January
1
1752:
Betsy Ross - Three members
of a secret committee from the Continental Congress ask
Betsy Ross to sew the first flag
1863:
Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation
Proclamation.
1919:
J.D.
Salinger - Jerome David Salinger established his reputation
on the basis of a single novel, The Catcher
in the Rye (1951).
January
2
1920:
Isaac Asimov - Isaac Asimov wrote over
500 books that enlightened, entertained, and spanned the
realm of human knowledge.
January
3
1892:
JRR Tolkein - Author of two of the most
well-known and best-loved books of the late 20th century,
The
Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
January
5
1946:
Diane Keaton, a
gifted and likable performer.
January
6
1412:
Joan of Arc - The French saint who,
following voices sent from God, defended France against
the British.
1878:
Carl Sandburg - Carl Sandburg, nationally
renowned poet, biographer, lecturer, newspaper columnist,
folksinger, author of American fairytales, and winner of
two Pulitzer Prizes.
1883:
Khalil Gibran - Poet, philosopher, and artist,
born in Lebanon.
January
7
1903:
Zora
Neale Hurston - An American author who wrote stories,
novels, anthropological folklore and an autobiography.
January
8
1942:
Steven Hawking - Stephen
Hawking was born on the 300th anniversary of Galileo's death.
He has come to be thought of as the greatest mind in physics
since Albert Einstein.
January
12
1876:
Jack London - Jack London is best
known for his books The Call of the Wild,
White
Fang, and The
Sea-Wolf, and a few short stories, such as "To
Build a Fire" and "The White
Silence."
January
15
1559:
Elizabeth
I crowned Queen of England.
January
17
1860:
Anton Chekhov - Chekhov
is remembered as a playwright and one of the masters of
the modern short story.
1893:
Americans overthrow Hawaiian
monarchy.
January
21
1793:
Louis
XVI of France executed.
January
23
1849:
Elizabeth
Blackwell is granted a medical degree from Geneva College
in New York, becoming the first female to be officially
recognized as a physician in U.S. history.
January
26
1950:
Republic
of India born.
