What Happened on January 4?

What Happened on January 4?

Historical Events on January 4

1493 - Christopher Columbus leaves the New World at the end of the his first journey.

1642 - King Charles I of England begins the run-up to the English Civil War by trying to arrest some members of Parliament (bad move for Charles, as he loses - twice)

1847 - Samual Colt sells his first revolver - to the U.S. Government

1885 - The first successful apendectomy was performed by William Grant

1896 - Utah is admitted as the 46th State

1999 - Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as Governor of Minnesota.

2004 - NASA Mars Rover, Spirit, lands successfully on Mars.


Births on January 4

1581 - Archbishop James Ussher - famous for Bible chronology

1643 - Sir Isaac Newton - mathematician, physicist, philospher, genious extraordinaire.

1785 - Jacob Grimm - along with his brother, Wilhelm, formed "The Brothers Grimm" of fairy tale and folklore fame.

1809 - Louis Braille - teacher of the blind and inventor of braille - the dotted writing used to enable many blind people to read


Deaths on January 4

1877 - Cornelius Vanderbilt - American entreprenuer - some estimate him to have been the second wealthiest man in American history.

1904 - Topsy the elephant - killed by electrocution after having killed three men. Inventor Thomas Edison filmed the event.

1960 - Albert Camus - author and philosopher

1965 - T. S. Eliot - Nobel winner and author of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and The Hollow Man among other works.


Sporting Events on January 4
1930 - Birth of Don Shula - legendary coach of the Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins. His 1972 Dolphins team is still the only team to go throughout the entire season, playoffs and SuperBowl without losing a game. (Although the New England Patriots were about 2 minutes from repeating the feat during the 2007-2008 season.)



Religious Events on January 4

1528 - Ferdinand of Austria issues a mandate forbidding the Anabaptist religious movement.

1851 - Archbishop James Ussher is born. In addition to his famous work on Bible chronology, Oliver Cromwell esteemed him so highly, he gave him a state funeral and had him buried in Westminster Abbey.

1947 - Peter Marshall elected Chaplain of the U.S. Senate.