On this day

January 12th

1773 - USA: The first museum officially established in the American colonies was founded at Charleston, South Carolina. In 1915 it was incorporated as the Charleston Museum.

1987 - USA: The National Monetary Conference met at Indianapolis, and endorsed the existing gold standard. A commission appointed later in the year offered Congress a plan for the monetary system. With the silver issue finally settled, the U.S. entered a decade of prosperity.

1909 - USA: 105 miners are killed after a pit explosion in Wheeling, West Virginia.

1918 - Brest-Litovsk: Russia and Germany recognise the independence of the Ukrainian Republic.

1922 - London: The government announces an amnesty for all Irish political prisoners.

1926 - Paris: The Pasteur Institute announces the discovery on an anti-tetanus serum.

1930 - Atlantic: 23 people are killed when the Royal Navy Tug "St. Genny" sinks in a gale off Ushant.

1937 - UK: 30 people are feared dead when the Finnish ship "Johanna Thorden" sinks off the coast of Scotland.

1939 - USA: A two-year defence program costing $535,000,000 was recommended by President Roosevelt in a special message to Congress.

1940 - Germany: General Albert Kesselring is given command of the Luftwaffe's 2nd Air Fleet.

1942 - Tangiers: A German plan to detect Allied shipping movements in the Mediterranean, by sending an infra-red beam across the Straits of Gibraltar is foiled after British Agents blow up the transmitter.

1943 - USSR: The attack on Stalingrad is extended with assaults on the Hungarian and German second armies.

1944 - Italy: After capturing Cervaro, U.S troops pushed forwards towards Cassino.

1945 - Berlin: Gertrud Steele, a 27-year-old nurse who said at a private party that "she hated the Nazis", is executed for being an "enemy of the state."

1948 - USA: Legal education facilities for blacks in Oklahoma equal to those for whites were ordered by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

1953 - France: The trial opens in Bordeaux of 25 ex SS men and 11 Frenchmen accused of the 1944 Oradour Massacre.

1954 - Wellington: The Queen becomes the first reigning monarch to open the New Zealand parliament.

1962 - USA: American communists were barred from travel abroad by new regulations issued by the U.S. State Department, denying passports to Communist Party members.

1968 - Moscow: Writers Alexander Ginsberg and Yuri Galenkov are jailed for "slandering the state."

1969 - London: Police battle with around 4,000 demonstrators trying to take over Rhodesia House, and South Africa House.

1971 - USA: Formation of the "Earth Act Group" was announced by Ralph Nader. Its purpose was to organise student fund-raising to support court actions and scientific efforts to fight rural and urban environmental problems.

1971 - USA: The Rev. Philip F. Berrigan was indicted with five others for conspiring to kidnap presidential adviser Henry Kissinger and to bomb the heating systems of federal buildings in Washington D.C.

1973 - Cairo: Yasser Arafat is re-elected PLO leader.

1974 - USA: The Steve Miller Band were at No.1 on the US singles charts with "The Joker."

1977 - UK: The Police had their first rehearsal, held at drummer Stewart Copeland's flat, with Henri Padovani on guitar, Sting on bass, and Andy Summers on guitar.

1982 - Africa: Mark Thatcher goes missing in the Sahara desert on the Paris-Dakar rally.

1987 - UK: Prince Edward resigns from the Royal Marines.

1993 - USA: Van Morrison failed to turn up at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction dinner, making him the first living inductee not to attend.

1995 - USA: Snoop Doggy Dog was charged in Los Angeles for possession of marijuana, and drug paraphernalia.

2005 - UK: It was announced the Strawberry Field children's home immortalised by The Beatles was to close. The home in Woolton , Liverpool was made famous when John Lennon wrote "Strawberry Fields Forever" after playing there as a child.

2005 - USA: U.S. Intelligence officials confirm that its search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq had ended last month. The claim that Iraq had an active WMD program was the justification for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

2009 - Indonesia: The Indonesian Ferry "MV TeraTai Prima" capsizes and sinks off Sulawesi, killing over 230 people.

2011 - Burma: Burma passes a law enacting conscription for both males and females.

2013 - Beijing: Beijing's air pollution reaches levels judged as hazardous to human health.

January 13th

1840 - USA: A ship fire caused the death of 140 people, when the steamboat Lexington caught fire near Eaton's Neck, New York.

1913 - UK: The first sick and maternity benefits come into force under the National Insurance Act.

1915 - Italy: Around 29,000 people are killed after a massive earthquake hits Central Italy.

1916 - UK: Miners unions vote overwhelmingly against conscription.

1919 - London: Sir Satyendra Prassano Sinha becomes the first Indian Peer.

1921 - USA: A report on urbanization by the Census Bureau showed that 51% of Americans lived in cities and towns of more than 2,500.

1923 - USA: The Senate agrees to admit 25,000 Armenian orphans into the U.S.

1926 - USA: 65 people are feared killed after a mine explosion in Wilburton, Oklahoma.

1930 - China: As Famine grips the country, two million people are reported to have died from starvation.

1932 - India: The world's largest irrigation project "The Sukkar Dam" is opened.

1935 - Germany: The inhabitants of the Saar region go to the polls to vote on a return to the Reich.

1937 - USA: The U.S. puts a ban on joining either side in the Spanish Civil War.

1940 - Germany: Bad weather forces Adolf Hitler to postpone his Western offensive to 20th January.

1941 - UK: Plymouth suffers a heavy night air raid by around 50 German bombers.

1942 - Lodz, Poland: 700 Jews are deported to Chelmo death camp; the first group of 10,000 down for "resettlement."

1943 - Sofia: 36 people are executed and 200 are arrested in anti-Nazi protests.

1944 - Burma: Chinese forces destroy Japanese resistance at Yupgang Ga, and push north across the river Tarung.

1945 - Ankara: Turkey agrees to open its waters to allied shipping.

1949 - China: Mao Tse-tung rejects a Nationalist peace bid, as the Communists begin shelling Peking.

1955 - New York: Chase National Bank and the Bank of Manhattan announce their merger.

1956 - Jordan: Anti-US rioters burn down an American hospital.

1962 - USA: Chubby Checker went back to No.1 on the US singles charts with "The Twist". The song first went to No.1 in Sept 1960 and became the only record in US chart history to top the charts on two separate occasions.

1964 - Calcutta: 200 people are killed during Hindu-Moslem riots.

1970 - London: The Government announces an extra £5 million to aid Biafran refugees.

1972 - UK: Navel officer David Bingham is jailed for 21 years for selling secrets to Russia.

1973 - UK: Slade achieved their first UK No.1 album with "Slayed."

1978 - UK: The Police began recording their first album at Surrey Studios with producer Nigel Grey.

1982 - USA: An Air Florida jet crashed into a bridge over the Potomac River in Washington D.C, shortly after take-off from National Airport, killing 78 people, including seven who were on the bridge.

1984 - UK: Six people are killed during hurricane-force winds.

1984 - UK: BBC Radio 1 announced a ban on "Relax" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, after DJ Mike Read called it "obscene."

1988 - New York: Doctors reveal that one in every 61 babies born the previous month in New York City had the AIDS virus.

1993 - Iraq: U.S. British and French warplanes carry out airstrikes in retaliation for Iraq's violation of UN resolutions.

1997 - Lima: Peruvian Tupac Amaru guerrillas - who had been holding 72 diplomats hostage in the Japanese Ambassador's mansion since before Christmas - open fire on police stationed outside the mansion gates.

2007 - Italy: A tribunal in the port of La Spezia sentences 10 former members of the Nazi SS to life imprisonment for their role in the worst massacre on Italian soil where several hundred people were killed in 1944 around the town of Marzabotto, near Bologna.

2010 - South Africa: A fatal shark attack on a tourist off the coast of Cape Town prompts the closure of several beaches.

2013 - USA: NASA announces new data effectively ruling out a 2036 Earth impact for the near Earth asteroid 99942 Apophis.

January 14th

1639 - USA: The first constitution in the colonies, the Fundamental Orders, composed by Roger Ludlow, was adopted by representatives from Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield in Connecticut. The resulting instrument, with some changes, remained in force till 1818.

1840 - USA: The Republic of Texas set aside two plots of land for the Alabama and Coushatta Indians in Eastern Texas.

1902 - UK: Over 300 trade unions declare themselves in favour of universal state pensions.

1907 - Jamaica: A earthquake hits the capital Kingston. Buildings in a ten-mile radius were badly damaged, leaving thousands homeless.

1914 - Paris: Actress Sarah Bernhardt receives the Legion of Honour.

1916 - Holland: The worst storms for 90 years causes a breach in the Zuyder Zee dam at Katwoude, causing widespread devastation.

1920 - Paris: David Lloyd George receives the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, Frances highest award.

1928 - Libya: Around 100 tribesmen are killed in clashes with Italian troops.

1932 - USA: Unemployment figures stood at 8.2 million.

1940 - Warsaw: Deaths, mainly from starvation in the Jewish ghetto stand at 70 per day.

1941 - Libya: RAF bombers continue their frequent attacks on shipping in Benghazi harbour.

1942 - USSR: Following the seizure of Kirov, Russian forces recapture Medya, driving a wedge between two German Panzer divisions.

1943 - UK: To counter a serious increase in U-boat operations, the RAF switches its bombing campaign from industrial targets to U-boat bases in France, attacking Cherbourg and Lorient.

1944 - Bulgaria: Sofia begins to be evacuated after two heavy Allied bombing raids.

1945 - Poland: The Red Army cuts the railway line south of Cracow in its rapid advance towards Germany.

1949 - USA: An antitrust suit against the American Telephone and Telegraph Company was filed by the Department of Justice, which sought to separate the company from its manufacturing subsidiary, Western Electrics, Inc.

1952 - London: Sir Robert Watson-Watt wins a £50,000 government prize for his "initiation of radar."

1955 - UK: Petrol prices are increased by 5d a gallon to 4/6d a gallon.

1959 - New Delhi: Nehru's daughter, Mrs Indira Gandhi stands for president of the Congress Party.

1963 - London: Drummer Charlie Watts made his live debut with the Rolling Stones at the Flamingo Jazz Club in Soho.

1967 - UK: Cliff Richard in an interview with the music weekly NME tells them he was retiring from show business to teach religious education in schools.

1969 - Hawaii: A ship fire combined with a series of explosions aboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise killed 27 people and injured 82 at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii.

1972 - USA: Plans were announced for the first breeder reactor, a nuclear reactor that produces more fuel than it consumes. It was to be built in Tennessee by a consortium of government and private organizations.

1974 - USA: Mass strip searches of soldiers and their property for concealed drugs were declared unconstitutional by a federal court.

1977 - UK: Police in Manchester shoot dead an escaped prisoner after he kills four people in Chesterfield.

1981 - USA: In his farewell address President Jimmy Carter stressed the "threat of nuclear destruction, our stewardship of the physical resources of our planet, and the pre-eminence of the basic rights of human beings" as the nation's most pressing problems.

1984 - UK: Paul McCartney made history by becoming the first artist to have a No.1 in a group (The Beatles), in a duo (with Stevie Wonder), in a trio (with Wings), and as a solo artist when he reached No.1 on the UK singles chart with "Pipes of Peace."

1985 - UK: Emergency government action to halt the slide in the pound fails; it closes at a new low of $1.1105.

1989 - USA: Bobby Brown went to No.1 on the US singles chart with "My Prerogative."

1991 - Tunis: Abu Iyad (Salah Khalef) the deputy leader of the PLO is assassinated.

1993 - Baltic Sea: A Polish ferry capsizes, killing 48 people.

1996 - UK: Oasis hit No.1 on the UK album chart with (What's the story) Morning Glory.

1997 - Athens: Greek archaeologists claim to have found traces of the Lyceum - the school where Aristotle taught philosophy in the 4th century BC - under a city car park.

2008 - USA: Bobby Jindal is sworn in as the 56th governor of Louisiana, becoming the first Indian American governor in history.

2010 - Indonesia: A 8 man crew of Irish sailors are rescued after the Clipper round the World yacht race competitor "Cork Clipper" hits a rock in Java.

2011 - USA: Blues musician Etta James is diagnosed with dementia, and undergoes treatment for Leukaemia.

2013 - UK: British music retailer HMV goes into administration after 90 years of trading.

January 15th

1865 - USA: Fort Fisher, North Carolina, fell to Union Forces under a joint sea and land assault. Some 2000 soldiers were captured, including Major General William H.C. Whiting, who was mortally wounded.

1870 - USA: The first political cartoon to use the "donkey" as a symbol for the Democratic Party appeared in Harper's Weekly. The cartoon by Thomas Nast, was called "A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion."

1900 - London: The Hippodrome Theatre opened on Charing Cross Road.

1915 - Eastern Front: An 800,000 strong Russian Army advances on West Prussia.

1919 - UK: The Miner's Federation calls for a six-hour day, and nationalisation of the mines.

1923 - London: The engagement is announced of Prince Albert, Duke of York, to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.

1926 - Ankara: The Turkish government adopts the Swiss civil code as the basis of its legal system.

1931 - Germany: Unemployment in the country reaches 4.76 million.

1935 - Africa: Benito Mussolini unites Eritrea and Somaliland as Italian East Africa.

1940 - Belgium: The government refuses to grant transit rights to enable Allied troops to cross Belgium territory.

1941 - Luxemburg: German soldiers loot the ancient monastery of Clairvaux.

1943 - Rastenburg: Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to fly in 300 tons of supplies a day to the besieged Sixth Army at Stalingrad.

1944 - London: The European Advisory Commission decides to divide Germany into occupation zones after the war.

1945 - London: The Boat-train service to the Continent resumes after a break of five years.

1948 - USA: "Make Mine Manhattan", a musical revue by Arnold B. Hewitt and Richard Lewine, opened at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York City. It's cast included a relative newcomer, Sid Caesar.

1952 - London: Sir Gerald Templar becomes high commissioner for Malaya, succeeding the murdered Henry Gurney.

1954 - Kenya: "General China" the second most important military figure in the Mau Mau, is captured and wounded.

1958 - USA: "Vanessa", the first opera by Samuel Barber, was given its premiere performance at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.

1960 - South Africa: At the opening of parliament. uproar greets the new Progressive Party's call to end apartheid.

1961 - USA: The Supremes signed a worldwide recording contract with Motown Records.

1963 - UK: The BBC ends its ban on mentioning politics, royalty, religion and sex in its comedy shows.

1968 - London: A bill is published making "irretrievable breakdown of marriage" the sole ground for divorce.

1971 - UAR: Anwar Sadat and Soviet President Podgorny open the Aswan High Dam.

1974 - USA: in testimony on the White House Tapes, an expert stated the 18 and a half minute gap in a critical tape had been caused by deliberate and repeated erasures.

1976 - Switzerland: Britain's John Curry wins the European Figure Skating Championship.

1978 - Karachi: Geoffrey Boycott becomes England cricket captain for the first time taking over from the injured Mike Brearley.

1983 - USA: Men At Work began a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with "Down Under."

1985 - Brazil: Tencredo de Almeida Neves is elected Brazil's first civilian President in 21 years.

1986 - Moscow: Mikhail Gorbachev proposes a 15-year timetable to eliminate all nuclear arms by the end of the century.

1988 - Jerusalem: Israeli soldiers battle with Palestinians, outside Islam's Nobel Sanctuary in the heart of the city.

1991 - USA: The first elected Navajo tribal president was inaugurated at Window Rock, Arizona. He was Peter Zah, a former chairman of the Navajo Nation which had 219,000 members. The ceremony ended two years of disputes and upheaval's among officials of the Navajos.

1993 - Shetlands: Oil from the stricken tanker "Braer" is widely dispersed by huge waves and winds.

1995 - Belfast: British troops end daytime patrols.

1997 - New York: In the light of her notorious financial problems The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, becomes a spokeswoman for Weightwatchers, signing a $1 million contract.

2002 - UK: 80's pop star Adam Ant was admitted to a mental ward 24 hours after being charged by police for pulling a gun on staff in a London pub.

2006 - Iran: An Iranian official states that the country is continuing its nuclear program despite being sanctioned by the UN.

2011 - USA: The online encyclopedia Wikipedia celebrates the 10th anniversary of its founding.

2013: UK: Paul McGinley is chosen to lead Europe in the defence of the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

January 16th

1854 - USA: Citizens from Yreka, California, confronted a band of Shasta Indians over stolen cattle. Four citizens were killed. This incident rekindled the Rogue River War.

1868 - USA: A patent for a refrigerator car was granted to William Davis, a fish dealer in Detroit, Michigan. Davis wanted to increase his area of sales, and had worked for many years to develop his "ice box on wheels." He used his new invention for the transportation of fish and fruit. He also designed the first railroad refrigerated car, which was built in 1869.

1901 - Paris: The Durand-Ruel gallery holds an exhibition of works by Camille Pissaro.

1908 - UK: The first issue of the journal of the scouting movement "Scouting for Boys" is published.

1914 - Paris: The first French dirigible flies over Paris.

1920 - Europe: The Allies decide to lift their trade blockade of Soviet Russia.

1924 - Paris: The Pasteur Institute announces it has isolated the bacillus that causes rabies.

1929 - Moscow: Nikolai Bukharin resigns as head of the Communist International after disagreements with Stalin.

1933 - USA: Electrification of the Pennsylvania Railroad between New York City and Philadelphia is completed.

1934 - Berlin: Hermann Goering orders the dissolution of all Freemason lodges.

1940 - Germany: Worsening weather causes Adolf Hitler to cancel his attack on the west, and he begins ordering preparations for an assault on Scandinavia.

1941 - UK: The former US presidential candidate Wendell Wilkie, arrives on a morale-boosting visit.

1944 - New Guinea: Australian forces capture Finisterre.

1945 - Poland: Soviet troops capture Radom, and begin the encirclement of Warsaw.

1948 - Karachi: Pakistan accuses India of armed aggression and systematic annihilation of Moslems.

1956 - Italy: The Winter Olympics open in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

1958 - USA: "Two for the Seesaw" by William Gibson, a play about a divorced man who falls in love with a New York girl, opened at the Booth Theatre in New York City. It starred Henry Fonda and Anne Bancroft.

1959 - London: Junior minister John Profumo joins the Foreign Office in a government reshuffle.

1963 - Tunisia: 13 people are sentenced to death for an assassination attempt against President Bourguiba.

1964 - USA: "Hello Dolly!" by Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman, the biggest musical comedy hit of the season, opened at the St. James Theatre in New York City. The show was based on Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker and starred Carol Channing. The title song became a huge hit with jazz great Louis Armstrong's version selling over 1,000,000 copies.

1967 - USA: The first black southern sherrif, former paratrooper Lucius Amerson was sworn in at Tuskegee, Alabama.

1970 - London: John Lennon's London art gallery exhibit of erotic lithographs, "Bag One" was raided by Scotland Yard detectives who confiscated eight exhibits that were deemed to be indecent.

1977 - UK: David Soul was at No.1 on the UK singles charts with "Don't Give Up On Us."

1978 - UK: A fireman's strike which saw troops deployed in Glasgow, ends resulting in a 10% pay award and reduced working hours.

1980 - Tokyo: Paul McCartney was jailed for nine days in Tokyo for marijuana possession after being found with 219g on his arrival at Narita Airport.

1985 - London: The Dorchester Hotel is bought by the Sultan of Brunei.

1987 - Ireland: Ulster MP Peter Robinson is fined £15,000 for leading Loyalists on an "Invasion" of an Irish village.

1988 - USA: George Harrison was No.1 on the US singles chart with "Got My Mind Set On You."

1991 - The Gulf: Operation "Desert Storm" to liberate Kuwait begins with US air raids at midnight GMT.

1992 - USA: An agreement on patents, copyrights, and trade secrets was reached by the U.S and China to provide protection for American books, music recordings, and computer software. In effect China agreed to adopt international standards, ending what was estimated to be more than $800,000,000 of income lost annually by American firms.

1998 - London: Britain announces it is sending battleship HMS Invincible to the Gulf as tension mounts between Iraq and the West.

1999 - New York: U.S. citizens interned in Nazi concentration camps are informed the will receive reparation from Germany worth up to $15 million.

2005 - UK: Elvis Presley's single "One Night" made chart history by becoming the 1,000th UK No.1 single.

2006 - USA: Former U.S. President Gerald Ford is admitted to hospital suffering from pneumonia.

2008 - Madagascar: An announcement is made of the discovery of Tahina spectabilis a palm in Northern Madagascar that dies after flowering.

2011 - Hungary: Three people are killed in a stampede at a three-storey nightclub in Budapest.

2012 - USA: The King Center in Atlanta, publishes 200,000 personal papers online belonging to Martin Luther King Jr, to mark his birthday.

January 17th

1781 - USA: In the Battle of Cowpens, South Carolina, American forces under General Daniel Morgan inflicted severe losses on a British Force led by Colonel Banastre Tarleton.

1813 - USA: As part of the Detroit Campaign, General James Winchester's force of 700 Kentucky soldiers attacked British and Indian forces at Monroe, Michigan, then called Frenchtown, on the Raisin River, liberating the village.

1902 - Mexico: An Earthquake in Mexico City kills more than 300 people.

1913 - France: Raymond Poincare is elected President of the Republic.

1916 - USA: The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) was formed The first professional tournament under its auspices, held at the Siwanoy Golf Course in Bronxville New York, on April 10 was won by James M. Barnes.

1927 - Mexico: 100 people are killed when a archbishop leads a revolt of Catholics against the government.

1934 - South Africa: A prospector finds the world's third largest diamond, at 726 carats.

1937 - Moscow: The USSR refuses to halt aid to the Republicans in Spain.

1939 - Germany: Jews are banned from being dentists, vets, and pharmacists and are also banned from driving, and going to cinemas, theatres and concerts.

1940 - London: The River Thames freezes for the first time since 1888 as a Cold wave strikes Europe.

1941 - UK: Swansea is badly hit by incendiaries and high explosives in a heavy German air raid.

1942 - Arctic: In the first U-Boat attack on an Arctic convoy the destroyer HMS Matabele is sunk by U454 off Murmansk, while escorting convoy PQ-8.

1943 - Germany: Raiding Berlin for the second night in a row, the RAF drops 8,000 pound bombs on the city; BBC broadcaster Richard Dimbleby flies as an observer.

1944 - Melbourne: Meat rationing is introduced in Australia.

1949 - Germany: The three Western Allies set up a Military Security Board for West Germany.

1952 - USA: Winston Churchill addresses a joint session of Congress.

1956 - London: An enquiry opens into a proposed £55 million development of the Barbican Area of the City.

1957 - Portugal: The Queen and Prince Phillip arrive on a state visit.

1963 - London: Industrial action by electricity workers causes power blackouts.

1966 - Mediterranean: A military aircraft collision involving a U.S B-52 bomber and a KC-135 jet tanker over Spain's Mediterranean coast killed seven of the 11 men aboard the planes.

1966 - UK: Leading bakers put one penny on the price of a standard loaf, costing 1/3d halfpenny.

1968 - London: Michael Foot leads 41 Labour MP's in a revolt against spending cuts of £712 million.

1970 - USA: The Doors appeared at New York's Felt Forum.

1977 - USA: Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore was executed by a Utah firing squad, ending a ten-year halt on capital punishment in the U.S.

1986 - Uganda: Heavy fighting is reported between government forces and troops of the National Resistance Army.

1987 - UK: Kate Bush began a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with "The Whole Story."

1991 - Blackpool: Fire destroys Blackpool's famous Fun House.

1996 - London: The Queen announces she will not pay the Duchess of York's debts, that some believe to be as high as £2 million.

1997 - The West Bank: Israel withdraws its troops from the town of Hebron, handing control to the Palestinian Authority.

2010 - New Zealand: Prince William arrives for a 3-day tour, including the opening of its new Supreme Court building, in his first official overseas trip representing Elizabeth II.

2011 - Japan: A computer glitch temporarily halts all bullet trains in northern and central Japan, affecting thousands of passengers.

2013 - USA: U.S cyclist Lance Armstrong is stripped of his bronze medal rom the 2000 Summer Olympics by the IOC because of his involvement in doping.

January 18th

1901 - South Africa: Around 800 Boers are routed near Ventersburg by Australasian troops.

1909 - New Zealand: Brewers decide on the abolishment of barmaids and to mostly ban women from buying alcohol in bars.

1919 - Paris: The Peace Conference opened in Paris. For the U.S. President Woodrow Wilson it was the beginning of a fight to preserve the principles of the 14 points on which he believed a lasting peace should be established. He failed to have many of his most important points included because of the demands of other victorious allies.

1928 - London: Three Britons are sentenced to ten years, for spting for the USSR.

1932 - France: 18 people are killed in a bus accident between Abbeville and Paris.

1937 - London: Horse-drawn traffic is banned from a wide area of the West End.

1940 - Warsaw: The Gestapo shoots dead 250 Jews in woods outside the city, following the arrest of the Jewish-born Catholic resistance leader Andrzej Kott.

1941 - Malta: Luftwaffe planes launch strikes on the island's airfields.

1943 - USA: The American Medical Association (AMA) was found by the U.S. Supreme Court to have violated antitrust laws by preventing activities of co-operative health groups.

1945 - Auschwitz-Birkenau: The Germans order the inmates to evacuate the camp immediately for transport- on foot or by train- to concentration camps in Germany.

1955 - Nairobi: Kenya's governor Sir Evelyn Baring offers an amnesty to the Mau Mau.

1960 - USA: A controversial mutual security treaty was signed by the U.S. and Japanese governments. Among other pledges, the treaty stated that both the U.S and Japan would "maintain and develop...their capacities to resist armed attacks."

1962 - Algeria: French troops kill 18 Moslem guerrillas.

1964 - New York: "Dylan" a drama by Sidney Michaels based on incidents in the life of the late Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, opened at the Plymouth Theatre. The title role was performed by Alec Guinness, with Kate Reid portraying Caitlin Thomas, the poet's wife.

1968 - USA: A White House luncheon given by Mrs Lyndon B. Johnson for a group of nationally influential women was disrupted when actress Eartha Kitt stated with great emotion that it was pointless to discuss remedies for the troubles at home as long as the war in Vietnan continued.

1972 - Brussels: Negotiations over British entry into the EEC are completed.

1973 - UK: Eleven Clay Cross councillors are surcharged for refusing to increase council house rents.

1979 - London: The government announces a voluntary picketing code to avoid delaying.

1981 - London: Ten people are killed and over 30 are injured when a fire-bomb is thrown into a West Indian party in Deptford.

1984 - Beirut: Gunmen murder Malcolm Kerr. the head of the American University.

1985 - London: The Financial Times-Stock Exchange share index breaks through the 1,000 point barrier for the first time.

1986 - USA: Gun's N' Roses appeared at the Roxy Club in Hollywood, California.

1991 - Israel: Iraqi scud missiles hit Tel Aviv and Haifa.

1994 - London: Prince Charles quits playing competitive Polo, due to back problems.

1998 - Iraq: President Saddam Hussein announces a holy war against sanctions imposed by the UN following the Gulf War.

2001 - London: Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher was granted a quickie divorce from Meg Matthews at the High Court in London.

2006 - China: The Chinese health ministry's website states that the country has recorded its sixth death from the avian flu-virus.

2009 - Gaza: Israel begins withdrawing its defence forces from the Southern Gaza Strip.

2011 - Sri Lanka: Hundreds of Sri Lankan flood victims protest over the alleged unfair distribution of emergency aid.

2012 - An Amateur astronomer in Peterborough discovers a new Neptune-sized exo-planet.

January 19th

1886 - A Presidential Succession Act was passed by Congress. It provided that in the event of removal, death, resignation, or inability of the president and vice-president, the heads of the executive departments, in the order of the creation of their offices, would succeed to the presidency. A new order of succession was adopted in 1947, and it was superseded by the 25th amendment to the Constitution in 1967.

1903 - China: The Imperial Government announces it is unable to meet reparations for the Boxer Rebellion.

1907 - Tehran: Mohammed Ali Mirza is crowned Shah of Persia in the Royal Palace in Tehran.

1912 - London: The London General Omnibus Company, and the London Underground Electric Railways Company, provisionally agree to merge.

1920 - France: Andre Millerand succeeds the retiring Georges Clemenceau as premier.

1932 - London: The U.S. Hoover Electric Cleaner Company, announces it is planning to build a factory at Perivale in Middlesex.

1936 - India: The Aga Khan is weighed in gold; at 16 stone, he was the equivalent to £25,000.

1938 - Barcelona: 200 people are believed to have been killed in an air raid by General Franco's forces.

1940 - North Sea: The destroyer HMS Grenville is sunk by a mine; 81 men are feared to have lost their lives.

1941 - Mediterranean: The British destroyer Greyhound sinks the Italian submarine Neghelli off Phalconera.

1942 - USSR: Soviet troops land behind enemy lines south-west of Vyazma.

1944 - USA: Railways were returned to their owners after final settlement of a wage dispute. The railroads had been seized on Dec. 27, 1943 by presidential order to prevent a nationwide rail strike.

1945 - China: Japanese troops take Chingyuan, on the Canton to Hankow Railway.

1954 - USA: General Motors announced a $1,000,000,000 expansion programme.

1959 - USA: The Platters began a three week at No.1 on the US singles charts with "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes."

1961 - London: Dr Michael Ramsey becomes Archbishop of Canterbury on the retirement of Geoffrey Fisher.

1967 - London: Pink Floyd and Marmalade played the Marquee Club.

1967 - UK: The Monkees were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with "I'm A Believer."

1970 - India: The Country's first nuclear power station opens.

1973 - USA: A so-called anti-war counter-concert was held in Washington D.C, on the night of President Richard Nixon's inaugural concert. It featured Leonard Bernstein conducting Joseph Hayden's Mass in Time of War.

1976 - London: Britain agrees to withdraw her naval protection ships from Icelandic waters.

1977 - USA: Tokyo Rose, real name Iva Toguri D'Aquino, was pardoned by President Gerald Ford 27 years after her conviction for treason. She had made propaganda broadcasts from Japan during World War II in an attempt to demoralize U.S, Troops.

1979 - Washington: Ex-attorney General John Mitchell, the last Watergate conspirator still in jail, is released on parole.

1980 - USA: Pink Floyd's "The Wall" began a 15-week run at No.1 on the U.S Album chart. It went on to sell over 8 million copies.

1983 - Bolivia: Klaus Barbie, the notorious wartime SS chief of Lyons is arrested.

1988 - UK: Christopher Nolan, who has no speech or muscular co-ordination, wins the Whitbread Book of the Year Prize for his autobiography "Under the Eye of the Clock."

1993 - USA: Fleetwood Mac reformed to perform at Bill Clinton's inauguration. The band's track "Don't Stop" was used as the theme for his campaign.

1997 - USA: Madonna wins the Best Actress Golden Globe for her performance in "Evita."

2003 - USA: Norah Jones begins a three-week run at No.1 on the U.S album chart with "Come Away With Me."

2006 - Russia: At least 31 people are believed to have died during a four day cold snap in Russia, where temperatures plunged to as low as -42 degrees centigrade.

2007 - Western Europe: Hurricane force winds claim at least 40 lives, including 10 lives in Britain.

2010 - Alaska: Large quantities of oil still remain under beaches over 20 years after an Exon Valdez oil spill in the Prince William Sound, Alaska.

2012 - USA: Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke dies in the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City from injuries sustained in a training accident at the Park City Mountain Resort Eagle Superpipe in Utah.

January 20th

1887 - USA: Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu, was leased by the U.S. from Hawaii for a naval station.

1916 - Balkans: Montenegro rejects Austria's peace terms and resolves to continue fighting.

1921 - Ireland: Six policeman are killed by the IRA.

1922 - London: The National Liberal Council is formed with David Lloyd George as President and Churchill as Vice-president.

1930 - Philippines: 14 towns are devastated after a Typhoon strikes.

1937 - USA: President Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated for his second term.

1939 - Cairo: King Farouk is declared the Caliph, the spiritual leader of Islam.

1941 - Far East: Japan offers to mediate in the conflict between French Indochina and Thailand.

1942 - Singapore: The Japanese carry out daylight bombing raids.

1943 - Berlin: Heinrich Himmler demands more trains to "Wind Up" the extermination of the Jews quickly, even though they are desperately needed to ferry arms to the eastern front.

1944 - English Channel: British Coastal Guns sink the German blockade-runner "Munsterland."

1949 - London: Clement Attlee sets up a Royal Commission on capital punishment.

1953 - USA: Dwight D. Eisenhower was inaugurated president of the U.S. The 34th president, he served two terms.

1958 - London: The first radar speed checks are introduced.

1963 - Moscow: Russia agrees to allow on-site inspection during nuclear tests.

1966 - UK: The Spencer Davis Group were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with "Keep On Running."

1967 - UK: The Monkees TV show was shown for the first time in the UK.

1968 - USA: One hit wonders John Fred and the Playboy Band began a two-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with "Judy In Disguise (With Glasses).

1972 - UK: Unemployment rises above a million.

1976 - USA: Ex-governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter takes the lead in the race for Democratic presidential candidate.

1981 - Iran: The Iranian hostage crisis ended when Iran released the 52 U.S captives seized at the U.S Embassy in Tehran in November 1979. The release was accomplished with the help of Algeria minutes after Ronald Reagan succeeded Jimmy Carter as president. On 21 January, Carter flew to Wiesbaden, West Germany, to greet the freed Americans.

1982 - USA: During a concert in Des Moines, Iowa, by Ozzy Osbourne a member of the audience threw an unconscious bat onto the stage. Thinking it was one of his rubber fakes, Ozzy picked it up and bit off its head. The singer was later taken to hospital to be given a rabies injection.

1987 - UK: Police in eight counties arrest 26 alleged football hooligans after a mass operation.

1989 - USA: George Walker Bush was inaugurated president of the U.S, the nation's 41st president.

1991 - Moscow: A crowd of around 100,000 demonstrates outside the Kremlin over violence in Lithuania, and expressing support for Boris Yeltsin.

1992 - France: An Air Inter Airbus crashes into a mountain near Strasbourg, killing 86 out of the 96 people on board.

1996 - USA: Singer Bobby Brown was fined $I,000, sentenced to two years probation, and ordered to attend anger management classes after assaulting a security guard.

2001 - UK: A memorial service was held for singer Kirsty MacColl who was killed in a boating accident off the coast of Mexico in December 2000. Bono and Billy Bragg were among the friends and fans that attended the service at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in London.

2008 - India: A bus carrying pilgrims crashes near Nashik, killing 37 people, including 5 children.

2009 - Russia: Russia resumes transmitting national gas to Europe via Ukraine.

2011 - Gabon: One of the largest hauls of illegal gorilla and chimpanzee parts is seized by officials in Gabon.

2012 - India: Writer Salman Rushdie withdraws from the Jaipur Literature Festival due to new concerns about his possible assassination.

January 21st

1832 - USA: "To the victors belong the spoils" was an expression originated by Senator William Learned Marcy of New York. He used the expression in a speech defending the system of party patronage, initiated under the Democrats, against the attack of Henry Clay. The entire sentence read, "They see nothing wrong in this rule, that to the victor belongs the spoils of the enemy.

1888 - USA: The Amateur Athletic Union of the U.S (AAU) was formed, winning control over amateur athletics from unscrupulous promoters. The AAU's ideal was to preserve "sport for sport's sake." It came to supervise and conduct programs and competitions in about 20 sports and to represent the U.S. in international amateur sport federations.

1905 - USA: A protocol was signed with the Dominican Republic, giving the U.S. complete charge of its customs and international debt, with the purpose of satisfying European creditors of San Domingo., and to guarantee the territorial integrity of the republic.

1908 - USA: Smoking for women in public places was made illegal in New York City.

1914 - London: The Queen Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace was completed.

1920 - Helsinki: The Baltic States decide to form a defensive alliance against Russia.

1927 - UK: The number of telephones in use was estimated to be 500,000.

1931 - London: MP's defeat the Education Bill, which would have raised the school-leaving age from 14 to 15.

1936 - London: Edward VII is proclaimed King.

1940 - Atlantic: All 175 crewman are lost when a U-Boat sinks the British destroyer Exmouth.

1941 - Mediterranean: HMS Gnat, HMS Ladybird, and HMS Terror begin bombarding Tobruk.

1942 - Darwin, Australia: The U.S. destroyer Edsall sinks the Japanese mine-laying submarine I124.

1944 - London: Dwight D. Eisenhower holds a first meeting with his commanders to plan the Allied invasion of France.

1946 - London: The United Nations sets up an Atomic Energy Commission.

1950 - USA: Alger Hiss was convicted on two counts of perjury. The Jury at this, his second trial on perjury indictments, found Hiss guilty of lying to a federal grand jury. The jury was investigating allegations of espionage made by Whitaker Chambers, an avowed courier for a communist spy group. On January 25 Hiss was sentenced to two concurrent five-year prison terms.

1957 - USA: The first nationally televised videotaped TV broadcast was carried by the National Broadcasting Company. The program was a recording of the presidential inauguration ceremonies in Washington D.C.

1959 - UK: The Preston bypass, Britain's first stretch of motorway, is closed due to frost damage.

1965 - Australia: The Rolling Stones and Roy Orbison were met by around 3,000 screaming fans at Sydney Airport, when they arrive for a tour.

1968 - Greenland: A nuclear-armed B-52 bomber crashed near Greenland. Some radiation was released from its four hydrogen bombs, which broke up in the crash.

1969 - USA: A government study reported that that chronic hunger and malnutrition, accompanied by diseases related to malnutrition and unhealthy living conditions, were widespread in the U.S.

1974 - UK: T. Rex appeared at Newcastle City Hall.

1977 - USA: A presidential pardon for most of the nation's Vietnam draft resisters was issued by President Jimmy Carter.

1978 - USA: An art theft at St. Louis, Missouri Art Museum. netted the robbers four sculptures worth $100,000.

1982 - London: Nicholas Fairbairn, Solicitor-General for Scotland resigns.

1984 - UK: Yorkshire Cricket Club reverse their decision over the sacking of Geoffrey Boycott.

1989 - UK: Six weeks after his death Roy Orbison began a three-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with "The Legendary Roy Orbison Collection."

1990 - Kashmir: 30 people are killed as police open fire on crowds calling for independence from India.

1992 - New York: The UN orders Libya to hand over two Libyans linked to the bombing of Pam Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie.

1994 - USA: Lorena Bobbitt, who cut off part of her husband's penis, is found not guilty of malicious wounding by reason of insanity in Virginia.

1996 - Bosnia: U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights John Shattuck, visits the site of alleged mass graves in the Srebrenica area of Bosnia.

1998 - Northern Ireland: The IRA rejects a new British proposal in the peace process.

2001 - UK: Limp Bizkit began a two-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with "Rollin."

2008 - China: A gas explosion at an Illegal mine in Shanxhi kills at least 20 people.

2011 - UK: A group of engineers from the UK announce they are teaming up with the RAF in order to excavate a long forgotten escape tunnel from WWII.

2012 - Nigeria: The Death toll from a series of co-ordinated bombing attacks on police stations across the city of Kano rises to more than 140.