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6 January 1912 – German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presents his theory of continental drift.

Alfred Wegener

German climatologist and geophysicist (1880–1930)

Alfred Lothar Wegener (/ˈveɪɡənər/;^[1] German: [ˈʔalfʁeːt ˈveːɡənɐ];^[2][3] 1 November 1880 – November 1930) was a German climatologist, geologist, geophysicist, meteorologist, and polar researcher.

During his lifetime he was primarily known for his achievements in meteorology and as a pioneer of polar research, but today he is most remembered as the originator of continental drift hypothesis by suggesting in 1912 that the continents are slowly drifting around the Earth (German: Kontinentalverschiebung).

His hypothesis was not accepted by mainstream geology until the 1950s, when numerous discoveries such as palaeomagnetism provided strong support for continental drift, and thereby a substantial basis for today's model of plate tectonics.^[4][5]

Wegener was involved in several expeditions to Greenland to study polar air circulation before the existence of the jet stream was accepted. Expedition participants made many meteorological observations and were the first to overwinter on the inland Greenland ice sheet and the first to bore ice cores on a moving Arctic glacier.

1. ^ "Wegener" Archived 29 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
2. ^ Dudenredaktion; Kleiner, Stefan; Knöbl, Ralf (2015) [First published 1962]. Das Aussprachewörterbuch [The Pronunciation Dictionary] (in German) (7th ed.). Berlin: Dudenverlag. pp. 177, 897. ISBN 978-3-411-04067-4.
3. ^ Krech, Eva-Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz Christian (2009). Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch [German Pronunciation Dictionary] (in German). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 302, 1047. ISBN 978-3-11-018202-6.
4. ^ Spaulding, Nancy E.; Namowitz, Samuel N. (2005). Earth Science. Boston: McDougal Littell. ISBN 0-618-11550-1.
5. ^ McIntyre, Michael; Eilers, H. Peter; Mairs, John (1991). Physical geography. New York: Wiley. p. 273. ISBN 0-471-62017-3.

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7 January 1835 – HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin on board, drops anchor off the Chonos Archipelago

HMS Beagle

10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy; notably carried Charles Darwin

"The Beagle" redirects here. For other uses, see Beagle (disambiguation).

For other ships with the same name, see List of ships named HMS Beagle.

HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, one of more than 100 ships of this class. The vessel, constructed at a cost of £7,803, was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames. Later reports say the ship took part in celebrations of the coronation of George IV, passing under the old London Bridge, and was the first rigged man-of-war afloat upriver of the bridge.^[2][3] There was no immediate need for Beagle, so she "lay in ordinary", moored afloat but without masts or rigging. She was then adapted as a survey barque and took part in three survey expeditions.

The second voyage of HMS Beagle is notable for carrying the recently graduated naturalist Charles Darwin around the world. While the survey work was carried out, Darwin travelled and researched geology, natural history and ethnology onshore. He gained fame by publishing his diary journal, best known as The Voyage of the Beagle, and his findings played a pivotal role in the formation of his scientific theories on evolution and natural selection.^[4][5]

1. ^ FitzRoy 1839, pp. 17–18.
2. ^ Taylor 2008, pp. 22–24, 36.
3. ^ Stokes 1846, p. 3.
4. ^ "HMS 'Beagle' (1820–70)". Royal Museums Greenwich. Archived from the original on 1 March 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
5. ^ Howitt, William (1865). "Voyages of Captains Wickham, Fitzroy, and Stokes, in the Beagle, round the Australian Coasts, from 1837 to 1843". The History of Discovery in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand: From the Earliest Date to the Present Day. Vol. 1. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts and Green. p. 332.

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8 January 1940 – World War II: Britain introduces food rationing

Rationing in the United Kingdom

Government-controlled distribution of scarce goods in the United Kingdom

"World War II rationing" redirects here. For World War II rationing in the United States, see Rationing in the United States § World War II.

Rationing was introduced temporarily by the British government several times during the 20th century, during and immediately after a war.^[1][2]

At the start of the Second World War in 1939, the United Kingdom was importing 20 million long tons of food per year, including about 70% of its cheese and sugar, almost 80% of fruit and about 70% of cereals and fats. The UK also imported more than half of its meat and relied on imported feed to support its domestic meat production. The civilian population of the country was about 50 million.^[3] It was one of the principal strategies of the Germans in the Battle of the Atlantic to attack shipping bound for Britain, restricting British industry and potentially starving the nation into submission.

To deal with sometimes extreme shortages, the Ministry of Food instituted a system of rationing. To buy most rationed items, each person had to register at chosen shops and was provided with a ration book containing coupons. The shopkeeper was provided with enough food for registered customers. Purchasers had to present ration books when shopping so that the coupon or coupons could be cancelled as these pertained to rationed items. Rationed items had to be purchased and paid for as usual, although their price was strictly controlled by the government and many essential foodstuffs were subsidised; rationing restricted what items and what amount could be purchased as well as what they would cost. Items that were not rationed could be scarce. Prices of some unrationed items were also controlled; prices for many items not controlled were unaffordably high for most people.

During the Second World War rationing—not restricted to food—was part of a strategy including controlled prices, subsidies and government-enforced standards, with the goals of managing scarcity and prioritising the armed forces and essential services, and trying to make available to everyone an adequate and affordable supply of goods of acceptable quality.

1. ^ Zweiniger-Bargielowska, Ina (2002), Austerity in Britain: Rationing, Controls and Consumption, 1939–1955, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-925102-5
2. ^ Kynaston, David (2007), Austerity Britain, 1945–1951, Bloomsbury, ISBN 978-0-7475-7985-4
3. ^ Macrory, Ian (2010). Annual Abstract of Statistics (PDF) (2010 ed.). Office for National Statistics. p. 29. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2021.

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9 January 1961 – British authorities announce they have uncovered the Soviet Portland Spy Ring in London.

Portland Spy Ring

Redirect to:

• Portland spy ring

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10 January 1927 – Fritz Lang's futuristic film Metropolis is released in Germany

Metropolis (1927 film)

German silent science-fiction film

Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist science-fiction silent film directed by Fritz Lang and written by Thea von Harbou in collaboration with Lang^[4][5] from von Harbou's 1925 novel of the same name (which was intentionally written as a treatment). It stars Gustav Fröhlich, Alfred Abel, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, and Brigitte Helm. Erich Pommer produced it in the Babelsberg Studio for Universum Film A.G. (UFA). Metropolis is regarded as a pioneering science-fiction film, being among the first feature-length ones of that genre.^[6] Filming took place over 17 months in 1925–26 at a cost of more than five million Reichsmarks,^[7] or the equivalent of about €21 million.

Made in Germany during the Weimar period, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city master, and Maria, a saintly figure to the workers, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes in their city and bring the workers together with Joh Fredersen, the city master. The film's message is encompassed in the final inter-title: "The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must Be the Heart".

Metropolis met a mixed reception upon release. Critics found it visually beautiful and powerful – the film's art direction by Otto Hunte, Erich Kettelhut, and Karl Vollbrecht draws influence from opera, Bauhaus, Cubist, and Futurist design,^[8] along with touches of the Gothic in the scenes in the catacombs, the cathedral and Rotwang's house^[9] – and lauded its complex special effects, but accused its story of being naïve.^[10] H. G. Wells described the film as "silly", and The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction calls the story "trite" and its politics "ludicrously simplistic".^[9] Its alleged communist message was also criticized.^[11]

The film's long running time also came in for criticism. It was cut substantially after its German premiere. Many attempts have been made since the 1970s to restore the film. In 1984, Italian music producer Giorgio Moroder released a truncated version with a soundtrack by rock artists including Freddie Mercury, Loverboy, and Adam Ant. In 2001, a new reconstruction of Metropolis was shown at the Berlin Film Festival. In 2008, a damaged print of Lang's original cut of the film was found in a museum in Argentina. Footage from both this print and a second one archived in New Zealand was restored and re-integrated into the film, bringing it to within five minutes of its original running time. This version was shown on large screens in Berlin and Frankfurt simultaneously on 12 February 2010.

Metropolis is now widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made, ranking 67th in Sight and Sound's 2022 critics' poll, and receiving general critical acclaim.^[12] In 2001, the film was inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World International Register, the first film thus distinguished.^[13] On 1 January 2023, the film's American reserved copyright expired, thereby entering the film into the public domain.^[14]

1. ^ Kreimeier 1999, p. 156.
2. ^ ^{a b} Bennett, Bruce (2010) "The Complete Metropolis: Film Notes" Kino DVD K-659
3. ^ Cohn, Lawrence (15 October 1990). "All Time Film Rental Champs". Variety. p. M-172. ISSN 0042-2738.
4. ^ Magid 2006, p. 129.
5. ^ Grant 2003, p. 14.
6. ^ "Metropolis (1927)" Archived 10 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine Science Fiction Film History. Retrieved 15 May 2013. Quote: "Although the first science fiction film is generally agreed to be Georges Méliès' A Trip To The Moon (1902), Metropolis (1926) is the first feature length outing of the genre."
7. ^ Hahn, Ronald M.; Jansen, Volker (1998). Die 100 besten Kultfilme (in German). Munich, Germany: Heyne Filmbibliothek. p. 396. ISBN 3-453-86073-X.
8. ^ McGilligan 1997, p. 112.
9. ^ ^{a b} Brosnan, Joan and Nichols, Peter. "Metropolis". In Clute, John and Nicholls, Peter (eds.) (1995). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. New York: St.Martin's Griffin. p. 805. ISBN 0-312-13486-X
10. ^ McGilligan 1997, p. 130.
11. ^ McGilligan 1997, p. 131.
12. ^ "The Greatest Films of All Time". Sight & Sound. British Film Institute. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
13. ^ "Metropolis – Sicherungsstück Nr. 1: Negative of the restored and reconstructed version 2001" UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. Accessed: 16 June 2025
14. ^ "What's Entering the Public Domain in 2023: Fritz Lang's Metropolis, Virginia Woolf's to the Lighthouse, Franz Kafka's Amerika & More | Open Culture".

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11 January 1908 – Grand Canyon National Monument is created.

Grand Canyon National Park

National park in Arizona, United States

This article is about the national park in the southwestern United States. For the canyon itself, see Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States located in northwestern Arizona, the 15th site to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often considered one of the Wonders of the World. The park, which covers 1,217,262 acres (1,901.972 sq mi; 4,926.08 km²) of unincorporated area in Coconino and Mohave counties, received more than 4.7 million recreational visitors in 2023.^[5] The Grand Canyon was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. The park celebrated its 100th anniversary on February 26, 2019.^[6]

1. ^ Grand Canyon in United States of America Archived July 24, 2019, at the Wayback Machine. protectedplanet.net. United Nations Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre and the IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
2. ^ "Grand Canyon National Park Visitor Center". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
3. ^ "Listing of acreage – December 31, 2011" (XLSX). Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved March 7, 2012. (National Park Service Acreage Reports)
4. ^ "Annual Park Ranking Report for Recreation Visits in: 2023". nps.gov. National Park Service. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
5. ^ "Top 10 most visited national parks". Travel. March 27, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
6. ^ "Grand Canyon Centennial History". Time. Retrieved April 19, 2019.

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12 January 1895 – The National Trust is founded in the United Kingdom.

National Trust

Conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

For other National Trusts, see National Trust (disambiguation).

The National Trust (Welsh: Ymddiriedolaeth Genedlaethol) is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the permanent preservation for the benefit of the Nation of lands and tenements (including buildings) of beauty or historic interest". It has since been given statutory powers, starting with the National Trust Act 1907. Historically, the Trust acquired land by gift and sometimes by public subscription and appeal, but after World War II the loss of country houses resulted in many such properties being acquired either by gift from the former owners or through the National Land Fund.

One of the largest landowners in the United Kingdom, the Trust owns almost 250,000 hectares (620,000 acres; 2,500 km²; 970 sq mi) of land and 780 miles (1,260 km) of coast. Its properties include more than 500 historic houses, castles, archaeological and industrial monuments, gardens, parks, and nature reserves. Most properties are open to the public for a charge (members have free entry), while open spaces are free to all. The Trust had an annual income of nearly £724 million in 2023/24, largely from membership subscriptions, donations and legacies, direct property income, profits from its shops and restaurants, and investments. It also receives grants from a variety of organisations including other charities, government departments, local authorities, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

1. ^ ^{a b} "National Trust: Annual Report 2023–2024" (PDF). National Trust.
2. ^ "His Majesty The King will continue as our Patron". National Trust. 9 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
3. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference Annual Report 2019/20 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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13 January 1920 – The Reichstag Bloodbath of January 13, 1920, the bloodiest demonstration in German history.

Reichstag Bloodbath

1920 riots against passage of the Works Councils Act in Berlin, Germany

The Reichstag Bloodbath (German: Blutbad vor dem Reichstag) occurred on 13 January 1920 in front of the Reichstag building in Berlin during negotiation by the Weimar National Assembly on the Works Councils Act (Betriebsrätegesetz). The number of people killed and injured is controversial, but it is certainly the bloodiest demonstration in German history.^[1] The event was a historic event that was overshadowed two months later by the Kapp Putsch but remained in Berlin's labour movement and security forces' collective memory.^[2]

1. ^ Weipert 2012, p. 16.
2. ^ Liang 1970, p. 98.

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14 January 1943 – World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill begin the Casablanca Conference to discuss strategy and study the next phase of the war

Casablanca Conference

1943 conference between Allied leaders for WWII military planning

This article is about the 1943 conference of Allied forces in World War II. For the 1961 conference of left-wing Pan-African leaders, see Casablanca Group. For the secret 1965 conference of leaders of the Arab League, see 1965 Arab League summit.

The Casablanca Conference (codenamed SYMBOL) or Anfa Conference^[1] was held in Casablanca, French Morocco, from January 14 to 24, 1943, to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II. The main discussions were between US President Franklin Roosevelt (with his military staff) and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (with his staff). Stalin could not attend. Key decisions included a commitment to demand Axis powers' unconditional surrender; plans for an invasion of Sicily and Italy before the main invasion of France; an intensified strategic bombing campaign against Germany; and approval of a US Navy plan to advance on Japan through the central Pacific and the Philippines. The last item authorized the island-hopping campaign in the Pacific, which shortened the war. Of all the decisions made, the most important was the Allied invasion of Sicily, which Churchill pushed for in part to divert American attention from opening a second front in France in 1943, a move that he feared would result in very high Allied casualties and not be possible until 1944.

Also attending were the sovereign of Morocco, Sultan Muhammad V, and representing the Free French forces, Generals Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud, but they played minor roles and were not part of the military planning.^[1] Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, declined to attend, citing the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad as requiring his presence in Moscow.

Roosevelt and Churchill issued the public Casablanca Declaration, which the promulgation of the policy of "unconditional surrender". That doctrine came to represent the unified voice of Allied will and the determination that the Axis powers would be fought to their ultimate defeat

1. ^ ^{a b} Miller, Susan Gilson. (2013). A history of modern Morocco. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-62469-5. OCLC 855022840.

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15 January 1759 – The British Museum opens to the public

British Museum

National museum in London, England

For other uses, see British Museum (disambiguation).

The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world.^[3] It documents the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present.^[a] Established in 1753, the British Museum was the first public national museum.^[4] In 2023, the museum received 5,820,860 visitors, 42% more than the previous year. At least one group rated it the most popular attraction in the United Kingdom.^[2]

At its beginning, the museum was largely based on the collections of the Anglo-Irish physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane.^[5] It opened to the public in 1759, in Montagu House, on the site of the current building. The museum's expansion over the following 250 years was largely a result of British colonisation and resulted in the creation of several branch institutions, or independent spin-offs, the first being the Natural History Museum in 1881. Some of its best-known acquisitions, such as the Greek Elgin Marbles and the Egyptian Rosetta Stone, are subject to long-term disputes and repatriation claims.^[6][7]

In 1973, the British Library Act 1972^[8] detached the library department from the British Museum, but it continued to host the now separated British Library in the same Reading Room and building as the museum until 1997. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Like all UK national museums, it charges no admission fee except for loan exhibitions.^[9]

1. ^ "Collection size". British Museum. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
2. ^ ^{a b} "British Museum is the most-visited UK attraction again". BBC News. 18 March 2024. Archived from the original on 18 March 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
3. ^ van Riel, Cees (30 October 2017). "Ranking The World's Most Admired Art Museums, And What Big Business Can Learn From Them". Forbes. Archived from the original on 18 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
4. ^ "History of the British Museum". The British Museum. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
5. ^ "The Life and Curiosity of Hans Sloane". The British Library. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
6. ^ "The Big Question: What is the Rosetta Stone, and should Britain return". The Independent. 9 December 2009. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
7. ^ Tharoor, Kanishk (29 June 2015). "Museums and looted art: the ethical dilemma of preserving world cultures". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
8. ^ "British Library Act 1972". legislation.gov.uk. 1972. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
9. ^ "Admission and opening times". British Museum. 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 8 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2010.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

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16 January 1909 – Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole

Ernest Shackleton

Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer (1874–1922)

"Shackleton" redirects here. For other uses, see Shackleton (disambiguation).

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

Born in Kilkea, County Kildare, Ireland, Shackleton and his Anglo-Irish family^[1] moved to Sydenham in suburban south London when he was ten. Shackleton's first experience of the polar regions was as third officer on Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery Expedition of 1901‍–‍1904, from which he was sent home early on health grounds, after he and his companions Scott and Edward Adrian Wilson set a new southern record by marching to latitude 82° S. During the Nimrod Expedition of 1907‍–‍1909, he and three companions established a new record Farthest South latitude of 88°23′ S, only 97 geographical miles (112 statute miles or 180 kilometres) from the South Pole, the largest advance to the pole in exploration history. Also, members of his team climbed Mount Erebus, the most active Antarctic volcano. On returning home, Shackleton was knighted for his achievements by King Edward VII.

After the race to the South Pole ended in December 1911, with Roald Amundsen's conquest, Shackleton turned his attention to the crossing of Antarctica from sea to sea, via the pole. To this end, he made preparations for what became the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914‍–‍1917. The expedition was struck by disaster when its ship, Endurance, became trapped in pack ice and finally sank in the Weddell Sea off Antarctica on 21 November 1915. The crew escaped by camping on the sea ice until it disintegrated, then by launching the lifeboats to reach Elephant Island and ultimately the South Atlantic island of South Georgia, enduring a stormy ocean voyage of 720 nautical miles (1,330 km; 830 mi) in Shackleton's most famous exploit. He returned to the Antarctic with the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition in 1921 but died of a heart attack while his ship was moored in South Georgia. At his wife's request, he remained on the island and was buried in Grytviken cemetery. The wreck of Endurance was discovered just over a century after Shackleton's death.^[2][3]

Away from his expeditions, Shackleton's life was generally restless and unfulfilled. In his search for rapid pathways to wealth and security, he launched business ventures which failed to prosper, and he died heavily in debt. Upon his death, he was lauded in the press but was thereafter largely forgotten, while the heroic reputation of his rival Scott was sustained for many decades. Later in the 20th century, Shackleton was "rediscovered",^[4] and he became a role model for leadership in extreme circumstances.^[5] In his 1956 address to the British Science Association, one of Shackleton's contemporaries, Sir Raymond Priestley, said: "Scott for scientific method, Amundsen for speed and efficiency[,] but[,] when disaster strikes and all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton", paraphrasing what Apsley Cherry-Garrard had written in a preface to his 1922 memoir The Worst Journey in the World. In 2002, Shackleton was voted eleventh in a BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.

1. ^ "Historical figures: Ernest Shackleton (1874–1922)". BBC History. Archived from the original on 27 April 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
2. ^ Amos, Jonathan (9 March 2022). "Endurance: Shackleton's lost ship is found in Antarctic". BBC News. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
3. ^ Fountain, Henry (9 March 2022). "At the Bottom of an Icy Sea, One of History's Great Wrecks Is Found". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
4. ^ Jones 2003, p. 289.
5. ^ Barczewski 2007, p. 295.

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17 January 1918 – Finnish Civil War: The first serious battles take place between the Red Guards and the White Guard.

Finnish Civil War

1918 civil war in Finland

The Finnish Civil War^[a][b] was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition from a grand duchy ruled by the Russian Empire to a fully independent state. The clashes took place in the context of the national, political, and social turmoil caused by World War I (Eastern Front) in Europe. The war was fought between the Red Guards, led by a section of the Social Democratic Party with backup of the Russian bolsheviks and the White Guards of the senate and those who opposed socialism, with major assistance by the German Imperial Army, along the German goal to control Fennoscandia. The paramilitary Red Guards, which were composed of industrial and agrarian working class people, controlled the cities and industrial centres of southern Finland. The paramilitary White Guards, which consisted of land owners and the middle and upper class Finns, controlled rural central and northern Finland, and were led by General C. G. E. Mannerheim.

In the years before the conflict, Finland had experienced rapid population growth, industrialisation, urbanisation and the rise of a comprehensive labour movement. The country's political and governmental systems were in an unstable phase of democratisation and modernisation. The socio-economic condition and education of the population had gradually improved, and national awareness and culture had progressed. World War I led to the collapse of the Russian Empire, causing a power vacuum in Finland, and the subsequent struggle for dominance led to militarisation and an escalating crisis between the left-leaning labour movement and the conservatives. The Reds carried out an unsuccessful general offensive in February 1918, supplied with weapons by Soviet Russia. A counteroffensive by the Whites began in March, reinforced by the German Empire's military detachments in April. The decisive engagements were the Battles of Tampere and Viipuri, won by the Whites, and the Battles of Helsinki and Lahti, won by German troops, leading to overall victory for the Whites and the German forces. Political violence became a part of this warfare with around 12,000 casualties, most of them were Reds. Moreover about 12,500 Red prisoners died of malnutrition and disease in camps. In total 39,000 people, of whom 36,000 were Finns, died in the conflict.

In the immediate aftermath, the Finns passed from Russian governance to the German sphere of influence with a plan to establish a German-led Finnish monarchy. The scheme ended with Germany's defeat in World War I, and Finland instead emerged as an independent, democratic republic. The civil war divided the nation for decades. Finnish society was reunited through social compromises based on a long-term culture of moderate politics, religion, and a post-war economic recovery.

1. ^ Including conspirative co-operation between Germany and Russian Bolsheviks 1914–1918, Pipes 1996, pp. 113–149, Lackman 2009, pp. 48–57, McMeekin 2017, pp. 125–136
2. ^ ^{a b} Arimo 1991, pp. 19–24, Manninen 1993a, pp. 24–93, Manninen 1993b, pp. 96–177, Upton 1981, pp. 107, 267–273, 377–391, Hoppu 2017, pp. 269–274
3. ^ Ylikangas 1993a, pp. 55–63
4. ^ Muilu 2010, pp. 87–90
5. ^ ^{a b} Paavolainen 1966, Paavolainen 1967, Paavolainen 1971, Upton 1981, pp. 191–200, 453–460, Eerola & Eerola 1998, National Archive of Finland 2004 Archived 10 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Roselius 2004, pp. 165–176, Westerlund & Kalleinen 2004, pp. 267–271, Westerlund 2004a, pp. 53–72, Tikka 2014, pp. 90–118

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18 January 1967 – Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler", is convicted of numerous crimes and is sentenced to life imprisonment.

Boston Strangler

Murderer of 13 women in the Boston area

For other uses, see Boston Strangler (disambiguation).

The Boston Strangler is the name given to the murderer of 13 women in Greater Boston during the early 1960s. The crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo based on his confession, on details revealed in court during a separate case,^[1] and DNA evidence linking him to the final victim.^[2]

In the years following DeSalvo's conviction – but prior to the emergence of this DNA evidence – various parties investigating the crimes suggested that the murders (sometimes referred to as the "Silk Stocking Murders") were committed by more than one person.^[3]

1. ^ Anglin, Robert J. (January 13, 1967). "Albert DeSalvo is 'Boston Strangler'; Defense says he killed 13". The Boston Globe.
2. ^ "Boston Strangler". Britannica. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
3. ^ "Albert DeSalvo". Case Files. Modus Operandi - Serial Killers. Archived from the original on January 18, 2000. Retrieved March 16, 2023.

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19 January 1901 – Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom, stricken with paralysis. She dies three days later at the age of 81

Queen Victoria

Queen of the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901

"Victoria of the United Kingdom" and "Victoria I" redirect here. For other people, see Victoria of the United Kingdom (disambiguation) and Queen Victoria (disambiguation). For other uses, see Victoria (disambiguation).

Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days, which was longer than those of any of her predecessors, constituted the Victorian era. It was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India.

Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After the deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller, John Conroy. She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue. Victoria, a constitutional monarch, attempted privately to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality.

Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet "grandmother of Europe". After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, British republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond jubilees were times of public celebration. Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, at the age of 81. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover, she was succeeded by her son Edward VII of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
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20 January 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.

Pope Fabian

Head of the Catholic Church from 236 to 250

Pope Fabian (Latin: Fabianus) was the bishop of Rome from 10 January 236 until his death on 20 January 250,^[4] succeeding Anterus. A dove is said to have descended on his head to mark him as the Holy Spirit's unexpected choice to become the next pope.^[5] He was succeeded by Cornelius.

Most of his papacy was characterized by amicable relations with the imperial government, and the schism between the Roman congregations of Pontian and Hippolytus was ended. He divided Rome into diaconates and appointed secretaries to collect the records of the martyrs. He sent out seven "apostles to the Gauls" as missionaries, but probably did not baptize Emperor Philip the Arab as is alleged. He died a martyr at the beginning of the Decian persecution and is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.^[4][5]

1. ^ "Άγιος Φάβιος ο Ιερομάρτυρας επίσκοπος Ρώμης Ορθόδοξος Συναξαριστής" (in Greek).
2. ^ "Commemorations for Amshir 7: The Martyrdom of St. Fabianus (Fabrianus), Pope of Rome". Coptic Orthodox Church Network. St. Mark Coptic Church. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
3. ^ "Commemorations for Amshir 11: The Martyrdom of St. Fabianus (Fabrianus), Pope of Rome". Coptic Orthodox Church Network. St. Mark Coptic Church. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
4. ^ ^{a b} Meier, Gabriel (1909). "Pope St. Fabian". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
5. ^ ^{a b} Pirlo, Paolo O. (1997). "St. Fabian". My First Book of Saints. Sons of Holy Mary Immaculate – Quality Catholic Publications. p. 24. ISBN 978-971-91595-4-4.

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21 January 1915 – Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit.

Kiwanis

International service club

For other uses, see Kiwanis (disambiguation).

Kiwanis International (/kɪˈwɑːnɪs/ ki-WAH-nis) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. In 1987, the organization began to accept women as members. Kiwanis and its affiliated clubs have more than 600,000 members. Kiwanis clubs raise over $100 million each year and report over 18.5 million volunteer hours to strengthen communities and serve children.^[4]

1. ^ "Kiwanis International Financial Statement" (PDF). Kiwanis International. April 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
2. ^ "Campaign aims to grow endowment". Kiwanis Connected e-zine. July 2006. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
3. ^ "Financial Highlights". Kiwanis International. Archived from the original on May 17, 2007. Retrieved April 17, 2025.
4. ^ "Just the Facts". Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved June 8, 2013.

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22 January 1905 – Bloody Sunday in Saint Petersburg, beginning of the 1905 revolution.

Bloody Sunday (1905)

1905 protest in St. Petersburg, Russia

For other events of the same name, see Bloody Sunday (disambiguation).

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of the Russian Revolution of 1905.

For a topical guide, see Outline of the Russian Revolution of 1905.

Bloody Sunday (Russian: Крова́вое воскресе́нье, romanized: Krovavoye voskresenye, IPA: [krɐˈvavəɪ vəskrʲɪˈsʲenʲjɪ]), also known as Red Sunday (Russian: Красное воскресенье),^[1] was the series of events on Sunday, 22 January [O.S. 9 January] 1905 in St Petersburg, Russia, when demonstrators, led by Father Georgy Gapon, were fired upon by soldiers of the Imperial Guard as they marched towards the Winter Palace to present a petition to Tsar Nicholas II.

Bloody Sunday caused grave consequences for the tsarist authorities governing Russia: the events in St. Petersburg provoked public outrage and a series of massive strikes that spread quickly to the industrial centres of the Russian Empire. The massacre on Bloody Sunday is considered to be the start of the active phase of the Revolution of 1905. In addition to beginning the 1905 Revolution, historians such as Lionel Kochan in his book Russia in Revolution 1890–1918 view the events of Bloody Sunday to be one of the key events which led to the Russian Revolution of 1917.

1. ^ A History of Modern Europe 1789–1968 by Herbert L. Peacock m.a.

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23 January 1912 – The International Opium Convention is signed at The Hague.

International Opium Convention

Treaties of 1912 and 1925

The International Opium Convention (also known as the Opium Conferences) refers either to the first International Opium Convention signed at The Hague in 1912, to the second International Opium Convention signed at Geneva in 1925 or both. The conferences were an international effort by states to regulate the trade of opium and suppress opium consumption.^[1]

1. ^ Buell, Raymond Leslie (1925). "The Opium Conferences". Foreign Affairs. 3 (4): 567–583. doi:10.2307/20028400. ISSN 0015-7120. JSTOR 20028400.

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24 January 1916 – In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.

Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.

1916 United States Supreme Court case

Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., 240 U.S. 1 (1916), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court upheld the validity of a tax statute called the Revenue Act of 1913, also known as the Tariff Act, Ch. 16, 38 Stat. 166 (October 3, 1913), enacted pursuant to Article I, section 8, clause 1 of, and the Sixteenth Amendment to, the United States Constitution, allowing a federal income tax. The Sixteenth Amendment had been ratified earlier in 1913. The Revenue Act of 1913 imposed income taxes that were not apportioned among the states according to each state's population.

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25 January 1964 – Blue Ribbon Sports, which would later become Nike, is founded by University of Oregon track and field athletes.

Nike, Inc.

American athletic equipment company

"NIKE" redirects here. For other uses, see Nike.

Nike, Inc.^{[note 1]} (stylized as NIKE) is an American athletic footwear and apparel corporation headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon.^[6] It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, with revenue in excess of US$46 billion in its fiscal year 2022.^[7][8]

The company was founded on January 25, 1964, as "Blue Ribbon Sports", by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, and officially became Nike, Inc. on May 30, 1971. The company takes its name from Nike, the Greek goddess of victory.^[9] Nike markets its products under its own brand, as well as Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Nike Blazers, Air Force 1, Nike Dunk, Air Max, Foamposite, Nike Skateboarding and Nike CR7.^[10] The company also sells products under its Air Jordan brand and its Converse subsidiary. Nike also owned Bauer Hockey from 1995 to 2008, and previously owned Cole Haan, Umbro, and Hurley International.^[11] In addition to manufacturing sportswear and equipment, the company operates retail stores under the Niketown name. Nike sponsors many high-profile athletes and sports teams around the world, with the highly recognized trademarks of "Just Do It" and the Swoosh logo.

As of 2024,^[update] it employed 83,700 people worldwide.^[12] In 2020, the brand alone was valued in excess of $32 billion, making it the most valuable brand among sports businesses.^[13] Previously, in 2017, the Nike brand was valued at $29.6 billion.^[14] Nike ranked 89th in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.^[15] The company ranked 239th in the Forbes Global 2000 companies in 2024.

1. ^ Pacheco, Inti (September 22, 2024). "Elliott Hill Loved Nike and Left It. Now He's Back as CEO". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
2. ^ Kish, Matthew (November 15, 2023). "Nike shuffles top executives, names new heads of innovation, design, marketing and technology". The Oregonian. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
3. ^ "US SEC: 2024 Form 10-K NIKE, Inc". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. July 25, 2024.
4. ^ "Nike is pronounced Nikey, confirms guy who ought to know". The Independent. June 2, 2014. Archived from the original on June 21, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
5. ^ "It's official: Nike rhymes with spiky – and you're saying all these wrong too". the Guardian. June 3, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
6. ^ "Contact Nike, Inc". Nike, Inc. Archived from the original on June 30, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
7. ^ "Nike annual revenue worldwide 2022". Statista. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
8. ^ Sage, Alexandria (June 26, 2008). "Nike profit up but shares tumble on U.S. concerns". Reuters. Retrieved July 10, 2008.
9. ^ Levinson, Philip. "How Nike almost ended up with a very different name". Business Insider. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
10. ^ "Nike CR7". Nike, Inc.
11. ^ "Nike sells Bauer Hockey for $200 Million". The Sports Network. February 21, 2008. Archived from the original on February 25, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
12. ^ "Nike (NKE)". Forbes. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
13. ^ "Most Valuable Apparel Brand? Nike Just Does It Again". Brand Finance. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
14. ^ "The World's Most Valuable Brands 2017: 16. Nike". Forbes. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
15. ^ "Fortune 500 Companies 2018: Who Made the List". Fortune. Archived from the original on November 10, 2018. Retrieved November 10, 2018.

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26 January 1861 – American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union.

Louisiana secession

US Civil war event

The U.S. state of Louisiana declared that it had seceded from the United States on January 26, 1861. It then announced that it had joined the Confederate States (C.S.); Louisiana was the sixth slave state to declare that it had seceded from the U.S. and joined the C.S.

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27 January 2011 – Arab Spring: The Yemeni Revolution begins as over 16,000 protestors demonstrate in Sana'a.

Yemeni Revolution

Redirect to:

• Yemeni revolution

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28 January 1624 – Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.

Thomas Warner (explorer)

Captain in the guards of James I of England (1580–1649)

For other people named Thomas Warner, see Thomas Warner (disambiguation).

Thomas Warner (1580 – 10 March 1649) was an English colonial official who served as the Governor of Saint Kitts from 1627 to 1649. The English colony he founded in Saint Kitts in 1624 is the oldest English settlement in the West Indies. The native Kalinago were massacred during his time as governor.

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29 January 1850 – Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the U.S. Congress.

Compromise of 1850

American political compromise

The United States after the ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, with the Mexican Cession still unorganized

The United States after the Compromise of 1850

Events leading to the American Civil War

1. Northwest Ordinance (1787)
2. Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions (1798–99)
3. End of Atlantic slave trade
4. Missouri Compromise (1820)
5. Tariff of 1828
6. Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831)
7. Nullification crisis (1832–33)
8. Abolition of slavery in the British Empire (1834)
9. Texas Revolution (1835–36)
10. United States v. Crandall (1836)
11. Gag rule (1836–44)
12. Commonwealth v. Aves (1836)
13. Murder of Elijah Lovejoy (1837)
14. Burning of Pennsylvania Hall (1838)
15. American Slavery As It Is (1839)
16. United States v. The Amistad (1841)
17. Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842)
18. Texas annexation (1845)
19. Mexican–American War (1846–48)
20. Wilmot Proviso (1846)
21. Nashville Convention (1850)
22. Compromise of 1850
23. Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)
24. Recapture of Anthony Burns (1854)
25. Kansas–Nebraska Act (1854)
26. Ostend Manifesto (1854)
27. Bleeding Kansas (1854–61)
28. Caning of Charles Sumner (1856)
29. Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
30. The Impending Crisis of the South (1857)
31. Panic of 1857
32. Lincoln–Douglas debates (1858)
33. Oberlin–Wellington Rescue (1858)
34. John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry (1859)
35. Virginia v. John Brown (1859)
36. 1860 presidential election
37. Crittenden Compromise (1860)
38. Secession of Southern states (1860–61)
39. Peace Conference of 1861
40. Corwin Amendment (1861)
41. Battle of Fort Sumter (1861)

The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that temporarily defused tensions between slave and free states during the years leading up to the American Civil War. Designed by Whig senator Henry Clay and Democratic senator Stephen A. Douglas, with the support of President Millard Fillmore, the compromise centered on how to handle slavery in recently acquired territories from the Mexican–American War (1846–48).

The provisions of the compromise were:^[1][2]

• approved California's request to enter the Union as a free state
• strengthened fugitive slave laws with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
• banned the slave trade in Washington, D.C. (while still allowing slavery itself there)
• defined northern and western borders for Texas while establishing a territorial government for the Territory of New Mexico, with no restrictions on whether any future state from this territory would be free or slave
• established a territorial government for the Territory of Utah, with no restrictions on whether any future state from this territory would be free or slave

A debate over slavery in the territories erupted during the Mexican–American War, as many Southerners sought to expand slavery to the newly acquired lands and many Northerners opposed any such expansion. The debate was further complicated by Texas's claim to all former Mexican territory north and east of the Rio Grande, including areas it had never effectively controlled. These issues prevented the passage of organic acts to create organized territorial governments for the land acquired in the Mexican–American War. In early 1850, Clay proposed a package of eight bills that would settle most of the pressing issues before Congress. Clay's proposal was opposed by President Zachary Taylor, anti-slavery Whigs like William Seward, and pro-slavery Democrats like John C. Calhoun, and congressional debate over the territories continued. The debates over the bill are among the most famous in Congressional history, and the divisions devolved into fistfights and drawn guns on the floor of Congress.

After Taylor died and was succeeded by Fillmore, Douglas took the lead in passing Clay's compromise through Congress as five separate bills. Under the compromise, Texas surrendered its claims to present-day New Mexico and other states in return for federal assumption of Texas's public debt. California was admitted as a free state, while the remaining portions of the Mexican Cession were organized into New Mexico Territory and Utah Territory. Under the concept of popular sovereignty, the people of each territory would decide whether or not slavery would be permitted. The compromise also included a more stringent Fugitive Slave Law and banned the slave trade in Washington, D.C. The issue of slavery in the territories would be re-opened by the Kansas–Nebraska Act (1854), but the Compromise of 1850 played a major role in postponing the Civil War.

1. ^ Drexler, Ken. "Research Guides: Compromise of 1850: Primary Documents in American History: Introduction". guides.loc.gov. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
2. ^ "Compromise of 1850 (1850)". National Archives. June 28, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2022.

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30 January 1826 – The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world's first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the north West coast of Wales, is opened.

Menai Suspension Bridge

Historic bridge between Anglesey and mainland Wales

The Menai Suspension Bridge (Welsh: Pont y Borth or Pont Grog y Borth) is a suspension bridge spanning the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales. Designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1826, it was the world's first major suspension bridge.^[1] The bridge still carries road traffic and is a Grade I listed structure.^[2]

1. ^ "Menai Suspension Bridge". Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). 18 November 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
2. ^ "Menai Suspension Bridge, Menai Bridge". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 18 May 2015.

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31 January 1949 – These Are My Children, the first television daytime soap opera, is broadcast by the NBC station in Chicago.

These Are My Children

1949 American soap opera, considered the first to be broadcast on television

These Are My Children is an American television soap opera, or novella, that ran on NBC from January 31 to March 4, 1949.^[1] The show was broadcast live from WNBQ^[2] in Chicago, Illinois, airing 15 minutes a day, five days a week, at 5 p.m. EST. It is widely credited as the first soap opera broadcast on television.^[3][4] It may be more accurately described as the first daytime drama or the first soap opera strip, as it was preceded by DuMont series Faraway Hill in 1946 and Highway to the Stars in 1947, both of which are described as soap operas but aired later in the evenings and broadcast only once a week; Guiding Light had also been in production for 12 years once These Are My Children debuted, but only as a radio series - its TV version did not debut until 1952.^[5]

Created by Irna Phillips and directed by Norman Felton, the show was based in large part on Phillips' early radio soaps Today's Children and Painted Dreams.^[6]

In addition to critical opinions, the immediate factor in NBC's cancellation of These Are My Children was the decision by AT&T Corporation to end use of its coaxial cable for weekday eastbound distribution of programs originating in Chicago. Simultaneously executives of NBC "had found fault with the program" while they wanted to have more shows originate in New York rather than in Chicago or on the West Coast.^[7]

Phillips later created many popular daytime dramas,^[8] and Felton produced primetime soaps Dr. Kildare and Executive Suite.^[9]

1. ^ McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 829. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
2. ^ "WBNQ Kicking Off Four Chi Tele Shows" (PDF). Billboard. January 22, 1949. p. 12. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
3. ^ "Soap Comes to TV". Pathfinder News Magazine. February 9, 1949. p. 51. Archived from the original on March 7, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2019 – via oldmagazineaticles.com.
4. ^ "On This Day: First TV Soap Opera Debuts". Finding Dulcinea. January 31, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
5. ^ Copeland, Mary Ann (1991). Soap Opera History. Publications International. p. 277. ISBN 0-88176-933-9.
6. ^ Schemering, Christopher (1987). The Soap Opera Encyclopedia (2nd ed.). Ballantine Books. p. 228. ISBN 0-345-35344-7.
7. ^ "Chi Dimout as TV Origination Center". Billboard. March 12, 1949. p. 17. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
8. ^ Schemering, Christopher (1987). The Soap Opera Encyclopedia (2nd ed.). Ballantine Books. pp. 279–281. ISBN 0-345-35344-7.
9. ^ Newcomb, Horace, ed. Encyclopedia of Television (2nd ed.). Routledge (Taylor & Francis), 2013, p. 756-757. ISBN 978-0-203-93734-1.

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1 February 2021 – A coup d'état in Myanmar removes Aung San Suu Kyi from power and restores military rule

Aung San Suu Kyi

Burmese politician (born 1945)

In this Burmese name, the given name is Aung San Suu Kyi. There is no family name.

This article contains Burmese script. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Burmese script.

Aung San Suu Kyi^[a][b] (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2021. She has served as the general secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD) since the party's founding in 1988 and was registered as its chairperson while it was a legal party from 2011 to 2023.^[4][5][6] She played a vital role in Myanmar's transition from military junta to partial democracy in the 2010s.

The youngest daughter of Aung San, Father of the Nation of modern-day Myanmar, and Khin Kyi, Aung San Suu Kyi was born in Rangoon, British Burma. After graduating from the University of Delhi in 1964 and St Hugh's College, Oxford in 1968, she worked at the United Nations for three years. She married Michael Aris in 1972, with whom she had two children.

Aung San Suu Kyi rose to prominence in the 8888 Uprising of 8 August 1988 and became the General Secretary of the NLD, which she had newly formed with the help of several retired army officials who criticised the military junta. In the 1990 general election, NLD won 81% of the seats in Parliament, but the results were nullified, as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the military government, refused to hand over power, resulting in an international outcry. She had been detained before the elections and remained under house arrest for almost 15 of the 21 years from 1989 to 2010, becoming one of the world's most prominent political prisoners.^[7] In 1999, Time magazine named her one of the "Children of Gandhi" and his spiritual heir to nonviolence.^[8] She survived an assassination attempt in the 2003 Depayin massacre when at least 70 people associated with the NLD were killed.

Her party boycotted the 2010 general election, resulting in a decisive victory for the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Aung San Suu Kyi became a member of the Pyithu Hluttaw (House of Representatives) while her party won 43 of the 45 vacant seats in the 2012 by-elections. In the 2015 general election, her party won a landslide victory, taking 86% of the seats in the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, well more than the 67% supermajority needed to ensure that its preferred candidates were elected president and vice president in the Presidential Electoral College. Although she was prohibited from becoming the president due to a clause in the Myanmar Constitution—her late husband and children are foreign citizens—she assumed the newly created role of State Counsellor of Myanmar, a role akin to a prime minister or a head of government.

When she ascended to the office of state counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi drew criticism from several countries, organisations and figures over Myanmar's inaction in response to the Rohingya genocide in Rakhine State and refusal to acknowledge that the Tatmadaw (armed forces) had committed massacres.^{[9][10][11][12]} Under her leadership, Myanmar also drew criticism for prosecutions of journalists.^[13] In 2019, Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in the International Court of Justice where she defended the Myanmar military against allegations of genocide against the Rohingya people.^[14]

Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party had won the November 2020 general election, was arrested on 1 February 2021 following a coup d'état that returned the Tatmadaw to power and sparked protests across the country. Several charges were filed against her, and on 6 December 2021, she was sentenced to four years in prison on two of them. Later, on 10 January 2022, she was sentenced to an additional four years on another set of charges.^[15] On 12 October 2022, she was convicted of two further charges of corruption and she was sentenced to two terms of three years' imprisonment to be served concurrent to each other.^[16] On 30 December 2022, her trials ended with another conviction and an additional sentence of seven years' imprisonment for corruption. Aung San Suu Kyi's final sentence was of 33 years in prison,^[17] later reduced to 27 years.^[18] The United Nations, most European countries, and the United States condemned the arrests, trials, and sentences as politically motivated.^[19]

1. ^ "The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London". Complete University Guide. Archived from the original on 27 November 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
2. ^ "Aung San Suu Kyi". Desert Island Discs. 27 January 2013. BBC Radio 4. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
3. ^ "Definition of 'Aung San Suu Kyi'". Collins Dictionary.
4. ^ "Aung San Suu Kyi Fast Facts". CNN. 25 April 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
5. ^ Tharoor, Ishaan (9 November 2015). "What happened when Aung San Suu Kyi's party last won an election in Burma". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
6. ^ Min Ye Kyaw; Rebecca Ratcliffe (28 March 2023). "Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party dissolved". The Guardian. Bangkok, Thailand. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
7. ^ "5,000 days in captivity: The world's most famous political prisoner". The Independent. 23 October 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
8. ^ "The Children of Gandhi" (excerpt). Time. 31 December 1999. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013.
9. ^ Taub, Amanda; Fisher, Max (31 October 2017). "Did the World Get Aung San Suu Kyi Wrong?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
10. ^ Beech, Hannah (25 September 2017). "What Happened to Myanmar's Human-Rights Icon?". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
11. ^ "Dispatches – On Demand – All 4". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 15 May 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
12. ^ Ratcliffe, Rebecca (12 November 2018). "Aung San Suu Kyi stripped of Amnesty's highest honour over 'shameful betrayal'". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Reuters-Nebehay was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
14. ^ Cite error: The named reference alj-zarni was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
15. ^ Ratcliffe, Rebecca (10 January 2022). "Aung San Suu Kyi handed four-year jail term in military 'courtroom circus'". The Guardian.
16. ^ "Graft convictions extend Suu Kyi's prison term to 26 years". ABC News. 12 October 2022.
17. ^ "Suu Kyi's secretive Myanmar trials end with 7 more years of jail". Reuters. 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
18. ^ Cite error: The named reference pardon was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
19. ^ Ratcliffe, Rebecca (6 December 2021). "Myanmar's junta condemned over guilty verdicts in Aung San Suu Kyi trial". The Guardian.

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2 February 1881 – The sentences of the trial of the warlocks of Chiloé are imparted

Warlock of Chiloé

Redirect to:

• Warlocks of Chiloé

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3 February 1913 – The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.

Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

1913 amendment

The Sixteenth Amendment (Amendment XVI) to the United States Constitution allows Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states on the basis of population. It was passed by Congress in 1909 in response to the 1895 Supreme Court case of Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. The Sixteenth Amendment was ratified by the requisite number of states on February 3, 1913, and effectively overruled the Supreme Court's ruling in Pollock.

Prior to the early 20th century, most federal revenue came from tariffs rather than taxes, although Congress had often imposed excise taxes on various goods. The Revenue Act of 1861 had introduced the first federal income tax, but that tax was repealed in 1872. During the late nineteenth century, various groups, including the Populist Party, favored the establishment of a progressive income tax at the federal level. These groups believed that tariffs unfairly taxed the poor, and they favored using the income tax to shift the tax burden onto wealthier individuals. The 1894 Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act contained an income tax provision, but the tax was struck down by the Supreme Court in the case of Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. In its ruling, the Supreme Court did not hold that all federal income taxes were unconstitutional, but rather held that income taxes on rents, dividends, and interest were direct taxes and thus had to be apportioned among the states on the basis of population.

For several years after Pollock, Congress did not attempt to implement another income tax, largely due to concerns that the Supreme Court would strike down any attempt to levy an income tax. In 1909, during the debate over the Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act, Congress proposed the Sixteenth Amendment to the states. Though conservative Republican leaders had initially expected that the amendment would not be ratified, a coalition of Democrats, progressive Republicans, and other groups ensured that the necessary number of states ratified the amendment. Shortly after the amendment was ratified, Congress imposed a federal income tax with the Revenue Act of 1913. The Supreme Court upheld that income tax in the 1916 case of Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., and the federal government has continued to levy an income tax since 1913.

Critics of the Sixteenth Amendment have argued that it enables expansive federal government spending and facilitates central banking policies, with some, including Congressman Ron Paul, calling for its repeal on these and related grounds.^[1][2]

1. ^ Crittenden, Michael. "Ron Paul: 'I'd Really Like to Repeal 1913′". WSJ. Archived from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2025.
2. ^ "Statement by Ron Paul on Tax Freedom Day | The American Presidency Project". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved June 6, 2025.

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4 February 1789 – George Washington is unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.

George Washington

Founding Father, U.S. president from 1789 to 1797

"General Washington" redirects here. For other uses, see General Washington (disambiguation) and George Washington (disambiguation).

George Washington (February 22, 1732 [O.S. February 11, 1731]^[a] – December 14, 1799) was a Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War against the British Empire. He is commonly known as the Father of the Nation for his role in bringing about American independence.

Born in the Colony of Virginia, Washington became the commander of the Virginia Regiment during the French and Indian War (1754–1763). He was later elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, and opposed the perceived oppression of the American colonists by the British Crown. When the American Revolutionary War against the British began in 1775, Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. He directed a poorly organized and equipped force against disciplined British troops. Washington and his army achieved an early victory at the Siege of Boston in March 1776 but were forced to retreat from New York City in November. Washington crossed the Delaware River and won the battles of Trenton in late 1776 and of Princeton in early 1777, then lost the battles of Brandywine and of Germantown later that year. He faced criticism of his command, low troop morale, and a lack of provisions for his forces as the war continued. Ultimately Washington led a combined French and American force to a decisive victory over the British at Yorktown in 1781. In the resulting Treaty of Paris in 1783, the British acknowledged the sovereign independence of the United States. Washington then served as president of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which drafted the current Constitution of the United States.

Washington was unanimously elected the first U.S. president by the Electoral College in 1788 and 1792. He implemented a strong, well-financed national government while remaining impartial in the fierce rivalry that emerged within his cabinet between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. During the French Revolution, he proclaimed a policy of neutrality while supporting the Jay Treaty with Britain. Washington set enduring precedents for the office of president, including republicanism, a peaceful transfer of power, the use of the title "Mr. President", and the two-term tradition. His 1796 farewell address became a preeminent statement on republicanism: Washington wrote about the importance of national unity and the dangers that regionalism, partisanship, and foreign influence pose to it. As a planter of tobacco and wheat at Mount Vernon, Washington owned many slaves. He began opposing slavery near the end of his life, and provided in his will for the eventual manumission of his slaves.

Washington's image is an icon of American culture and he has been extensively memorialized; his namesakes include the national capital and the State of Washington. In both popular and scholarly polls, he is consistently considered one of the greatest presidents in American history.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

1. ^ Randall 1997, p. 303.

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5 February 1907 – Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announces the creation of Bakelite, the world's first synthetic plastic.

Leo Baekeland

Belgian chemist (1863–1944); inventor of Bakelite

Leo Hendrik Baekeland HonFRSE (/ˈbeɪklænd/ BAYK-land, Dutch: [ˈleːjoː ˈɦɛndrɪɡ ˈbaːkəlɑnt]; November 14, 1863 – February 23, 1944) was a Belgian chemist. Educated in Belgium and Germany, he spent most of his career in the United States. He is best known for the inventions of Velox photographic paper in 1893, and Bakelite in 1907. He has been called "The Father of the Plastics Industry"^[2] for his invention of Bakelite, an inexpensive, non-flammable and versatile plastic, which marked the beginning of the modern plastics industry.^[3][4]

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Perkin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ Landmarks of the Plastics Industry. England: Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd., Plastics Division. 1962. pp. 13–25.
3. ^ Bowden, Mary Ellen (1997). "Leo Baekeland". Chemical achievers : the human face of the chemical sciences. Philadelphia, PA: Chemical Heritage Foundation. ISBN 9780941901123.
4. ^ Amato, Ivan (March 29, 1999). "Time 100: Leo Baekeland". Archived from the original on April 7, 2000. Retrieved November 8, 2007.

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6 February 1840 – Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, establishing New Zealand as a British colony.

Treaty of Waitangi

1840 agreement between the British Crown and Māori leaders in New Zealand

The Treaty of Waitangi (Māori: Te Tiriti o Waitangi), sometimes referred to as Te Tiriti, is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the treatment of the Māori people in New Zealand by successive governments and the wider population, something that has been especially prominent from the late 20th century. The treaty document is an agreement, not a treaty as recognised in international law.^[1] It was first signed on 6 February 1840 by Captain William Hobson as consul for the British Crown and by Māori chiefs (rangatira) from the North Island of New Zealand. The treaty's quasi-legal status satisfies the demands of biculturalism in contemporary New Zealand society. In general terms, it is interpreted today as having established a partnership between equals in a way the Crown likely did not intend it to in 1840. Specifically, the treaty is seen, first, as entitling Māori to enjoyment of land and of natural resources and, if that right were ever breached, to restitution. Second, the treaty's quasi-legal status has clouded the question of whether Māori had ceded sovereignty to the Crown in 1840, and if so, whether such sovereignty remains intact.^[2]

The treaty was written at a time when the New Zealand Company, acting on behalf of large numbers of settlers and would-be settlers, was establishing a colony in New Zealand, and when some Māori leaders had petitioned the British for protection against French ambitions. It was drafted with the intention of establishing a British Governor of New Zealand, recognising Māori ownership of their lands, forests and other possessions, and giving Māori the rights of British subjects. It was intended by the British Crown to ensure that when Lieutenant Governor Hobson subsequently made the declaration of British sovereignty over New Zealand in May 1840, the Māori people would not feel that their rights had been ignored.^[3] Once it had been written and translated, it was first signed by Northern Māori leaders at Waitangi. Copies were subsequently taken around New Zealand and over the following months many other chiefs signed.^[4] Around 530 to 540 Māori, at least 13 of them women, signed the Māori language version of the Treaty of Waitangi, despite some Māori leaders cautioning against it.^[5][6] Only 39 signed the English version.^[7] An immediate result of the treaty was that Queen Victoria's government gained the sole right to purchase land.^[8] In total there are nine signed copies of the Treaty of Waitangi, including the sheet signed on 6 February 1840 at Waitangi.^[9]

The text of the treaty includes a preamble and three articles. It is bilingual, with the Māori text translated in the context of the time from the English.

• Article one of the Māori text grants governance rights to the Crown while the English text cedes "all rights and powers of sovereignty" to the Crown.
• Article two of the Māori text establishes that Māori will retain full chieftainship over their lands, villages and all their treasures while the English text establishes the continued ownership of the Māori over their lands and establishes the exclusive right of pre-emption of the Crown.
• Article three gives Māori people full rights and protections as British subjects.

As some words in the English treaty did not translate directly into the written Māori language of the time, the Māori text is not an exact translation of the English text, particularly in relation to the meaning of having and ceding sovereignty.^[10][11] These differences created disagreements in the decades following the signing, eventually contributing to the New Zealand Wars of 1845 to 1872 and continuing through to the Treaty of Waitangi settlements starting in the early 1990s.

During the second half of the 19th century Māori generally lost control of much of the land they had owned, sometimes through legitimate sale, but often by way of unfair deals, settlers occupying land that had not been sold, or through outright confiscations in the aftermath of the New Zealand Wars. In the period following the New Zealand Wars, the New Zealand government mostly ignored the treaty, and a court judgement in 1877 declared it to be "a simple nullity". Beginning in the 1950s, Māori increasingly sought to use the treaty as a platform for claiming additional rights to sovereignty and to reclaim lost land, and governments in the 1960s and 1970s responded to these arguments, giving the treaty an increasingly central role in the interpretation of land rights and relations between Māori people and the state.

In 1975 the New Zealand Parliament passed the Treaty of Waitangi Act, establishing the Waitangi Tribunal as a permanent commission of inquiry tasked with interpreting the treaty, investigating breaches of the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi by the Crown or its agents, and suggesting means of redress.^[10] Settlements with a total value of roughly $1 billion have been awarded.^[10][12] Various legislation passed in the latter part of the 20th century has made reference to the treaty, which has led to ad hoc incorporation of the treaty into law.^[13] Increasingly, the treaty is recognised as a founding document in New Zealand's developing unwritten constitution.^[14][15][16] The New Zealand Day Act 1973 established Waitangi Day as a national holiday to commemorate the signing of the treaty.

1. ^ Cox, Noel (2002). "The Treaty of Waitangi and the Relationship Between the Crown and Maori in New Zealand". Brooklyn Journal of International Law. 28 (1): 132. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
2. ^ Kolig, Erich (2000). "Of Condoms, Biculturalism, and Political Correctness. The Maori Renaissance and Cultural Politics in New Zealand". Paideuma. 46. JSTOR: 238. JSTOR 40341791.
3. ^ "Additional Instructions from Lord Normanby to Captain Hobson 1839 – New Zealand Constitutional Law Resources". New Zealand Legal Information Institute. 15 August 1839. Archived from the original on 4 December 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
4. ^ "Treaty of Waitangi signings in the South Island". Christchurch City Libraries. Archived from the original on 18 February 2015.
5. ^ "Treaty of Waitangi". Waitangi Tribunal. Archived from the original on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
6. ^ Orange 1987a, p. 260.
7. ^ Newman, Keith (2010) [2010]. Bible & Treaty, Missionaries among the Māori – a new perspective. Google Books: Penguin. ISBN 978-0143204084. pp 159
8. ^ Burns, Patricia (1989). Fatal Success: A History of the New Zealand Company. Heinemann Reed. ISBN 0-7900-0011-3.
9. ^ "Treaty of Waitangi – Te Tiriti o Waitangi". Archives New Zealand. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
10. ^ ^{a b c} "Meaning of the Treaty". Waitangi Tribunal. 2011. Archived from the original on 8 July 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
11. ^ Newman, Keith (2010) [2010]. Bible & Treaty, Missionaries among the Māori – a new perspective. Penguin. ISBN 978-0143204084. pp 20-116
12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Settlements was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
13. ^ Palmer 2008, p. 292.
14. ^ "New Zealand's Constitution". Government House. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
15. ^ "New Zealand's constitution – past, present and future" (PDF). Cabinet Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
16. ^ Palmer 2008, p. 24.

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7 February 2009 – Bushfires in Victoria leave 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.

Black Saturday bushfires

Deadly bushfires in Victoria State, Australia, in 2009

The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that either ignited or were already burning across the Australian state of Victoria. Saturday, 7 February 2009 was one of Australia's all-time worst bushfire disasters. The fires occurred during extreme bushfire weather conditions and resulted in Australia's highest-ever loss of human life from a bushfire,^[10] with 173 fatalities.^[11] Many people were left homeless and family-less as a result.

As many as 400 individual fires were recorded on Saturday 7 February; the day has become widely referred to in Australia as Black Saturday.

Then Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard described Black Saturday as "a tragedy beyond belief, beyond precedent and beyond words … one of the darkest days in Australia’s peacetime history."^[12]

The 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, headed by Justice Bernard Teague, was held in response to the bushfires.

1. ^ Collins, Pádraig (12 February 2009). "Rudd criticised over bush fire compensation". The Irish Times. Ireland. Archived from the original on 9 October 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
2. ^ "About Black Saturday – Country Fire Authority". 27 September 2019. Archived from the original on 27 September 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
3. ^ "What has Australia learned from Black Saturday?". 16 April 2019. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
4. ^ "2009 Victorian Bushfires". 20 May 2019. Archived from the original on 20 May 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Australian Medical Journal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ Cite error: The named reference VBRC-Vol.01-ch.5-p.075 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
7. ^ Rennie, Reko (1 April 2009). "Marysville fire deliberately lit: police". The Age. Melbourne. Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
8. ^ "Lightning starts new bushfires in Grampians". Australia: ABC News. 8 February 2009. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
9. ^ "Police track arsonists responsible for Victoria bushfires". The Australian. 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
10. ^ Huxley, John (11 February 2009). "Horrific, but not the worst we've suffered". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
11. ^ 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission – Final Report (PDF) (Report). Government Printer for the State of Victoria. July 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
12. ^ "Black Saturday bushfires". Lawson Crescent Acton Peninsula, Canberra: National Museum of Australia. 7 February 2023. Archived from the original on 6 January 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2024. Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, 2009: A tragedy beyond belief, beyond precedent and beyond words … one of the darkest days in Australia's peacetime history.

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8 February 1950 – The Stasi, the secret police of East Germany, is established.

Stasi

East German intelligence agency and secret police

The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, pronounced [minɪsˈteːʁiʊm fyːɐ̯ ˈʃtaːtsˌzɪçɐhaɪ̯t]; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (pronounced [ˈʃtaːziː] ^ⓘ, an abbreviation of Staatssicherheit), was the state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive police organisations in the world, infiltrating almost every aspect of life in East Germany, using torture, intimidation and a vast network of informants to crush dissent.^[4][5]

The function of the Stasi in East Germany (the GDR) resembled that of the KGB in the Soviet Union,⁠ in that it served to maintain state authority and the position of the ruling party, in this case the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). This was accomplished primarily through the use of a network of civilian informants (called unofficial collaborators) who contributed to the arrest of approximately 250,000 people in East Germany.^[6] It also had a large elite paramilitary force, the Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment, that served as its armed wing. Known as "the shield and the sword of the party", the Stasi locked up opponents of the regime. Officers tortured prisoners by isolating them, depriving them of sleep and using psychological tricks such as threatening to arrest relatives.^[7]

The Stasi also conducted espionage and other clandestine operations outside the GDR through its subordinate foreign-intelligence service, the Office of Reconnaissance, or Head Office A (German: Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung or HVA). Its operatives also maintained contacts in West Germany and throughout the western world; and are alleged to have occasionally cooperated with West German far-right terrorist groups, such as the Hepp-Kexel-Group.^[8]

The Stasi had its headquarters in East Berlin, with an extensive complex in Berlin-Lichtenberg and several smaller facilities throughout the city. Erich Mielke, the Stasi's longest-serving chief, controlled the organisation from 1957 to 1989 — 32 of the 40 years of the GDR's existence. The HVA, under the leadership of Markus Wolf from 1952 to 1986, gained a reputation as one of the most effective intelligence agencies of the Cold War.^{[9][need quotation to verify][10]}

After the German reunification of 1989 through 1991, some former Stasi officials were prosecuted for their crimes,^[11] and the surveillance files that the Stasi had maintained on millions of East German citizens were declassified so that all citizens could inspect their personal files on request. The Stasi Records Agency maintained the files until June 2021, when they became part of the German Federal Archives.

1. ^ Vilasi, Antonella Colonna (9 March 2015). The History of the Stasi. AuthorHouse. ISBN 9781504937054.
2. ^ Locke, Charley (11 May 2017). "A Rare Look Inside the Archives of the German Secret Police". Wired. Archived from the original on 11 May 2017.
3. ^ Hinsey, Ellen (2010). "Eternal Return: Berlin Journal, 1989–2009". New England Review. 31 (1): 124–134. JSTOR 25699473.
4. ^ Marsh, Sarah (29 October 2009). "Stasi files still cast shadow for Germans". Reuters. Retrieved 5 November 2024. Founded in 1950, the Stasi was one of the most repressive police organisations in the world. It infiltrated almost every aspect of life in East Germany, using torture, intimidation and a vast network of informants to crush dissent. Millions of Germans worked for the Stasi and provided reports on friends, family, colleagues or lovers. The files, which would stretch for 112 km (70 miles) if laid out flat, were opened up to the public in 1992, exposing a web of betrayals.
5. ^ Leigh, Meggin (15 January 2025). "How did East Germany's secret police, the Stasi, operate?". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 3 May 2025. The Ministry for State Security, or Stasi for short, was the GDR's secret police. It spied on and monitored citizens, imprisoned opposition members, and carried out torture and murder. At its former headquarters in Berlin, we show you how the Stasi managed to penetrate deep into the private lives of GDR citizens.
6. ^ Germans campaign for memorial to victims of communism Archived 10 May 2023 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, 31 January 2018
7. ^ Chambers, Madeline (4 November 2009). "No remorse from Stasi as Berlin marks fall of Wall". Reuters. Retrieved 15 November 2024. Known as "the shield and the sword of the party," the Stasi locked up opponents of the regime. Officers tortured prisoners by isolating them, depriving them of sleep and using psychological tricks such as threatening to arrest relatives.
8. ^ Blumenau, Bernhard (2018). "Unholy Alliance: The Connection between the East German Stasi and the Right-Wing Terrorist Odfried Hepp". Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. 43: 47–68. doi:10.1080/1057610X.2018.1471969. hdl:10023/19035.
9. ^ Blumenau, Bernhard (2 September 2014). The United Nations and Terrorism: Germany, Multilateralism, and Antiterrorism Efforts in the 1970s. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 29–32. ISBN 978-1-137-39196-4.
10. ^ Volodarsky, Boris Borisovich (30 June 2023). The Murder of Alexander Litvinenko: To Kill a Mockingbird. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: White Owl. ISBN 9781399060196. Archived from the original on 18 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023. Suddenly, the East German Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MFS), better known as the Stasi, came to light, and specifically its Chief Directorate 'A' (Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung, HVA) under Markus 'Misha' Wolf. It was one of the most effective spy agencies of the Cold War.
11. ^ Willis, Jim (24 January 2013). Daily Life behind the Iron Curtain. The Greenwood Press Daily Life through History Series. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313397639. Archived from the original on 18 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023. The Stasi destruction of many records, plus the German statute of limitations on crimes, plus the desire by some politicians to leave the divisive past behind have resulted in few prosecutions of former Stasi officials and the actual imprisonment of even fewer.

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9 February 1986 – Halley's Comet last appeared in the inner Solar System.

Halley's Comet

Short-period comet visible every 75–77 years

Not to be confused with Bill Haley and His Comets.

For other uses, see Halley's Comet (disambiguation).

Halley's Comet is the only known short-period comet that is consistently visible to the naked eye from Earth,^[16] appearing every 72–80 years,^[17] though with the majority of recorded apparitions (25 of 30) occurring after 75–77 years. It last appeared in the inner parts of the Solar System in 1986 and will next appear in mid-2061. Officially designated 1P/Halley, it is also commonly called Comet Halley, or sometimes simply Halley.

Halley's periodic returns to the inner Solar System have been observed and recorded by astronomers around the world since at least 240 BC, but it was not until 1705 that the English astronomer Edmond Halley understood that these appearances were re-appearances of the same comet. As a result of this discovery, the comet is named after Halley.

During its 1986 visit to the inner Solar System, Halley's Comet became the first comet to be observed in detail by a spacecraft, Giotto, providing the first observational data on the structure of a comet nucleus and the mechanism of coma and tail formation. These observations supported several longstanding hypotheses about comet construction, particularly Fred Whipple's "dirty snowball" model, which correctly predicted that Halley would be composed of a mixture of volatile ices—such as water, carbon dioxide, ammonia—and dust. The missions also provided data that substantially reformed and reconfigured these ideas; for instance, it is now understood that the surface of Halley is largely composed of dusty, non-volatile materials, and that only a small portion of it is icy.

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference Horizons2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ Cite error: The named reference seeker2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. ^ ^{a b c} Cite error: The named reference Horizons2061 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference Kinoshita was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Horizons2134 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
7. ^ Cite error: The named reference jpldata was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
8. ^ ^{a b c} Cite error: The named reference Lamy2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
9. ^ Cite error: The named reference mass was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
10. ^ Cite error: The named reference situ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Peale1989November was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Peale1989 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
13. ^ Cite error: The named reference dark was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
14. ^ Cite error: The named reference sten was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
15. ^ Cite error: The named reference ESO2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Delehanty was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
17. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brady1987 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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10 February 1996 – IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time.

Deep Blue (chess computer)

Chess-playing computer made by IBM

Deep Blue was^[a] a customized IBM RS/6000 SP supercomputer for chess-playing. It was the first computer to win a game, and the first to win a match, against a reigning world champion under regular time controls. Development began in 1985 at Carnegie Mellon University under the name ChipTest. It then moved to IBM, where it was first renamed Deep Thought, then again in 1989 to Deep Blue. It first played world champion Garry Kasparov in a six-game match in 1996, where it won one, drew two, and lost three games. It was upgraded in 1997, and in a six-game re-match it defeated Kasparov by winning two games and drawing three. Deep Blue's victory is considered a milestone in the history of artificial intelligence and has been the subject of several books and films.

1. ^ "Deep Thought (Chess)". ICGA Tournaments. Archived from the original on 6 November 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2022.

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11 February 2001 – A Dutch programmer launched the Anna Kournikova virus infecting millions of emails via a trick photo of the tennis star

Anna Kournikova (computer virus)

2001 computer virus inside email attachment

The Anna Kournikova virus (also known as VBS.OnTheFly, VBS/SST, and VBS_Kalamar) was a computer worm that emerged in February 2001.^[1] Disguised as an email attachment purportedly containing a picture of Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova, the worm exploited users' curiosity to propagate itself. Upon opening the attachment, the worm replicated by sending itself to all contacts in the victim's Microsoft Outlook address book, causing widespread email disruptions. Unlike some other viruses of its time, it did not cause direct damage to files or systems.

The worm was created by Jan de Wit, a 20-year-old Dutch student, using a Visual Basic Worm Generator program developed by an Argentinian programmer known as [K]Alamar. De Wit released the worm on February 11, 2001, and it rapidly infected millions of computers worldwide. He later turned himself in to authorities, stating that his intention was to highlight security vulnerabilities rather than cause harm. De Wit was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 150 hours of community service.

1. ^ Alijo, Hernan. "Purported 'Anna' virus toolkit author yanks files from site". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.

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12 February 1909 – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.

NAACP

American civil rights organization

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)^[a] is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, Moorfield Storey, Ida B. Wells, Lillian Wald, and Henry Moskowitz.^[4][5][6] Over the years, leaders of the organization have included Thurgood Marshall and Roy Wilkins. The NAACP is the largest and oldest civil rights group in America.

Its mission in the 21st century is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination". NAACP initiatives include political lobbying, publicity efforts, and litigation strategies developed by its legal team.^[7] The group enlarged its mission in the late 20th century by considering issues such as police misconduct, the status of black foreign refugees and questions of economic development.^[8] Its name, retained in accordance with tradition, uses the once common term colored people, referring to those with some African ancestry.^[9] The NAACP started publishing a quarterly magazine The Crisis and it had as its editor W.E.B Du Bois for 24 years.

The NAACP bestows annual awards on African Americans in three categories: Image Awards are for achievements in the arts and media, Theatre Awards are for achievements in theatre and stage, and Spingarn Medals are for outstanding achievements of any kind. Its headquarters are in Baltimore, Maryland.^[10]

1. ^ NAACP2016AnnualReport naacp.org Archived August 8, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
2. ^ "Charity Navigator – Rating for NAACP Empowerment Programs, Inc". www.charitynavigator.org. Archived from the original on August 21, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
3. ^ "NAACP". Cambridge Dictionary. Archived from the original on December 22, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
4. ^ "National Association for the Advancement of Colored People | History". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on April 30, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
5. ^ Kwame Anthony Appiah, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., eds. Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, in articles "Civil Rights Movement" by Patricia Sullivan (pp 441–455) and "National Association for the Advancement of Colored People" by Kate Tuttle (pp 1,388–1,391). ISBN 0-465-00071-1.
6. ^ Foer, Franklin (March 4, 2024). "The Golden Age of American Jews is Ending". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on March 19, 2024. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
7. ^ "NAACP History and Geography". Mapping American Social Movements Through the 20th Century. University of Washington. Archived from the original on May 10, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
8. ^ "NAACP – Our Mission". Archived from the original on June 11, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
9. ^ "NAACP". HISTORY. October 29, 2009. Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
10. ^ "Contact Us". National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Archived from the original on November 9, 2009. Retrieved November 17, 2009.

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13 February 1880 – Thomas Edison observes Thermionic emission.

Thomas Edison

American inventor and businessman (1847–1931)

"Edison" redirects here. For other uses, see Edison (disambiguation).

Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman.^[1][2][3] He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures.^[4] These inventions, which include the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and early versions of the electric light bulb, have had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world.^[5] He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. He established the first industrial research laboratory.^[6] While Edison is mythologized as a lone genius inventor,^{[citation needed]} he has been accused of taking credit for inventions that were largely developed by others working under him or contemporaries outside his lab.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Edison was raised in the American Midwest. Early in his career he worked as a telegraph operator, which inspired some of his earliest inventions.^[4] In 1876, he established his first laboratory facility in Menlo Park, New Jersey, where many of his early inventions were developed. He later established a botanical laboratory in Fort Myers, Florida, in collaboration with businessmen Henry Ford and Harvey S. Firestone, and a laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, that featured the world's first film studio, the Black Maria. With 1,093 US patents in his name, as well as patents in other countries, Edison is regarded as the most prolific inventor in American history.^[11] Edison married twice and fathered six children. He died in 1931 due to complications from diabetes.

1. ^ Adrian Wooldridge (September 15, 2016). "The alphabet of success". The Economist. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
2. ^ Sproule, Anna (2000). Thomas Alva Edison: The World's Greatest Inventor (1st U.S. ed.). Woodbridge, CT: Blackbirch Press. ISBN 978-1-56711-331-0.
3. ^ "Hangout – Thomas Edison". state.nj.us. State of New Jersey.
4. ^ ^{a b} "Con Edison: A Brief History of Con Edison – electricity". Coned.com. January 1, 1998. Archived from the original on October 30, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
5. ^ "The Wizard of Menlo Park". The Franklin Institute. Archived from the original on March 5, 2013. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
6. ^ Walsh, Bryan (July 15, 2009). "The Electrifying Edison". Time. Archived from the original on July 18, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
7. ^ Cep, Casey (October 21, 2019). "The Real Nature of Thomas Edison's Genius". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved July 17, 2025.
8. ^ Han, Yoonji. "Thomas Edison tried to take credit for a device created by a Black American inventor". Business Insider. Retrieved July 17, 2025.
9. ^ MacGowan, Doug (February 12, 2012). "Did Thomas Edison Steal Inventions?". Historic Mysteries. Retrieved July 17, 2025.
10. ^ Berger, Brooke (March 21st 2013). "Many Minds Produced The Light That Illuminated America". US News. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. ^ Boyer, Paul S., ed. (2001). The Oxford Companion to United States History. Oxford University Press. p. 211. ISBN 978-0-19-989109-2. OCLC 57680178.

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14 February 1989 – Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal disaster.

Bhopal disaster

1984 gas-leak accident in Bhopal, India

The Bhopal disaster, or Bhopal gas tragedy, was a 3 December 1984 incident wherein over 500,000 people in the vicinity of the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India were exposed to the highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate, in what is considered the world's worst industrial disaster.^[3] A government affidavit in 2006 stated that the leak caused 558,125 injuries, including 38,478 temporary partial injuries and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries.^[4] Estimates vary on the death toll, with the official number of immediate deaths being 2,259.^[5] Others estimate that 8,000 died within two weeks, and another 8,000 or more have since died from gas-related diseases.^[6] In 2008, the Government of Madhya Pradesh paid compensation to the family members of 3,787 victims killed in the gas release, and to 574,366 injured victims.^[1]

The owner of the factory, Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL), was majority-owned by the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) of the United States, with Indian government-controlled banks and the Indian public holding a 49.1 percent stake. In 1989, UCC paid $470 million (equivalent to $1.01 billion in 2023) to settle litigation stemming from the disaster. In 1994, UCC sold its stake in UCIL to Eveready Industries India Limited (EIIL), which subsequently merged with McLeod Russel (India) Ltd. Eveready ended clean-up on the site in 1998, when it terminated its 99-year lease and turned over control of the site to the state government of Madhya Pradesh. Dow Chemical Company purchased UCC in 2001, seventeen years after the disaster.

Civil and criminal cases filed in the United States against UCC and Warren Anderson, chief executive officer of the UCC at the time of the disaster, were dismissed and redirected to Indian courts on multiple occasions between 1986 and 2012, as the US courts focused on UCIL being a standalone entity of India. Civil and criminal cases were also filed in the District Court of Bhopal, India, involving UCC, UCIL, and Anderson.^[7][8] In June 2010, seven Indian nationals who were UCIL employees in 1984, including the former UCIL chairman Keshub Mahindra, were convicted in Bhopal of causing death by negligence and sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a fine of about $2,000 each, the maximum punishment allowed by Indian law. All were released on bail shortly after the verdict. An eighth former employee was also convicted, but died before the judgement was passed.^[9][10]

1. ^ ^{a b} "Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department, Bhopal. Immediate Relief Provided by the State Government". Government of Madhya Pradesh. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Eckerman2001-p23-24 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ * Mandavilli, Apoorva (9 July 2018). "The World's Worst Industrial Disaster Is Still Unfolding". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 23 August 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
   • "Bhopal trial: Eight convicted over India gas disaster". BBC News. 7 June 2010. Archived from the original on 7 June 2010. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
   • "'Bhopal's tragedy has not stopped': the urban disaster still claiming lives 35 years on". The Guardian. 8 December 2019. Archived from the original on 9 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
   • Mackenzie, Debora (4 December 2002). "Fresh evidence on Bhopal disaster". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
4. ^ AK Dubey (21 June 2010). "Bhopal Gas Tragedy: 92% injuries termed "minor"". First14 News. Archived from the original on 24 June 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
5. ^ Varma, Roli; Daya R. Varma (2005). "The Bhopal Disaster of 1984". Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society. 25: 37–45. doi:10.1177/0270467604273822.
6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Eckerman2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
7. ^ "Company Defends Chief in Bhopal Disaster". The New York Times. 3 August 2009. Archived from the original on 10 October 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
8. ^ "U.S. Exec Arrest Sought in Bhopal Disaster". CBS News. 31 July 2009. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
9. ^ "Eight convicted over Bhopal leak". BBC News. 7 June 2010. Archived from the original on 1 July 2010. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
10. ^ "Ex-Union Carbide officials sentenced over Bhopal leak". U.S. Reuters. 7 June 2010. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.

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