January 26
1788 - The first European settlers landed in Sydney, Australia.
1802 - Congress passed an act calling for establishment of a library within the U.S. Capitol.
1837 - Michigan became the 26th state.
1915 - President Woodrow Wilson signed the Rocky Mountain National Park Act, which created America's 10th national park.
1950 - India, three years after gaining its independence from the United Kingdom, formally became a republic.
1962 - The United States launched Ranger 3 to land scientific instruments on the moon. (The probe ended up missing its target by more than 22,000 miles.)
1979 - Former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller died in New York City at age 70.
1988 - Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" opened on Broadway. It would go on to become the longest-running show in Broadway history.
1992 - Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton, appearing with his wife, Hillary, on CBS's "60 Minutes," acknowledged "causing pain in my marriage," but said past problems were not relevant to the campaign.
1993 - Vaclav Havel was elected president of the new Czech Republic.
1994 - A scare occurred during a visit to Sydney, Australia, by Britain's Prince Charles as college student David Kang lunged at the prince, firing two blank shots from a starter's pistol. (Kang was later sentenced to 500 hours of community service.)
1998 - President Bill Clinton forcefully denied having an affair with a former White House intern, telling reporters, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."
2001 - A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck India, killing more than 20,000 people.
2004 - President Hamid Karzai signed the new constitution of Afghanistan.
2005 - A U.S. Marine helicopter crashed in western Iraq, killing 30 Marines and a Navy medic aboard.
2009 - Nadya Suleman gave birth at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center in California to six boys and two girls; criticism came after the public learned that the unemployed, single mother had gotten pregnant with octuplets via in-vitro fertilization while already being a mother to six elder children.
2016 - Character actor Abe Vigoda, star of "The Godfather" and "Barney Miller," died in Woodland Park, New Jersey at age 94.
2022 - Spotify said it would grant the request of veteran rocker Neil Young to have his music removed from the streaming platform after he objected to the company's decision to allow COVID-19 misinformation to spread in podcasts.
2023 - Israeli forces killed at least nine Palestinians and wounded several others in a large-scale raid in the occupied West Bank, the deadliest single operation in the territory in two decades.
Birthdays
20 - Addison Riecke (actress)
24 - Ester Exposito (actress)
28 - Maria Pedraza (actress)
30 - Joseph Quinn (actor)
32 - Sasha Banks (professional wrestler)
32 - Briana Jungwirth (model)
43 - Colin O'Donoghue (actor)
46 - Sarah Rue (actress)
47 - Vince Carter (basketball player)
48 - Tye Tribbett (singer)
48 - Gilles Marini (actor)
50 - Matilda Szydagis (actress)
51 - Jennifer Crystal (actress)
52 - Nate Mooney (actor)
54 - Kirk Franklin (singer)
57 - Bryan Callen (actor)
60 - Paul Johansson (actor)
63 - Wayne Gretzky (hockey player)
66 - Ellen DeGeneres (actress/comedian/TV host)
75 - David Strathairn (actor)
77 - Richard Portnow (actor)
85 - Scott Glenn (actor)
89 - Bob Uecker (actor/sportscaster)
================================
Today in Sports History - January 26
1913 - Jim Thorpe is forced to relinquish his 1912 Olympic medals for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball.
1924 - American skater Charels Jewtraw claims the first ever Winter Olympic gold medal, winning the 500 meter speed skating event in Chamonix, France.
1951 - Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1956 - Hank Greenberg and Joe Cronin are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1960 - The Oakland Raiders are admitted to the American Football League.
1960 - Pete Rozelle is elected NFL commissioner on the 23rd ballot.
1985 - Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers) became the first NHL player to score 50 goals in 49 games.
1986 - The Chicago Bears defeat the New England Patriots 46-10 to win Super Bowl XX.
1991 - Jan Stenerud becomes the first placekicker elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
1992 - The Washington Redskins defeat the Buffalo Bills 37-24 to win Super Bowl XXVI.
1995 - With a record 6,254,427 ballots cast by fans in NBA All-Star voting, Grant Hill of the Detroit Pistons becomes the first rookie to lead all NBA players in All-Star Votes.
1997 - The Green Bay Packers defeated the New England Patriots 35-21 to win Super Bowl XXXI.
2003 - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Oakland Raiders 48-21 to win Super Bowl XXXVII.
2012 - Some 12,000 people -- including Penn State students, fans and football stars - paid tribute to the late Joe Paterno in a campus memorial service that exposed a strong undercurrent of anger over his firing.
2020 - NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were killed when their helicopter plunged into a steep hillside in dense morning fog in Southern California; the former Los Angeles Lakers star was 41 years old.
1788 - The first European settlers landed in Sydney, Australia.
1802 - Congress passed an act calling for establishment of a library within the U.S. Capitol.
1837 - Michigan became the 26th state.
1915 - President Woodrow Wilson signed the Rocky Mountain National Park Act, which created America's 10th national park.
1950 - India, three years after gaining its independence from the United Kingdom, formally became a republic.
1962 - The United States launched Ranger 3 to land scientific instruments on the moon. (The probe ended up missing its target by more than 22,000 miles.)
1979 - Former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller died in New York City at age 70.
1988 - Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" opened on Broadway. It would go on to become the longest-running show in Broadway history.
1992 - Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton, appearing with his wife, Hillary, on CBS's "60 Minutes," acknowledged "causing pain in my marriage," but said past problems were not relevant to the campaign.
1993 - Vaclav Havel was elected president of the new Czech Republic.
1994 - A scare occurred during a visit to Sydney, Australia, by Britain's Prince Charles as college student David Kang lunged at the prince, firing two blank shots from a starter's pistol. (Kang was later sentenced to 500 hours of community service.)
1998 - President Bill Clinton forcefully denied having an affair with a former White House intern, telling reporters, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."
2001 - A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck India, killing more than 20,000 people.
2004 - President Hamid Karzai signed the new constitution of Afghanistan.
2005 - A U.S. Marine helicopter crashed in western Iraq, killing 30 Marines and a Navy medic aboard.
2009 - Nadya Suleman gave birth at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center in California to six boys and two girls; criticism came after the public learned that the unemployed, single mother had gotten pregnant with octuplets via in-vitro fertilization while already being a mother to six elder children.
2016 - Character actor Abe Vigoda, star of "The Godfather" and "Barney Miller," died in Woodland Park, New Jersey at age 94.
2022 - Spotify said it would grant the request of veteran rocker Neil Young to have his music removed from the streaming platform after he objected to the company's decision to allow COVID-19 misinformation to spread in podcasts.
2023 - Israeli forces killed at least nine Palestinians and wounded several others in a large-scale raid in the occupied West Bank, the deadliest single operation in the territory in two decades.
Birthdays
20 - Addison Riecke (actress)
24 - Ester Exposito (actress)
28 - Maria Pedraza (actress)
30 - Joseph Quinn (actor)
32 - Sasha Banks (professional wrestler)
32 - Briana Jungwirth (model)
43 - Colin O'Donoghue (actor)
46 - Sarah Rue (actress)
47 - Vince Carter (basketball player)
48 - Tye Tribbett (singer)
48 - Gilles Marini (actor)
50 - Matilda Szydagis (actress)
51 - Jennifer Crystal (actress)
52 - Nate Mooney (actor)
54 - Kirk Franklin (singer)
57 - Bryan Callen (actor)
60 - Paul Johansson (actor)
63 - Wayne Gretzky (hockey player)
66 - Ellen DeGeneres (actress/comedian/TV host)
75 - David Strathairn (actor)
77 - Richard Portnow (actor)
85 - Scott Glenn (actor)
89 - Bob Uecker (actor/sportscaster)
================================
Today in Sports History - January 26
1913 - Jim Thorpe is forced to relinquish his 1912 Olympic medals for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball.
1924 - American skater Charels Jewtraw claims the first ever Winter Olympic gold medal, winning the 500 meter speed skating event in Chamonix, France.
1951 - Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1956 - Hank Greenberg and Joe Cronin are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1960 - The Oakland Raiders are admitted to the American Football League.
1960 - Pete Rozelle is elected NFL commissioner on the 23rd ballot.
1985 - Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers) became the first NHL player to score 50 goals in 49 games.
1986 - The Chicago Bears defeat the New England Patriots 46-10 to win Super Bowl XX.
1991 - Jan Stenerud becomes the first placekicker elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
1992 - The Washington Redskins defeat the Buffalo Bills 37-24 to win Super Bowl XXVI.
1995 - With a record 6,254,427 ballots cast by fans in NBA All-Star voting, Grant Hill of the Detroit Pistons becomes the first rookie to lead all NBA players in All-Star Votes.
1997 - The Green Bay Packers defeated the New England Patriots 35-21 to win Super Bowl XXXI.
2003 - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Oakland Raiders 48-21 to win Super Bowl XXXVII.
2012 - Some 12,000 people -- including Penn State students, fans and football stars - paid tribute to the late Joe Paterno in a campus memorial service that exposed a strong undercurrent of anger over his firing.
2020 - NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were killed when their helicopter plunged into a steep hillside in dense morning fog in Southern California; the former Los Angeles Lakers star was 41 years old.
