format ("Underground radio").
Manuel Padilla, Jr.
Died January 29, 2008 b. 1955
American actor. TV: Tarzan (1966-68, Jai) and The Flying Nun (1967, Marcello). Film: American Graffiti (1973, Carlos).
Harold Russell
Died January 29, 2002 b. 1914
Canadian-born American Oscar-winning actor. He was the first visibly handicapped person to appear in a major motion picture, having lost both hands in World War II. He won an Oscar for The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) which he sold in 1992, making him the first person to publicly sell their own Oscar. He needed the money for his wife's medical expenses.
Alan Ladd
Died January 29, 1964 b. 1913
American actor. Film: This Gun for Hire (1942), The Great Gatsby (1949), and Shane (1953).
Robert Frost
Died January 29, 1963 b. 1874
American Pulitzer-winning poet. Writings: A Boy's Will, North of Boston, and The Mending Wall, which contained the phrase "Good fences make good neighbors".
H.L. Mencken (Henry Louis Mencken)
Died January 29, 1956 b. 1880
American newspaperman, critic for the Baltimore Sun. In 1917, he perpetrated The Great Bathtub Hoax which started myths that the bathtub was banned in parts of the U.S. In 1920, he predicted that if the voters got their wish the White House would eventually be occupied by a moron.
Christian IX
Died January 29, 1906 b. 1818
King of Denmark (1863-1906).
George III
Died January 29, 1820 b. 1738
King of Great Britain and Ireland (1760-1820) during the American Revolution. He became insane in 1811 leaving the Prince of Wales (George IV) to run the government.
Gelasius II
Died January 29, 1119 b. circa 1062
religious leader, 161st Pope (1118-19).