WAR!
1968 The Tet Offensive began during the Vietnam War as Communist forces launched surprise attacks against South Vietnamese provincial capitals; although the Communists were beaten back, the offensive was seen as a major setback for the U.S. and its allies.
1941 Australian troops conquer Derna Libya.
1942 Japanese troops land on Ambon.
1943 6 British Mosquito's daylight bomb Berlin.
1943 German assault on French in Tunisia.
1943 German under officers shot down in Haarlem Netherlands.
1943 Hitler promotes Friedrich von Paul to General - field marshal.
1943 USS Chicago sinks in Pacific Ocean.
1944 US invades Majuro, Marshall Islands.
1945 German ship "Wilhelm Gustloff" torpedoed off Danzig by Soviet sub-c 7,700 die.
2003 President Bush put allies on notice that diplomacy would give way to a decision on war with Iraq in "weeks, not months." Wary world leaders and congressional critics urged patience and demanded proof of Iraq's transgressions.
TERRORISM
1956 Martin Luther King Jr's home bombed.
1995 Car bomb explodes in Algiers, 42 killed/296 injured.
2003 Richard Reid, the British citizen and al-Qaida follower who had tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic jetliner with explosives hidden in his shoes, was sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge in Boston.
DISASTERS
1877 Storm flood ravages Dutch coastal provinces.
1939 Heavy after shocks destroy some of Chile.
2007 A propane tank explosion leveled the Little General Store in Ghent, W.Va., killing four people.
SPIT
1798 Representative Matthew Lyon (Vermont) spits in face of Representative Roger Griswold (Connecticut) in US House of Representatives, after an argument.
HOT TIME
1393 Aimery Poitiers French nobleman, and Yvain son of Earl of Foix burned to death at royal ball.
INVENTIONS
1487 Bell chimes invented.
PROGRESS
1958 1st 2-way moving sidewalk in service, Dallas TX.
JAZZ
1917 1st jazz record recorded (Dark Town Strutters Ball).
CENSUS
1800 US population 5,308,483; Black population 1,002,037 (18.9%).
SHOOT-OUTS
2007 Two gunmen shot and killed the wife of the Jackson County, Fla., sheriff and a deputy sent to check on her; other deputies opened fire and killed the assailants.
POLITICS
1781 Articles of Confederation ratified by 13th state, Maryland.
1854 1st election in Washington Territory; 1,682 votes cast.
DICTATORS
1935 Ezra Pound meets Mussolini, reads from a draft of "Cantos".
BEHEADING
1649 England's King Charles I was beheaded.
CIVIL RIGHTS
1797 Congress refuses to accept 1st petitions from American blacks.
PATENTS
1883 James Ritty and John Birch received a U.S. patent for the first cash register.
1894 Pneumatic hammer patented by Charles King of Detroit.
NAZIS
1933 Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany.
SPORTS
1936 Fans asked to pick a new name for Boston Braves; they choose "The Bees" it doesn't catch on & is scrapped by 1940 season.
MAINSTREAM MEDIA
1933 The first episode of the "Lone Ranger" radio program was broadcast on station WXYZ in Detroit.
1961 Bobby Darin is youngest performer to headline a TV special on NBC.
1978 Mutual Broadcasting Network begins airing Larry King Show on radio.
ASSASSINATION
1835 Richard Lawrence misfires at President Andrew Jackson in Washington DC.
1948 Indian political and spiritual leader Mohandas K. Gandhi was shot and killed by a Hindu extremist.
MUSIC
1965 "The Name Game" by Shirley Ellis hits #3.
1969 Beatles perform their last gig together, a 42-minute free concert on the roof of Apple HQs.
1973 KISS plays their 1st show (Coventry Club in Queens NY).
WITHDRAWN
1972 Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth.
DAREDEVILS
1962 Two members of "The Flying Wallendas" high-wire act were killed when their seven-person pyramid collapsed during a performance in Detroit.
CLASH
1972 13 Roman Catholic civil rights marchers were shot to death by British soldiers in Northern Ireland on what became known as "Bloody Sunday."
PUB FIGHT
2005 In Belfast, Northern Ireland, Robert McCartney, 33, was killed after intervening in a pub fight between Irish Republican Army members and a friend of his.
JEWS
1349 Jews of Freilsburg Germany are massacred.
1939 Hitler calls for the extermination of Jews.
TRIALS
1989 Joel Steinberg found guilty of 1st degree manslaughter of daughter.
1989 Olympian, Bruce Kimball, is sentenced to 17 years in prison for killing 2 teenagers in a drunk driving accident.
BORN
1882 the 32nd president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was born in Hyde Park, N.Y.
1912 Barbara Tuchman US, historian/author (Pulitzer, Guns of August).
BIRTHDAYS
Comedian Dick Martin is 86. Actress Dorothy Malone is 83. Producer-director Harold Prince is 80. Actor Gene Hackman is 78. Actress Tammy Grimes is 74. Actress Vanessa Redgrave is 71. Country singer Jeanne Pruett is 71. Country singer Norma Jean is 70. Vice President Dick Cheney is 67. Rock singer Marty Balin is 66. Rhythm-and-blues musician William King (The Commodores) is 59. Singer Phil Collins is 57. Actor Charles S. Dutton is 57. Actress-comedian Brett Butler is 50. Singer Jody Watley is 49. Country singer Tammy Cochran is 36. Actor Christian Bale is 34. Pop-rock singer-songwriter Josh Kelley is 28. Actor Wilmer Valderrama is 28. Actor Jake Thomas is 18.
DEATH
1951 Ferdinand Porsche German car inventor (Porsche), dies at 75.
1969 Allan Welsh Dulles US diplomat/director (CIA 1953-61), dies at 75.
1982 Stanley Holloway comedian (My Fair Lady, Our Man Higgins), dies at 91.
2007 Hollywood writer-producer and novelist Sidney Sheldon died in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 89.
January 30, the 30th day of 2008. There are 336 days left in the year.
compiled by Mondoreb
images: vietnamwar.com
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
