On This Day:
Friday January 6, 2012
This is the 6th day of the year, with 360 days remaining
in 2012.
Fact of the Day: birthday parties
The tradition of birthday parties started in Europe a long
time ago. It was feared that evil spirits were particularly
attracted to people on their birthdays. To protect them from
harm, friends and family would to come be with the birthday
person and bring good thoughts and wishes. Giving gifts
brought even more good cheer to ward off the evil spirits.
This is how birthday parties began. At first it was only
kings who were recognized as important enough to have a
birthday celebration (maybe this is how the tradition of
birthday crowns began?). As time went by, children became
included in birthday celebrations. The first children's
birthday parties occurred in Germany and were called
Kinderfeste.
Holidays
Epiphany (or Twelfth Day) / Feast of the Epiphany.
Feast day of St. John de Ribera, St. Erminold, St.
Wiltrudis, St. Guarinus.
Italy:
La Befana.
Events
1540
- England's
King
Henry VIII married his fourth wife, Anne
of Cleves -- which lasted 6 months.
1759
- George
Washington and Martha
Dandridge Custis were married.
1838
- Samuel
Morse first publicly demonstrated his telegraph, in Morristown,
New
Jersey.
1912
- New
Mexico became the 47th state.
1941
- President Franklin
D. Roosevelt delivered his "Four Freedoms" speech
outlining four goals: freedom of speech and expression; the
freedom of people to worship God in their own way; freedom
from want; freedom from fear.
1942
- The Pan
American Airways Pacific Clipper arrived in New
York after making the first round-the-world trip by a
commercial airplane.
1945
- The Battle
of the Bulge, or Ardennes
offensive, ended.
1946
- Ho
Chi Minh won in the Vietnamese elections.
1967
- United States and South Vietnamese forces launched a major
offensive in Mekong
Delta.
1975
- "Wheel
of Fortune" game show premiered on TV.
1987
- Astronomers reported sighting a new galaxy 12 billion
light years away.
Births
1367
- King
Richard II of England.
1412
- Joan
of Arc (Jeanne
D'Arc), French heroine and martyr.
1822
- Heinrich
Schliemann, German-born Greek excavator.
1878
- Carl
Sandburg, American poet, author, journalist.
1880
- Tom
Mix, American silent movies actor and radio star.
1883
- Kahlil
Gibran, Lebanese-born American novelist and poet.
1913
- Loretta
Gretchen Young, American Academy
Award-winning actress.
1914
- Danny
Thomas (Amos
Jacobs), American actor, philanthropist.
1916
- Eugene
T. Maleska, American crossword puzzle editor.
Deaths
1994
- Tip
(Thomas Philip) O'Neill, Jr., US Democratic Party
politician.
2006
- Lou Rawls, Chicago-born
soul, jazz, and blues singer, who released more than 70
albums, and sold more than 40 million records.
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