January 1
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Events on This Day
1751 - The British Calendar Act was passed and in most English-speaking countries the world’s most celebrated holiday, New Year’s Day, has been observed on this day ever since. Before that, folks wished everyone a Happy New Year on March 25, to coincide, approximately, with the beginning of spring.1764 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played for the Royal Family at Versailles in France this day. In fact, he was even given the honor of standing behind the Queen at dinner. Not odd, really -- for Mozart was only eight years old.
1890 - The very first Tournament of Roses Parade was staged in Pasadena, California. Horse-drawn carriages decorated in flowers made up the parade.
1892 - Ellis Island opened this day to begin the processing of what would amount to more than 20 million immigrants to the United States. The immigration center was also used as a deportation station, and later, a Coast Guard Station, and then, a national park. Ellis Island is now a museum.
1898 - Happy birthday Big Apple. The five boroughs of New York became the city of New York this day. It was called ‘the consolidation’ as the five boroughs were fused into a single, powerful city.
1902 - The very first Rose Bowl collegiate football game was played in Pasadena this day. Michigan trounced the Stanford Cardinal, 49-0. It would be 14 years before another Rose Bowl game was held. One is being held today, in fact; following the Tournament of Roses Parade; where all floats in the parade are created using only flowers, fronds, leaves and seeds. You’re probably watching it on TV right now if you didn’t camp out in Pasadena overnight.
1923 - The very first radio broadcast of the Rose Bowl was beamed in Los Angeles over KHJ radio -- some 42 years before 93/KHJ became Boss Radio.
1924 - Frank B. Cooney of Minneapolis, Minnesota was made very proud this day, when he received a patent for ink paste. Mmm, good!
1925 - Lucrezia Bori and John McCormack of the famous Metropolitan Opera in New York City made their singing debuts on radio this day. The broadcast over what was WEAF Radio (now WABC) encouraged others to sing on radio. People like: Hootie and the Blowfish, Fat Head Todd and Toad the Wet Sprocket, to name a few. Oh, and Barry Manilow.
1925 - The Four Horsemen of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame played together for the last time as the Irish downed Stanford (which apparently enjoyed losing in the Rose Bowl) 27-10. The Four Horsemen were Jim Crowley, Elmer Layden, Don Miller and Harry Stuhldreher. When it comes to bowl games, the Rose Bowl is ‘the granddaddy of them all’. The Orange Bowl in Miami started in 1935, the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans that same year, the Sun Bowl in 1936, the Cotton Bowl in Dallas in 1937 and the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville in 1946. Boy, this kind of info can kind of bowl you over, can’t it?
1927 - The very first coast-to-coast network radio broadcast of the Rose Bowl was made. Graham McNamee provided the play-by-play on NBC Radio.
1937 - The First Cotton Bowl football game was played in Dallas, TX. Texas Christian (T.C.U.) beat Marquette 16-6.
1942 - The United States and 25 other countries signed the Declaration by United Nations. The countries pledged “not to make a separate armistice or peace” with members of the Axis nations.
1945 - Operation Bodenplatte began as German planes attacked American forward air bases in Europe. It was the last major offensive by the Luftwaffe.
1946 - Japan’s Emperor Hirohito publicly rejected the idea that the emperor as a living god. The emperor also renounced the philosopy that Japanese are superior to other races and destined to govern the world.
1953 - A sad day in country music, as the legendary Hank Williams died at the young age of 29. You may recall or even be able to sing along with some of the songs Hank wrote or co-wrote: Cold, Cold Heart, Half as Much, Jambalaya, Your Cheatin’ Heart, Hey, Good Lookin, I’m So Lonesome I Could Die, Why Don’t You Love Me (Hank’s own recording of this song climbed the charts in 1976, 23 years after his death) and I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive -- which, ironically, became a hit not too long after he was found dead in the back seat of his chauffeured limousine. Undisputedly, the biggest star in the history of country music, Hank Williams’ legacy is being carried on by his son, Hank Williams, Jr.
1956 - The Sudan was granted its independence from Egypt and the United Kingdom.
1959 - Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba after leading his revolutionaries to victory over President Fulgenico Batista. Batista fled to the Dominican Republic.
1960 - French Cameroun gained its independence -- from France, of course.
1965 - TIME magazine’s Man of the Year (for 1964) was U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson -- for his “remarkable legislative record ... crowned by the historic Civil Rights Act.”
1967 - In his annual New Year’s column of predictions, the great Criswell wrote that there would be a one-week war with Egypt and Russia against Israel. War broke out in the Mideast that June: The Arab-Israeli 6-Day War. His column also stated that actress Jayne Mansfield would die in that year. She did.
1968 - Criswell was at it again, predicting that a black civil rights leader would be assassinated before October. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot in April.
1968 - A group known as The Blue Velvets decided to change its name this day and it’s a good thing they did. The new name soon became a national pop music favorite as Creedence Clearwater Revival climbed to stardom.
1968 - Evel Knievel, stunt performing daredevil, lost control of his motorcycle midway during a jump of 141 feet (ouch!); and right over the ornamental fountains in front of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. He was banged up real good. Odds were 3-1 that he wouldn’t make it...
1971 - This was the last day we sang along with, “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should” or heard the Marlboro Theme on radio or TV. Tobacco ads representing $20 million dollars in advertising were banned from broadcast.
1976 - Talk about ‘N’o Brainers: NBC Television, decided it had nothing better to do, so they debuted a new abstract capital ‘N’ -- a corporate symbol that replaced the familiar peacock logo after 20 years. The cost of the new NBC logo was estimated to be between $750,000 and $1 million. After much ridicule, it took two more years before they got the really bad news. Nebraska Public Television went after NBC for copying its logo; which it had broadcast for several years. The cost... $35 dollars. NBC paid the costs and the ‘N’ stayed around for a short time before being replaced by... the peacock. NBC shipped the abstract goofiness to Nebraska Public TV and told them to put it to good use.
1976 - The Liberty Bell was moved to its new home behind Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
1977 - Jacqueline Means was the first woman Episcopal priest ordained in the U.S.
1978 - An Air India 747 with 190 passengers and 23 crew crashed into the Arabian Sea near Bandra, India shortly after takeoff killing all on board.
1981 - Greece was admitted as the 10th member of the European Economic Community.
1982 - We know, you can’t get enough of that Rose Bowl news, now can you? Here’s more: Washington’s Huskies beat the Iowa Hawkeyes 28-0 in the Rose Bowl. It had been 29 years since the last Rose Bowl shutout.
1985 - On this day, 237,839,000 people lived in the United States. The number represented a birth rate well below the levels of the 1950s and 1960s baby boom which saw 3,690,000 newborns.
1987 - The Dishonor List of Banished Words and Phrases was issued (as it is every year) by Lake Superior State University, Sault Ste. Marie, MI. The 1987 list included the phrase, “The patient did not fulfill his wellness potential.” As explained in the list, “This statement not only obscures the fact that the patient died, but places the blame squarely on the patient for this inexcusable failure.” The yearly list of words and phrases, “Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness” was started in 1977 by Lake Superior State University Public Relations Director W.T. (Bill) Rabe.
1992 - Boutros Boutros Ghali of Egypt succeeded Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as U.N. Secretary-General.
1993 - U.S. President George Bush (I) recognized the new Czech and Slovak Republics (formerly Czechoslovakia) and offered to establish full diplomatic relations. In an exchange of letters, Czech Prime Minister Klaus and Slovak Prime Minister Meciar accepted the U.S. offer of full diplomatic relations. Both leaders provided assurances that the new states would fulfill the obligations and commitments of the former Czechoslovakia and abide by the principles and provisions of the U.N. Charter, the Charter of Paris, the Helsinki Final Act and subsequent CSCE documents.
1994 -Bill Gates, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft, lost his title of most eligible bachelor in America as he wed Melinda French. The wedding was held on the island of Lanai in Hawaii.
1994 - The North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect. Under the system a complaint is referred to a panel of experts who debate it and render a decision. The losing nation must then change its practices or offer compensation to the injured nations.
1994 - Actor Cesar Romero, 86, died in Santa Monica, CA.
1995 - Gary Larson’s The Far Side comic strip ended its 14-year run of daily panels.
1996 - In the U.S. it became illegal to manufacture or import freon, a refrigerant used in air conditioning systems, due to its effect on the Earth’s ozone layer.
1996 - Retired U.S. Admiral Arleigh Burke, remembered for his World War II heroics, died at Bethesda Naval Hospital at age 94.
1996 - A 7.0 earthquake struck offshore near the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi. Seismologist in Japan and Hong Kong measured it at 7.7.
1997 - Kofi Annan assumed the title of United Nations Secretary-General. New members of the U.N. security council: Japan, Kenya, Sweden, Costa Rica and Portugal.
1997 - The long sought-after line-item veto became officially available to U.S. President Bill Clinton. Wait -- before you start celebrating -- on June 26, 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the line-item veto law, declaring it unconstitutional.
1997 - Country and folk-blues singer and guitarist Townes Van Zandt died. The Texas songwriter’s work included the 1983 hit Pancho and Lefty, sung by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson.
1997 - In Mexico, long-distance telephone competition began, ending a 49-year monopoly by Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex).
1998 - An anti-smoking law went into effect in California, prohibiting people from lighting up in bars. Some Californians resisted the ban. “We expect better and better compliance as the year goes on,” said Colleen Stevens, spokeswoman for the California Department of Health Services. “Once people get used to smoke-free environments, they cherish them.”
1998 - Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano erupted, spewing out a massive gas cloud and setting off a series of tremors reaching 3.3 on the Richter scale. Television Azteca showed video of a giant cloud extending some four miles above the peak, which is 17,992 feet above sea level.
1999 - Eleven of the countries in the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) gave up their own currencies and adopted the new Euro (EUR) currency: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. (Greece followed suit on January 1, 2001.)
2000 - People the world over changed their calendars to 2000 with very few of the Y2K computer glitches that had been predicted.
2000 - On his first full day as acting president, Vladimir Putin assured Russians there would be no vacuum of power after Boris Yeltsin’s surprise resignation.
2001 - TV and movie actor Ray Walston died in Beverly Hills, CA. He was 86 years old. Walston won a Tony for his performance as the Devil in Broadway’s Damn Yankees, two Emmys for television’s Picket Fences, and he became a household name playing the extraterrestrial Uncle Martin on TV’s My Favorite Martian. Over his 45+-year career, Ray Walston made some seventy motion picture and TV appearances.
2002 - Eduardo Duhalde became Argentina’s fifth president in two weeks.
2002 - Michael Bloomberg succeeded Rudolph Giuliani as mayor of New York City.
2003 - More than two dozen surgeons stopped working in West Virginia to protest the high cost of malpractice insurance.
2003 - Joe Foss, former South Dakota governor and World War II hero died in an Arizona hospital. He was 87 years old. Foss also served as president of the National Rifle Association and as commissioner of the American Football League.
2003 - A gun law requiring the registration of all rifles and shotguns went into effect in Canada.
2004 - Houston’s $324 million, 7.5 mile, light rail system made its inaugural run.
2004 - Haiti’s President Jean-Bertrand Aristide pledged to improve life for his impoverished nation as police blocked thousands of anti-government demonstrators during celebrations marking the country’s 200th anniversary of independence from France.
2004 - Iran welcomed America’s temporary lifting of sanctions against the Persian state following the country's earthquake.
2004 - The first anti-spam law, the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, went into effect in the U.S. The law made it illegal for advertisers to falsify their identity and established a system to help email recipients get themselves removed from advertiser lists.
2005 - A California law took effect giving gay couples who register as domestic partners nearly the same responsibilities and benefits as married spouses.
2005 - Shirley Chisholm, advocate for minority rights, died at 80 years of age. Chisholm became the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress and, later, the first black person to seek a major party’s nomination for the US presidency.
2006 - Residents of Northern California, Oregon and Washington braced for a second winter storm -- a day after the first caused floods and mudslides.
2006 - A law took effect in Norway requiring all publicly traded companies in the country to have at least 40% women on their boards, or stop doing business.
2007 - Flight KI-574 of Adam Air, a low-cost airline based in Indonesia, disappeared in stormy weather. The Boeing 737 carried 102 people. The plane was presumed to have crashed into the ocean after small pieces of wreckage were recovered.
2007 - Hong Kong became a mostly smoke-free city as a ban on smoking in many public places went into effect. And a smoking ban in Washington DC was extended to bars and nightclubs (the ban for smoking in restaurants and offices had taken effect in 2006).
2007 - Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was killed in an early-morning drive-by shooting in downtown Denver. Williams and two other passengers were shot when another vehicle pulled along side his rented Hummer H2 limousine and opened fire.
2008 - New California laws went into effect including a 50-cent raise in the minimum wage (to $8 per hour) and a ban on smoking while driving a car transporting children.
2008 - Smokers were forced into the streets to light up as bans took effect across France, Germany and Lithuania.
2008 - The International Year of the Potato got under way, as declared by the U.N. The potato was the world’s 4th biggest food crop, after maize, wheat and rice.
2009 - The U.S. handed over control of the Green Zone and Saddam Hussein’s presidential palace to Iraqi authorities in a ceremonial move described by the country’s prime minister as a restoration of Iraq’s sovereignty. Meanwhile, British forces handed over control of Basra airport, its main military base in southern Iraq, to Iraqi officials in accordance with an agreement signed with Baghdad this week.
2009 - Bank of America completed its purchase of Merrill Lynch to save it from bankruptcy. The acquisition made Bank of America the world’s largest wealth manager and a major player in the investment banking industry.
2010 - A free-trade agreement between China and the ten member countries of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations [ASEAN] took effect. The six richest members scrapped tariffs on 90% of goods, while the four poorest [Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar] did not need to cut tariffs to the same level for several years.
2010 - A technical problem left debit and credit card holders unable to use cash machines in Germany. The malfunction [in about a quarter of all cards in circulation] was caused by microchips not programmed to cope with the changeover to the new year. On Jan 8 retailers announced that the problem was mostly corrected.
2011 - A new media law went into effect in Hungary that greatly expanded the state’s power to monitor and penalize private news outlets, including those on the Internet. Hungary’s Constitutional Court struck down certain provisions of the the law, finding them to be an unconstitutional restraint on press freedom.
2011 - Some 3,000 red-winged blackbirds died and fell from the sky over a 1-mile area of Beebe, Arkansas. Several hundred thousand red-winged blackbirds had used a wooded area in the town as a roost for the past several years. Officials went to the roost area and found no dead birds on the ground. “That pretty much rules out an illness” or poisoning, Beebe Mayor Mike Robertson said. Carcasses of dead birds would have been strewn about the roost area if either had been involved, he said.
2012 - Mount Rainier National Park ranger Margaret Anderson (34) was fatally shot following a traffic stop. Authorities closed the 368-square-mile (953-square-km) park in Washington state as they searched for the gunman (his body was found the following day about six miles from the initial shooting scene).
2013 - The U.S. House of Representatives approved emergency bipartisan legislation to hike income tax rates on income above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for households. And new limits went into effect on exemptions and deductions used by the wealthiest Americans. The legislation also set up another ‘fiscal cliff’ confrontation...
2013 - Graphic designer Michael Cronan died in Berkeley, CA at 61 years of age. Cronan was best known for christening TiVo, the digital recorder that changed the way people watch TV, and Amazon’s Kindle, the portable reading device that changed the way people read books. He dreamed up those words before they meant anything to anyone.
2014 - Crime drama The Best Offer opened in U.S. theatres. The film stars Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess, Sylvia Hoeks, Donald Sutherland, Philip Jackson, Dermot Crowley, Kiruna Stamell and Liya Kebede.
2014 - Dubai set the world record for the largest ever fireworks display. The history-making performance saw 479,651 shells fired in just six minutes on New Year's Eve, at a rate of almost 80K shells per minute and 1,332 fireworks per second.
2014 - The first recreational pot industry in the U.S. began -- in Colorado -- as business owners threw open their doors for shoppers at 8 a.m.
2015 - Deaths on this day: Actress Donna Douglass (pancreatic cancer, age 83) in Baton Rouge, LA. She played Elly May Clampett in the The Beverly Hillbillies TV sitcom (1962-1971). And Mario Cuomo, former three-term (1983-1994) governor of New York state (heart failure, age 82) in Manhattan.
2015 - A Pakistani fishing boat laden with explosives bound for India blew up, killing all four people on board. This, after the Indian coast guard had tried to stop and search the boat.
2016 - Former Arkansas Governor and U.S. Senator Dale Bumpers died at his home in Little Rock. He had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and a broken hip. As a long-time political force in Arkansas, Bumpers befriended and served as a mentor to Bill Clinton beginning in the mid-1970s. Bumpers himself was often considered a potential presidential and vice presidential candidate, though he never sought either office.
2016 - The last state to join the union became the first to raise the legal smoking age to 21. Hawaii’s new law banned those under 21 from buying tobacco products -- including electronic cigarettes.
2017 - New Rules: California increased the minimum wage from $10 to $10.50 an hour for businesses with 26 or more employees. And an Illinois law mandated an hour of training for stylists, barbers, cosmetologists, hair braiders and nail technicians to watch for signs of domestic violence -- as part of their licensing process.
2017 - Heavy smog in northern China caused hundreds of flights to be canceled and highways closed, disrupting the first day of the New Year holiday.
2018 - A law took effect in Iceland requiring all companies to prove that their wage practices do not discriminate against women. The law was a global first in in reducing gender pay gaps.
2018 - Iran’s state TV said armed protesters tried to overrun military bases and police stations before security forces repelled them, bringing the death toll in the unrest to at least 13. Fresh protests broke out as night fell in Tehran. Nine Iranians were killed in Isfahan province during anti-government protests as security forces struggled to contain the boldest challenge to the clerical leadership since unrest in 2009.
2019 - Thousands of demonstrators marched in Hong Kong to demand full democracy, fundamental rights, and even independence from China. This, in the face of what many saw as a marked clampdown by the Communist Party on local freedoms.
2019 - A man drove his car into a crowd of people, injuring at least four in Bottrop and Essen (western Germany) before being arrested by police on suspicion of attempted homicide. It appeared to have been an intentional attack against foreigners.
2020 - New U.S. rules came into effect requiring most types of newly sold light bulbs to emit at least 45 lumens of light for each watt of electricity they burn.
2020 - Illinois became the 11th state to allow marijuana use and sale for recreational purposes. Illinois already allowed medical marijuana, but the recreational part was new -- to the delight of pot fans.
2020 - Hong Kong began 2020 with a familiar sight: Tear gas, fires, vandalism and roadblocks in busy downtown areas. This, as protesters vowed to maintain their fight for more democracy and less Chinese control. Police detained about 400 people on charges including illegal assembly and possession of offensive weapons after the huge rally.
2021 - Shadow in the Cloud was scheduled to open on this day. The action, horror film stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson and Beulah Koale.
2021 - The U.S. Senate voted 81-13 to override POTUS Trump’s veto of a $741 billion defense authorization bill. It was the first Congressional veto overridee for Trump.
2021 - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a package of ethics and legislative reforms for the incoming Congress (set to convene on Jan 3), including barring former lawmakers convicted of federal crimes from the House floor.
2021 - Australia changed a lyric in its national anthem from “we are young and free” to “we are one and free” to recognize Indigenous populations that have lived on the continent for more than 60,000 years.
2022 - Pasadena put on its 133rd Rose Parade after a year off due to the pandemic. In 2021 a televised special replaced the parade.
2022 - French authorities ordered children six and older to wear masks in indoor places open to the public. This, as new cases of the highly contagious omicron variant surged past 200,000 -- for the fourth consecutive day.
2023 - Near Reno, NV: Actor Jeremy Renner was accidentally run over by a snowplow, breaking more than 30 bones in his body. Renner was pulled under the snowplow as he was trying to stop his snow-removal tractor from sliding and hitting his nephew. The Northern Nevada region had been hit by a winter storm that knocked out power to 35,000 homes across five Northern Nevada counties.
2023 - Ukrainian forces shot down 45 Iranian-made Sahed drones fired by Russia on the first day of 2023. As air-raid sirens sounded in Kyiv, residents stood on their balconies, shouting, “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to heroes!” Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky, said Russia’s waves of attacks with drones and missiles “will not help them... because we stand united. They are united only by fear.” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the latest attacks cause no reported injuries.
and more...
Birthdays on This Day January 1
1735 - Paul Revere
silversmith, Revolutionary War patriot: “The British are coming!”, member of Sons of Liberty and participant in Boston Tea Party; died May 10, 18181752 - Betsy Ross (Elizabeth Griscom)
flagmaker from Philadelphia, legendary folklore says she sewed the first American flag; died Jan 30, 18361879 - E.M. (Edward Morgan) Forster
author: Where Angels Fear to Tread, The Longest Journey, A Room with a View, Howard’s End, A Passage to India, Maurice; died June 7, 19701895 - J. (John) Edgar Hoover
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] starting May 19, 1924; investigated communists and leftists whether for national security or his own interests; probed into the lives of everyone from presidents to the Ku Klux Klan; remained director until his death May 2, 19721900 - Xavier Cugat (Francisco de Asís Javier Cugat Mingall de Brue y Deulofeo)
violinist, composer, band leader: The Lady in Red, Perfidia, Brazil, Begin the Beguine; married to Abbe Lane, Charo; died Oct 27, 19901909 - (Carver) Dana Andrews
actor: State Fair, The Best Years of Our Lives, A Walk in the Sun, Battle of the Bulge, Airport ’75, Prince Jack; died Dec 17, 19921909 - Barry Goldwater
U.S. Senator, 1964 Republican Presidential nominee: “...extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice”; died May 29, 19981911 - Hank Greenberg
Baseball Hall of Famer: Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates; career: 331 home runs; died Sep 4, 19861916 - Earl Wrightson
actor, singer: Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits; died Mar 7, 19931919 - Rocky Graziano (Thomas Rocco Barbella)
International Boxing Hall of Famer; actor: The Martha Raye Show, Somebody Up There Likes Me; died May 22, 19901919 - J.D. (Jerome David) Salinger
short story writer: Franny and Zooey; novelist: The Catcher in the Rye; died Jan 27, 20101922 - Ernest Hollings
Democratic politician: 106th Governor of South Carolina [1959–1963]; U.S. Senator [1966–2005]; died Apr 6, 20191922 - Jerry Robinson (Sherrill David Robinson)
Comic Book Hall of Fame artist: Batman [created the Joker]; president of National Cartoonists Society [1967-1969]; president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists [1973-1975]; author: The Comics [1974]; died Dec 7, 20111923 - Barbara Baxley
actress: The Exorcist III, Come Along With Me, Norma Rae, Nashville, No Way to Treat a Lady, The Savage Eye, The Law; died Jun 7, 19901923 - Milt Jackson
musician: ‘Bags’: vibes: group: The Modern Jazz Quartet: LP: Opus de Funk, Ballads and Blues, Plenty, Plenty Soul, Bags and Flutes, Soul Brothers [w/Ray Charles], Bean Bags, Bags and Trane [w/John Coltrane], Ballad Artistry of Milt Jackson [w/Quincy Jones’ string arrangement], Bags Meets Wes [w/Wes Montgomery]; died Oct 9, 19991925 - Valentina Cortese
actress: The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, When Time Ran Out, Widow’s Nest, Brother Sun Sister Moon, Assassination of Trotsky, Forest Love, Juliet of the Spirits, The Barefoot Contessa, Les Miserables, Malaya; died Jul 10, 20191927 - Ewell Doak Walker
Pro Football Hall of Famer: S.M.U. [Heisman Trophy: 1948]; Detroit Lions; died Sep 27, 19981935 - Bernard Kliban
cartoonist: cats; cartoon books: Cats, Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head and Other Drawings, Whack Your Porcupine; died Aug 12, 1990; more1938 - Frank Langella
Tony Award-winning actor: Seascape [1975], Fortune’s Fool [2002]; Dracula, The Father, Present Laughter; films: The Twelve Chairs, Dracula, Masters of the Universe; TV: The Mark of Zorro, Sherlock Holmes1942 - Billy Lothridge
football: Georgia Tech, runner-up to Roger Staubach for 1963 Heisman Trophy; NFL: Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta Falcons, Miami Dolphins; died Feb 23, 19961942 - Country Joe McDonald
singer: group: Country Joe & the Fish: The F-I-S-H Cheer from Woodstock1943 - Stanley Kamel
actor: Monk, Murder One, Melrose Place, Beverly Hills, 90210, Diagnosis Murder, Days of Our Lives; died Apr 8, 20081943 - Don Novello
actor, comedian: ‘Father Guido Sarducci’: Saturday Night Live, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, One Night Stand, Spirit of ’76, The Godfather, Part 3, New York Stories, Tucker: The Man and His Dream1945 - Jacky (Jacques) Ickx
race car driver: eight-time Grand Prix winner1947 - Leonard Thompson
golf: Senior PGA Tour money leader: $1,312,5591955 - (Dewey) La Marr Hoyt
baseball: pitcher: Chicago White Sox [Cy Young Award: 1983]; San Diego Padres1964 - Dedee Pfeiffer
actress: Jack’s Family Adventure, Secret at Arrow Lake, Fix, AVH: Alien vs. Hunter, Seventeen & Missing, A Killer Within1969 - Morris Chestnut
actor: Rosewood, Boyz n the Hood, The Ernest Green Story, The Game Plan, Ladder 49, The Cave, Breakin’ All the Rules, Like Mike, Two Can Play That Game, The Best Man1969 - Sophie Okonedo
actress: Tsunami: The Aftermath, Criminal Justice, Aeon Flux, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Dirty Pretty Things, Skin, The Secret Life of Bees, Hotel Rwanda1969 - Verne Troyer
actor: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Pinocchio’s Revenge, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Mighty Joe Young, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Bubble Boy, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone; died Apr 21, 20181970 - Johnny Thrust
actor [1995-2012]: X-rated films: Office Sluts, Itty Bitty Titty and Eighteen, Whore of the Rings 2, Hooter Nation, Shitty Shitty Bang Bang1971 - Kevin Mitchell
football [linebacker]: NFL: Univ of Syracuse; NFL: San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, Washington Redskins; died Apr 30, 20071972 - Catherine McCormack
actress: Shadow of the Vampire, Braveheart, Love in the 21st Century, A Rumor of Angels, The Tailor of Panama, Armadillo, Spy Game1976 - Tank (Durrell Babbs) singer: Emergency, Sex Music, Maybe I Deserve, Please Don’t Go, When We; more
1977 - Sarah Wayne Callies
actress: Prison Break: The Final Break, The Walking Dead, Black Sky, Faces in the Crowd, The Celestine Prophecy1979 - Skyler Stone
actor: Con, Raising Hope, House Broken, Equal Opportunity, Skyler’s Revolution, Smart Card, Stuck on You, Van Wilder1980 - Christopher Redman
actor: The Colt, Absolon, Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story, K-19: The Widowmaker, Beyond the Fields, Bless the Child, Ginger Snaps
1981 - Eden Riegel
Emmy Award-winning actress: All My Children [2005]; Les Miserables, Eden, The Young and the Restless, Year One, The Prince of Egypt, The Frog King1985 - Jeff Carter
hockey [center]: NHL: Philadelphia Flyers [2005-2011; Los Angeles Kings [2011-2014]; 2012, 2014 Stanley Cup champs1985 - Ray Edwards
football [defensive end]: Purdeu Univ; NFL: Minnesota Vikings1985 - Katrina Law
actress: NCIS: Hawai’i, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Spartacus: Vengeance, 3 Minutes, Kuckledraggers, If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home Now; more1985 - Tiago Splitter
basketball [power forward/center]: NBA: San Antonio Spurs [2010]: 2014 NBA champs1987 - Meryl Davis
ice dancer [w/partner Charlie White]: 2014 Olympic gold medalist, 2010 Olympic silver medalist, multiple World and Grand Prix finals champ; won the 18th (spring 2014) season of TVs Dancing with the Stars alongside Maksim Chmerkovskiy1989 - Jason Pierre-Paul
football [defensive end]: New York Giants [2010–2017]: 2012 Super Bowl XLVI; Tampa Bay Buccaneers [2018–2021]; Baltimore Ravens [2022–]; New Orleans Saints [2023]; Miami Dolphins [2023– ]2001 - Angourie Rice
actress: Mare of Easttown, These Final Hours, The Nice Guys, Nowhere Boys: The Book of Shadows, Jasper Jones, The Beguiled, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home
and still more...
Hit Music on This Day January 1
1949Buttons and Bows (facts) - Dinah Shore
My Darling, My Darling (facts) - Jo Stafford & Gordon MacRae
1958
1967
1976
1985
1994
2003
2012
2021
and even more...
Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end...
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