On This Day:
Friday January 20, 2012
This is the 20th day of the year, with 346 days remaining
in 2012.
Fact of the Day: golf holes
The 18 holes come from the renovations of the Old Course at
St. Andrews, the ostensible first golf course from 1400's.
In 1848 or so, with the invention of the new, cheap, golf
ball, the Brits went golf mad, like the tennis buffs in the
1970's and the joggers in the '1980's. They were churning up
the Old Course something fierce, playing the 9 holes both
directions, (this was way it was done, up, then back same
course.) So decisions were made to alleviate the problem.
First thought was to extend the course and bring it around
into a circle, ending at beginning. This was met with great
uproar and consternation. So the additional 8 greens were
added by increasing the width and people go up "the back
nine" and back the additional. Then George V saw what they
had done and had an 18 hole course built at Richmond Palace,
with the object in mind to provide the people who couldn't
afford the private clubs a golf course. Old Course at St.
Andrews 18 hole, this Prince's and the subseque
nt Duke's courses are part of the heart of the British
people.
Holidays
Feast day of St. Sebastian, St. Fabian, pope, St. Euthymius
the Great, and St. Fechin.
Bulgaria:
Babin Den.
Brazil:
St. Sebastian Day (founding of Rio
de Janeiro).
United
States: Inauguration Day.
Azerbaijan:
Martyrs' Day.
Guinea-Bissau:
National Heroes Day.
Lesotho:
Army Day.
Events
1265
- The first English parliament met in Westminster
Hall, convened by the Earl of Leicester, Simon
de Montfort.
1783
- The British and U.S. commissioners signed a preliminary
"Cessation of Hostilities," which led to the Treaty
of Paris and Treaty
of Versailles, thus ending the Revolutionary
War.
1801
- John
Marshall was appointed Chief Justice of the United
States Supreme Court.
1841
- The island of Hong
Kong was ceded to Great
Britain; it returned to Chinese control in July 1997.
1887
- The U.S. Senate
approved an agreement to lease Pearl
Harbor in Hawaii
as a naval base.
1937
- Franklin
D. Roosevelt became the first U.S. president sworn
into office in January; inaugurations had previously been on
March 4. It was FDR's second of four inaugurations.
1942
- Nazi officials held the notorious Wannsee
Conference, during which they arrived at their "final
solution" that called for exterminating Jews.
1945
- Franklin
Delano Roosevelt, the only president to be elected to
three terms in office, was inaugurated to his fourth term.
1961
- John
F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th President of the United
States of America.
1977
- President Jimmy
Carter was sworn in and then surprised the nation as
he walks from the U.S. Capitol
to the White
House.
1981
- Iran
released 52 Americans it had held hostage for 444 days,
minutes after the presidency had passed from Jimmy
Carter to Ronald
Reagan.
1982
- Five companies agreed to cooperate on the construction of
a camcorder: Hitachi,
JVC,
Philips,
Matsushita,
and Sony.
1986
- The United
States observed the first federal holiday in honor of
slain civil rights leader Martin
Luther King, Jr.
1986
- Britain
and France
announced plans to build the Channel
Tunnel, popularly called the Chunnel.
1996
- Yasser
Arafat was elected president of the Palestinian
National Council, becoming the first democratically-elected
leader of the Palestinian people in history.
Births
1435
- Ashikaga
Yoshimasa, the eighth shogun
of the Ashikaga
shogunate who reigned from 1449 to 1473 during the Muromachi
period of Japan.
1896
- George
Burns (Nathan
Birnbaum), American comedian, entertainer.
1906
- Aristotle
Onassis, Greek shipping magnate, once married to Jackie
Kennedy.
1920
- Federico
Fellini, Italian film director, screenwriter.
1930
- Buzz
(Edwin) Aldrin Jr., American astronaut aboard Apollo
11, second man to walk on the moon.
1956
- Bill
Maher, American comedian, actor, writer, and political
analyst.
1965
- Greg
Kriesel, an American bass
guitarist and backing
vocalist for the punk
band, The
Offspring.
Deaths
1891
- David
Kalakaua, the last reigning king of the Kingdom
of Hawaii.
1984
- Johnny
Weissmuller, Romanian-born swimmer and film actor.
1990
- Barbara
Stanwyck (born Ruby Catherine Stevens), American
actress.
1993
- Audrey
Hepburn, British film actress.
2003
- Al
Hirschfeld, American graphic artist, at 99.
2005
- Miriam
Rothschild, British zoologist, entomologist and
author.
2005
- Per
Borten, Prime
Minister of Norway.
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