Blog Archives

Jan 31, 1606: The Death of Guy Fawkes

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Action for Freedom — 1 Comment

At Westminster in London, Guy Fawkes, a chief conspirator in the plot to blow up the British Parliament building, jumps to his death moments before his execution for treason. On the eve of a general parliamentary session scheduled for November…

Jan 31, 1950: Truman Announces Development of H-Bomb

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Action for Freedom — Leave a comment

U.S. President Harry S. Truman publicly announces his decision to support the development of the hydrogen bomb, a weapon theorized to be hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II. Five months…

Tagged with: 1950, Harry Truman, History, January, January 31, Klaus Fuchs, Nuclear weapon, Soviet Union, Teller–Ulam design, This Day in History, This Day In History, United States, World War II
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Jan 30, 1835: Andrew Jackson Narrowly Escapes Assassination

Posted on January 30, 2011 by Action for Freedom — Leave a comment

On this day in 1835, Andrew Jackson becomes the first American president to experience an assassination attempt. Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter, approached Jackson as he left a congressional funeral held in the House chamber of the Capitol building…

Jan 30, 1972: Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland

Posted on January 30, 2011 by Action for Freedom — 1 Comment

In Londonderry, Northern Ireland, 13 unarmed civil rights demonstrators are shot dead by British Army paratroopers in an event that becomes known as “Bloody Sunday.” The protesters, all Northern Catholics, were marching in protest of the British policy of internment…

Tagged with: 1972, Belfast Agreement, Bloody Sunday, Bloody Sunday Inquiry, British Armed Forces, British Army, David Cameron, Derry, January, January 30, Northern Ireland, This Day in History, This Day In History
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Jan 30, 1948: Gandhi Assassinated

Posted on January 30, 2011 by Action for Freedom — Leave a comment

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the political and spiritual leader of the Indian independence movement, is assassinated in New Delhi by a Hindu fanatic. Born the son of an Indian official in 1869, Gandhi’s Vaishnava mother was deeply religious and early on…

Jan 29, 1843: William McKinley is Born

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Action for Freedom — Leave a comment

On this day in 1843, future President William McKinley is born in Niles, Ohio. McKinley fought bravely as a Union infantryman in the Civil War and was awarded a battlefield commission by Union officer and fellow future President Rutherford B.…

Tagged with: 1843, History, January, January 29, Leon Czolgosz, Pan-American Exposition, Presidents, Sarah Palin, Theodore Roosevelt, This Day in History, This Day In History, United States, William McKinley
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Jan 29, 1979: School Shooting in San Diego

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Action for Freedom — Leave a comment

Brenda Spencer kills two men and wounds nine children as they enter the Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego. Spencer blazed away with rifle shots from her home directly across the street from the school. After 20 minutes of…

Tagged with: 1979, Bob Geldof, Boomtown Rats, Brenda Ann Spencer, California Institution for Women, Guns, January, January 29, Recreation, San Diego, This Day in History, This Day In History, United States
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Jan 28, 1958: Killer Couple Strikes the Heartland

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Action for Freedom — Leave a comment

On this day in 1958, Charles Starkweather, a 19-year-old high-school dropout from Lincoln, Nebraska, and his 14-year-old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, kill a Lincoln businessman, his wife and their maid, as part of a murderous crime spree that began a…

Tagged with: 1958, Badlands, Bruce Springsteen, Caril Ann Fugate, Charles Starkweather, James Dean, January, January 28, Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Terrence Malick, This Day in History, This Day In History
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Jan 28, 1985: American Recording Artists Gather to Record “We Are the World”

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Action for Freedom — Leave a comment

The special instruction Quincy Jones sent out to the several dozen pop stars invited to participate in the recording of “We Are the World” was this: “Check your egos at the door.” Jones was the producer of a record that…

Tagged with: 1985, January, January 28, Ken Kragen, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Smokey Robinson, This Day in History, This Day In History, Tina Turner, United States, We Are the World
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Jan 28, 1986: Space Shuttle Challenger Explodes

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Action for Freedom — 2 Comments

At 11:38 a.m. EST, on January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Christa McAuliffe is on her way to becoming the first ordinary U.S. civilian to travel into space. McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high…