24 November 24 November 1642 Abel Tasman discovered Van Diemen's Land, later Tasmania. 1859 The Origin of Species, a path-breaking scientific work by British naturalist Charles Darwin, was published in England. 1874 Joseph F.Glidden patented barbed wire. 1963 Jack Ruby, a Dallas night-club owner, shot dead Lee Harvey Oswald, President Kennedy's assassin. The macabre incident was witnessed live by millions of television viewers. 1971 A hijacker parachuted into a raging thunderstorm from a Northwest Airlines 727 over Washington, with $200,000 in ransom! A massive manhunt for him proved futile.
06 January 06 January 1535 The city of Lima in Peru was founded by Francisco Pizarro. 1681 The first recorded boxing match took place between the Duke of Albemarle’s butler and his butcher. 1838 Samuel Morse made the first public demonstration of the telegraph. 1907 Italian educationist, Maria Montessori, opened her first school in Rome. 1930 The first trip in an automobile fitted with a diesel engine, a Packard sedan, was completed.
13 January 13 January 1610 Galileo Galilei discovered Callisto, the fourth satellite of Jupiter. 1888 The National Geographic Society was founded in Washington D.C. 1893 The British Independent Labour Party was formed with Keir Hardie as its leader. 1953 Marshal Josip Tito was chosen president of Yugoslavia. 1958 Around 9000 scientists from 43 nations petitioned the United Nations for a nuclear test ban. 1989 Computers across Britain were hit by the Friday the 13th virus
23 January 23 January 1492 The Pentateuch, the Jewish holy book was first printed. 1924 Ramsey MacDonald formed the first Labour government in Britain. 1950 In a resolution, the Israeli Knesset declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel. 1983 Bjorn Borg announced his retirement from tennis. 1991 The world’s largest oil spill was caused by embattled Iraqi forces in Kuwait.
24 January 24 January 1899 The rubber heel for shoes was patented by Humphrey O’Sullivan. 1900 The Newcastle Badminton Club, the world’s oldest club was formed in England. 1908 General Robert Baden-Powell established the Boy Scouts. 1924 The Russian city of St Petersburg was renamed Leningrad. 1958 After warming them to 100,000,0000C, 2 light atoms were bombarded against each other to create a heavier atom, resulting in the first man-made nuclear fusion.
25 January 25 January 1565 At the battle at Talikota, a combined army of the Deccan kingdoms destroyed the Vijayanagara army. 1949 In the Israeli elections, David Ben-Gurion became the country’s first prime minister. 1970 Robert Altman’s popular TV serial MASH premiered. 1971 Himachal Pradesh became the 18th Indian state. 1983 China’s supreme court commuted Mao’s widow, Chiang Ch’ing’s death sentence, to life. 1985 Wasim Akram made his Test debut against New Zealand at Auckland. He took 2 wickets for 105.
26 January 26 January 1531 Lisbon was hit by an earthquake. About 30,000 died. 1788 Captain Arthur Phillip established an English colony at Sydney, in Botany Bay. 1875 The electric dental drill was patented by George F. Green. 1905 The world’s largest diamond, the 3,106-carat Cullinan, was found in South Africa. 1929 At its Lahore session, the Indian National Congress proclaimed ‘Purna Swarajya’ - complete independence as its goal. 1950 India became a republic. 1988 Australia’s 200th anniversary was commemorated by a parade of tall ships in Sydney Harbour
27 January 27 January 1302 Dante, the author of the Divine Comedy became a Florentine political exile. 1918 “Tarzan of the Apes,” the first Tarzan film, premiered at New York’s Broadway Theatre. 1924 Lenin’s body was placed in a mausoleum in Red Square. 1967 Apollo-11 astronauts Grissom, White and Chaffee were killed when a fire broke out in their space module during a training session. 1996 France performed a nuclear test at Muruora Island in the Pacific Ocean.
28 January 28 January 1099 The first Crusaders began their siege of Hosn-el-Akrad in Syria. 1807 London’s Pall Mall became the first street to be lit by gaslight. 1928 Christopher Hornsrud was chosen Prime Minister of Norway at the age of 101. 1935 Iceland became the first country to legalize abortion. 1986 The US Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after lift-off. 1998 Michelangelo’s painting Christ and the Woman of Samaria was sold for a record $7.4 million.
29 January 29 January 1845 Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven was first published in New York. 1886 The first successful gasoline-driven car was patented by Karl Benz. 1933 German President von Hindenburg appointed Hitler the leader of the Nazi party. 1990 The captain of the oil tanker, Exxon Valdez, Joseph Hazelwood went on trial for the oil spill disaster. 1991 Nelson Mandela and Inkatha Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi met in Durban after 28 years, to make another attempt at peace. 1996 The 6,138th performance of Cats was held in London, surpassing the record of Broadway’s longest-running musical, A Chorus Line.