This Day Trivia january 26th

Events

1998 Clinton-Lewinsky Affair The President goes on national TV and states, "I want you to listen to me, I'm going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."

1984 Michael Jackson The King of Pop's hair catches on fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial.

1870 Virginia is readmitted to the Union.

1861 Civil War Louisiana becomes the 6th state to secede from the Union.

1838 First U.S. prohibition law Tennessee passes a law making it a misdemeanor to sell alcohol in taverns and stores.

1837 Michigan becomes the 26th state. Michigan is Chippewa for "great water."

1830 Daniel Webster proclaims "Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable," in his reply to Hayne.

1784 Benjamin Franklin writes a letter to his daughter expressing his disapproval of the eagle as our nation's symbol. He preferred the turkey.

Births

1963 Andrew Ridgeley British singer, with Wham!. Music: Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (1984 #1).

1961 Wayne Gretzky hockey player, "The Great One." He is the all-time leader in scoring (2,328) and assists (1,563) and has one the MVP award a record nine times.

1958 Ellen DeGeneres American comic actress, voted Showtime's "Funniest Person In America" (1982). TV: HBO's One Night Stand, The Tonight Show (she was the first female comedian invited to sit on the couch with Johnny Carson), and David Letterman. Film: Finding Nemo (2003, voice of Dory).

1957 Eddie Van Halen Dutch-born American guitarist. Music: Runnin' With the Devil (1976) and Jump (1984, #1).

1946 Gene Siskel American movie critic.

1935 Bob Uecker American baseball player, actor. TV: Mr. Belvedere (George).

1929 Jules Feiffer cartoonist, author, creator of Munro and The Explainers.

1928 Roger Vadim (Roger Vadim Plemiannikov), French director. Film: And God Created Woman (1956, which featured his young bride, Brigitte Bardot, in the nude) and Barbarella (1968).

1928 Eartha Kitt American singer, actress. TV: Batman (Catwoman).

1925 Paul Newman American actor. Film: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), The Hustler (1961), and The Sting (1973).

1905 Maria von Trapp d. 1987 Austrian-born singer, matriarch of the singing von Trapp family whose life story inspired the movie The Sound of Music.

1887 François Faber d. 1915 Luxembourgian cyclist, Tour de France winner (1909, winning 5 consecutive stages). He was the first non-Frenchman to win the Tour de France. During WWI after receiving a telegram announcing the birth of his daughter, he jumped for joy in his trench and was killed by a German bullet.

1880 Douglas MacArthur d. 1964 American 5-star general, "I shall return."

1831 Mary Mapes Dodge d. 1905 American author. Writings: Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates (1865).

Deaths

2000 Donald J. Budge b. 1915 American tennis Hall of Famer, first to win the tennis Grand Slam (1938).  He was the World No. 1 ranked player for five years.

1983 Bear Bryant b. 1913 (Paul William Bryant), American football coach, the Crimson Tide (1958-82), the winningest coach in college football history (325 wins).

1979 Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller b. 1909 41st U.S. Vice-President (1974-77) and governor of New York (1959-73).

1973 Edward G. Robinson b. 1893 (Emmanuel Goldenberg), American actor. Film: Little Caesar (1931, the gangster boss).

1932 William Wrigley Jr b. 1861 American businessman. He founded the Wrigley Co. (1891), which first sold soap and baking powder and then of course chewing gum (1892).

1893 Abner Doubleday b. 1819 American soldier. He is credited with inventing baseball, although he never claimed so and modern research indicates similar games were played before he was born. He fired the first shot at the Confederacy from Fort Sumter at the start of the Civil War.  He also patented the cable car railway that runs in San Francisco.

1891 Nikolaus August Otto b. 1832 German co-inventor of the internal combustion engine (1867) and built a four-stroke Otto cycle (1876) which is used in most automobiles.

1886 David Rice Atchison b. 1807 American politician, on March 4, 1849 he became president of the U.S. until president-elect Zachary Taylor took the oath of office the following day.

1823 Edward Jenner b. 1749 English physician. He invented the vaccination (1796), after observing that people wouldn't catch smallpox if they were already infected with cowpox, which he then used as a vaccination.