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Events, deaths, births, of JAN 29
[For Jan 29 Julian go to Gregorian date: 1583~1699: Feb 081700s: Feb 091800s: Feb 101900~2099: Feb 11]
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On a January 29:
2002
USurper President George “Dubya” Bush gives his State of the Union address.
2002 Albanian Prime Minister Ilir Meta hands in his resignation to President Rexhep Meidani. His arch-rival, ruling Socialist Party Chairman Fatos Nano, had criticized Meta for governing with ``fascist methods'' and in December 2001 accused three of his ministers of abuse of power. The ministers said they were innocent but agreed to step down for the sake of stability. Nano loyalists then blocked the appointment of their replacements, and Meta's resignation follows the failure of talks to agree on a reshuffle. The feud discouraged badly needed foreign investment and caused neglect of economic reforms in Albania, which is suffering power cuts of up to 20 hours a day due to an electricity crisis.
2001 El juez Juan Guzmán dicta una orden de procesamiento y arresto domiciliario contra el dictador chileno Augusto Pinochet.
Sweta Kumar Sweta's face ^
2001
In Bhachau, near Bhuj, Gujarat, India, Sweta Kumar, 7-months-old girl, is pulled out alive from the rubble of her home under which she had stayed buried since the earthquake of 26 January. [< photos >]
Hetal Visani
Old woman rescued in Bhuj 010129 2001 In Bhuj, Gujarat, India, Sikh soldiers digging with their hands and crow bars, rescue Cham Paten Seth, 90, who had been trapped in the rubble since the earthquake of 26 January. She survived because her head was protected by an old sewing machine. [< photo, not sure it's the same woman >]


2001
Hetal Visani, a 10 year old Indian girl, survivor of the 26 January earthquake, looks on while sitting at the military hospital in the city of Bhuj, Gujarat, today. [photo >]

Murtza Ali
2001 Eight-month-old Murtza Ali recuperates in a hospital in Bhuj, today. Murtza was found when members of the Indian Border Security Force in Bhuj were working to remove the body of a dead woman, and discovered Murtza lying in his mothers lap. Murtza Ali spent some 96 hours trapped there covered in his mother's blood.
Dead mom      Doctors say that it was the warmth of the mother's body and the protection it offered that helped the baby survive during nights when temperatures dropped to 7ºC. Relatives were found nearby, and Murtza is expected to survive. [< photo]

2001 In the Gujarat quake region, few are those found alive by now. Many thousands are like this dead woman and child (just its head is seen) trapped under the rubble of the Maruti Apartment building in Bhuj. [photo >]
2000 Delegates meeting in Montreal reached an international agreement on the trade of genetically modified food and other products.
^ 1999 Clinton impeachment trial in Senate: recess until 04 February

(1) The Senate issues subpoenas today to compel three key witnesses — Monica Lewinsky, Vernon Jordan and Sidney Blumenthal — to give depositions next week in the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. The Senate's sergeant-at-arms, James W. Ziglar, leaves the Capitol at about 14:30 EST to deliver the subpoenas to attorneys for the three. Under a plan approved by the GOP majority in the Senate 28 Jan, lawyers for the prosecution and defense will interview the witnesses individually behind closed-doors on 01 Feb, 02 Feb and 03 Feb.

(2) With the impeachment trial in recess until 04 Feb, the next step in the case will be the closed-door deposition of Lewinsky on Feb. 1. She will be questioned by Rep. Ed Bryant (R-Tennessee), one of the House prosecutors, at the Mayflower hotel. The Jordan and Blumenthal depositions will follow on 02 Feb and 03 Feb, though the schedule is not set. Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-Arkansas) will question Jordan and Rep. James Rogan (R-California) will question Blumenthal. The Jordan and Blumenthal depositions will be on Capitol Hill. Senators will also sit in on the depositions, with Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) attending the Lewinsky deposition; Fred Thompson (R-Tennessee) attending the Jordan deposition; and Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania) attending the Blumenthal deposition. For the Democrats, Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and John Edwards of North Carolina will participate, although which senator will attend which deposition is not yet known.

(3) A federal judge today orders some material kept secret in a case stemming from Kenneth Starr's investigation of President Clinton after a prosecutor expressed concern that disclosure would "tip off targets" in the ongoing probe. US District Judge Claude Hilton says lawyers for Julie Hiatt Steele, who is accused of obstruction and making a false statement in Starr's investigation, must not disseminate material they receive from Starr's office in preparing for trial. The material includes FBI interviews with witnesses. Ms. Steele was a witness in Starr's investigation of a suspected cover-up of an alleged unwanted sexual advance by Clinton on former White House volunteer Kathleen Willey. Steele lawyers Nancy Luque and Dan Marino said Starr's request for a court order to restrict use of the material was highly unusual.
      Eight news organizations asked Hilton to deny Starr's request for a protective order that will keep the material off the public record. Records turned over to Ms. Steele's lawyers before the trial should not be used for "fund-raising purposes, ... on the Geraldo show or on the Larry King show or to tip off targets of other pending investigations," prosecutor Jay Apperson argued. Hilton says Starr's prosecutors have an "ongoing investigation" and "they are entitled" to not have material divulged. He directs the prosecutors to identify what they consider to be sensitive information that must be kept confidential as it is turned over to Ms. Steele's lawyers. Hilton's order means that portions of court motions by Ms. Steele's lawyers which ordinarily would be filed on the public record before trial now will be filed in secret with the judge. Asked outside court what prosecutors are trying to keep confidential, Luque replies "the truth." She declines to elaborate. Getting his turn at Lewinsky — in a hotel room

(4) Matt Drudge reports: 'JANE DOE' INTERVIEW ON ICE: BROADDRICK CONSIDERING NEW NETWORK; NBC BOSSES GIVE MYERS THE RUN AROUND **World Exclusive** **Update** 01/29/99 06:09 UTC — There is now less than a 50-50 chance NBC will air Lisa Myers' in-depth interview with Juanita Broaddrick, network sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT. "There is a feeling that NBC brass do not want to get directly involved in the impeachment trial and throw it into chaos," explains one insider. One week ago, Broaddrick sat for an exclusive in-depth interview with NBC NEWS reporter Lisa Myers — an interview that she was told would immediately air on DATELINE! One pro-Myers source on Thursday night questioned why her network is holding back the interview. "Why was it okay to release the first story at the height of the Paula Jones case, and now running the actual interview with the woman is seen as interfering with the president's impeachment?" asked the insider. "And we did cover Anita Hill, didn't we?" Lisa Myers first reported details of Broaddrick's story last March 28 on NBC NIGHTLY NEWS, just days before the Jones case was dismissed. . . . .
      An NBC spokesperson said the network "does not comment on our newsgathering," but categorically denied there has been under pressure from the White House to hold the interview. One NBC NEWS source explained that the network is still working to corroborate Broaddrick's story and it will not run "until it is rock solid" and "fit for air." But a pro-Myers insider tells the DRUDGE REPORT the official NBC explanation is way off base. "The story is done, our investigation is over!" declared the source. "I challenge anyone to point out the holes in Lisa's piece." Broaddrick doesn't hold Lisa Myers responsible for the building media nightmare.
      In fact, Myers, late this week, made contact once again with Broaddrick, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. According to a well-placed source, Myers explained to Broaddrick during the conversation how she is being given the run around by her superiors at the network. And Myers recently confided to an associate that she is not even sure if she will have a say in the final cut, should NBC finally air the interview. There are growing fears that NBC has lost complete control of the situation. According to one report, NBC sponsors are starting to complain of receiving calls from angry viewers. The network itself been hit with nearly non-stop phone messages and e-mails on the subject. The story surrounding NBC's interview has turned into a talkradio sensation. There are indications late Thursday night that Broaddrick may now go somewhere else with her story. Reporters from other networks have been trying to woo her into giving another interview, Broaddrick told a close confidant. Developing...

^ 1998 Compaq beats out IBM at Radio Shack
      Tandy Corporation selected Compaq as the sole computer to be sold by 6800 Radio Shack stores across the country for the next three years. Tandy failed to renew its previous three-year agreement with IBM. The move was seen as a blow to IBM, whose share of the US computer market had already slipped from more than ten percent in 1996 to less than six percent in 1997.
1998 El Gobierno británico accede a reabrir la investigación sobre la matanza ocurrida hace 26 años en el Ulster, en la que murieron 14 civiles a manos de soldados británico en la localidad de Londonderry.
1998 Dieciséis países, entre ellos Rusia, Estados Unidos y Japón, firman en Washington el acuerdo intergubernamental para la construcción de una estación espacial internacional.
1997 America Online agrees to give refunds to frustrated customers under threat of lawsuits. Customers were unable to log on after a surge in their numbers when AOL offered a flat $19.95-a-month rate.
^ 1996 Sun shows prototype for network computer
      Sun exhibited a prototype of a simple, inexpensive computer that allowed users to surf the Web or corporate networks. A number of similar network computers, or "thin clients," hit the market in 1996-97. The network model — where small, inexpensive machines communicated with a more sophisticated, central info hub — proved economically attractive to large companies.
1995 Es beatificada por Juan Pablo II la religiosa española Genoveva Torres Morales, fundadora de la Congregación de Religiosas Angélicas y que fue rechazada como monja por una minusvalía.
1991 In his State of the Union Address, US President George Bush (Sr.) assures the people of the US that the war against Iraq will be won and that the recession at home will end in short order. (Extraordinary security measures are in effect for the first wartime State of the Union address since the Vietnam era.)
1991 Battle for Khafji in Saudi Arabia (begins)
1991 El Congreso de Somalia Unificada nombra a Alí Mahdi Mohamed nuevo presidente del país.
1991 Nelson Mandela and Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi meet in Durban after 28 years
1991 US President George H. W. Bush's State of the Union address.
1990 Exxon Valdez captain Joseph Hazelwood goes on trial due to oil spill
1989 Dow jumps 38.06 recoups 508-point loss since October 1987; index at 2256.43
1988 United Airlines Boeing 747SP, circles world in 36 hours 54 minutes 15 seconds
1988 Talks break down between Sandinistas and Contras
1987 William J Casey, ends term as 13th director of CIA
1987 Physician’s Weekly announces that the smile on the face of Leonardo DaVinci's Mona Lisa is caused by a "...facial paralysis resulting from a swollen nerve behind the ear."
1986 193.8 million shares traded in New York Stock Exchange
1984 President Ronald Reagan formally announces he will seek a 2nd term.
1981 Adolfo Suárez dimite de sus cargos de presidente del Gobierno español y del partido de Unión de Centro Democrático.
1980 6 Iranian held US hostages escape with help of the Canadians
^ 1979 China's deputy premier meets US president     
      Deng Xiaoping, deputy premier of China, meets President Jimmy Carter in Washington DC, and together they sign historic new accords that reverse decades of US opposition to the People's Republic of China. Deng Xiaoping lived out a full and complete transformation of China. The son of a landowner, he joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1920 and participated in Mao Zedong's Long March in 1934. In 1945, he was appointed to the Party Central Committee and, with the 1949 victory of the communists in the Chinese Civil War, became the regional party leader of southwestern China. Called to Beijing as deputy premier in 1952, he rose rapidly, became general secretary of the CCP in 1954, and a member of the ruling Political Bureau in 1955. A major policy maker, he advocated individualism and material incentives in China's attempt to modernize its economy, which often brought him into conflict with Mao and his orthodox communist beliefs.
      With the launch of the Cultural Revolution in 1966, Deng was attacked as a capitalist and removed from high party and government posts. He disappeared from public view and worked in a tractor factory, but in 1973 was reinstated by Premier Zhou Enlai, who again made him deputy premier. When Zhou fell ill in 1975, Deng became the effective leader of China. In January 1976, Zhou died, and in the subsequent power struggle Deng was purged by the "Gang of Four"—strict Maoists who had come to power in the Cultural Revolution. In September, however, Mao Zedong died, and Deng was rehabilitated after the Gang of Four fell from power. He resumed his post as deputy premier, often overshadowing Premier Hua Guofeng. Deng sought to open China to foreign investment and create closer ties with the West. In January 1979, he signed accords with President Jimmy Carter, and later that year the United States granted full diplomatic recognition to the People's Republic of China. In 1981, Deng strengthened his position by replacing Hua Guofeng with his prot?g?, Hu Yaobang, and together the men instituted widespread economic reforms in China. The reforms were based on capitalist models, such as the decentralization of various industries, material incentives as the reward for economic success, and the creation of a skilled and well-educated financial elite. As chief adviser to a series of successors, he continued to be the main policy maker in China during the 1980s. Under Deng, China's economy rapidly grew, and citizens enjoyed expanded personal, economic, and cultural freedoms. Political freedoms were still greatly restricted, however, and China continued as an authoritative one-party state. In 1989, Deng hesitantly supported the government crackdown on the democratic demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. Later that year, he resigned his last party post but continued to be an influential adviser to the Chinese government until his death in 1997.
1979 President Carter commutes Patricia Hearst's 7 year prison sentence to 2 years.
1979 Graves inundaciones en la provincia de Ciudad Real, España, por las lluvias torrenciales.
^ 1974 Already one year of fighting in Vietnam after so-called cease-fire.
      The fighting continues in South Vietnam despite the cease-fire that was initiated on January 28, 1973, under the provisions of the Paris Peace Accords. This latest fighting was part of the ongoing battles that followed the brief lull of the cease-fire. The Peace Accords had left an estimated 145'000 North Vietnamese troops in South Vietnam when the cease-fire went into effect. Renewed fighting broke out after the cease-fire as both sides jockeyed for control of territory throughout South Vietnam. Each side held that military operations were justified by the other side's violations of the cease-fire, resulting in an almost endless chain of retaliations.
      During the period between the initiation of the cease-fire and the end of 1973, there were an average of 2980 combat incidents per month in South Vietnam. Most of these were low-intensity harassing attacks designed to wear down the South Vietnamese forces, but the North Vietnamese intensified their efforts in the Central Highlands in September when they attacked government positions with tanks west of Pleiku. As a result of these post-cease-fire actions, approximately 25'000 South Vietnamese were killed in battle in 1973, while communist losses in South Vietnam were estimated at 45'000.
1973 El pintor manchego Benjamín Palencia, elegido miembro de la Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.
^ 1968 US President requests additional funds for Vietnam war.
      In his annual budget message, President Lyndon B. Johnson asks for $26.3 billion to continue the war in Vietnam, and announces an increase in taxes. The war was becoming very expensive, both in terms of lives and national treasure. Johnson had been given a glowing report on progress in the war from Gen. William Westmoreland, senior US commander in South Vietnam. Westmoreland stated in a speech before the National Press Club that, "We have reached an important point when the end begins to come into view. I am absolutely certain that, whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing. The enemy's hopes are bankrupt."
      The day after Johnson's budget speech, the communists launched a massive attack across the length and breadth of South Vietnam. This action, the Tet Offensive, proved to be a critical turning point for the United States in Vietnam. In the end, the offensive resulted in a crushing military defeat for the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese, but the size and scope of the communist attacks caught the American and South Vietnamese allies by surprise. The heavy US and South Vietnamese casualties incurred during the offensive, coupled with the disillusionment over the administration's earlier overly optimistic reports of progress in the war, accelerated the growing disenchantment with the president's conduct of the war. Johnson, frustrated with his inability to reach a solution in Vietnam, announced on March 31, 1968, that he would neither seek nor accept the nomination of his party for re-election.
Pope Paul VI1968 Nauru adopts constitution
1967 Pope Paul VI [< photo] and Soviet President Nikolay Viktorovich Podgorny conferred at the Vatican in the first meeting in history between a Roman Catholic pontiff and the head of a Communist state.
1967 Se establece un acuerdo entre Paraguay y Argentina que permite la libre navegación de buques de ambos países por el río Paraguay y el Paraná.
1963 La CE niega el ingreso del Reino Unido.
1949 Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland recognize Israel.
1948 El delegado soviético en el Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU, Andrei Gromyko, pide la destrucción de todas las bombas atómicas existentes.
1944 285 German bombers attack London
1942 Peru and Ecuador sign Protocol of Rio (boundary determination) — Ecuador y Perú firman el Tratado de Río de Janeiro, para el arreglo definitivo del pleito de límites en la zona amazónica fronteriza de ambos países, con Argentina, Brasil, Chile y EE.UU como garantes.
1942 Maremoto en Mar de Plata (Argentina), que produjo graves daños materiales.
1942 German and Italian troops occupy Benghazi
^ 1942 Iran becomes ally of UK and USSR
      Britain and the Soviet Union secure an agreement with Iran that offers it protection while creating a "Persian corridor" for the Allies—a supply route from the West to Russia. Early in the war, Iran collaborated with Germany by exporting grain to the Axis power in exchange for technicians. But the Allies viewed Iran as a valuable source of oil and conveniently situated as a route for shipping Western war material east to the USSR. On August 25, 1941, both Allied powers invaded Iran (which Prime Minister Winston Churchill preferred to call "Persia," so there would be no confusion between "Iran" and "Iraq"), the Soviets from the north and the Brits from the south. In four days, the Allies effectively controlled Iran.
      On September 16, the ruling shah abdicated, and his 23-year-old son, Muhammad, assumed power and pushed through the Iranian parliament the Treaty of Alliance, which allowed the Allies freedom to move supplies through the country and gave them whatever else they needed from Iran to win the war. The new shah also vowed "not to adopt in his relations with foreign countries an attitude which is inconsistent with the alliance." In exchange, Iran was promised wartime protection from Axis invasion-and a guarantee that the Allies would leave Iranian soil within six months of the close of the war.
      The alliance started off shakily: the Soviets bought up most of Iran's grain harvest, which caused a bread shortage and riots in the streets. Allied troops put the rebellion down, and the United States shipped in grain to compensate for the losses. The Soviet Union then attempted to agitate for the overthrow of the shah by supporting the Tudeh (Farsi for "masses") party, which the Soviets believed would be more generous in oil concessions. Tudeh forces did manage temporarily to take over northern Iran in December 1944.
      When the war ended, the Allies began leaving Iran as promised—except for the USSR. Complaints were made to the United Nations, and pressure was applied by the United States and Great Britain, as this was a violation of one of the terms of the Treaty of Alliance. The Soviets finally began pulling out of Iran in April 1946, but as they withdrew, they continued to foster more bloody rebellions between the shah's government and the Tudeh; the Tudeh were decisively defeated in December 1946 when the shah declared martial law.
1934 Un temblor de tierra en Acapulco daña el 90% de los edificios.
1933 German President von Hindenburg appoints Hitler chancellor.
1929 León Trotski llega a Constantinopla tras ser expulsado de la URSS.
1927 4th German government of Marx forms.
1922 Union of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador dissolved.
1919 Secretary of state proclaims the 18th amendment (prohibition)
1916 first bombings of Paris by German Zeppelins takes place.
1912 Martial law declared in textile strike in Lawrence MA.
1895 Se produce en Cuba un levantamiento independentista que fracasó.
1893 Sensacional robo en un hotel de París de cuadros de pintores famosos.
^ 1891 Liliuokalani proclaimed Queen of Hawaii
      Following the death of her brother, King Kalakaua, Liliuokalani is proclaimed the last monarch of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii, first settled by Polynesian voyagers sometime in the eighth century, saw a massive influx of American settlers during the nineteenth century, most coming to exploit Hawaii’s burgeoning sugar industry. In 1887, under pressure from US investors and American sugar planters, King Kalakaua agreed to a new constitution that stripped him of much of his power. However, in 1891, Liliuokalani ascended to the throne and refused to recognize the constitution of 1887, replacing it instead with a constitution that restored the monarchy’s traditional authority. Two years later, a revolutionary "Committee of Safety," organized by Sanford B. Dole, a Hawaiian-born American, staged a coup against Queen Liliuokalani with the support of US Minister John Stevens and a division of US marines. On February 1, 1893, Stevens recognized Dole’s new government on his own authority and proclaimed Hawaii a US protectorate. Dole submitted a treaty of annexation to the US Senate but most Democrats opposed it, especially after it was revealed that most Hawaiians did want annexation. President Grover Cleveland sent a new US minister to Hawaii to restore Queen Liliuokalani to the throne under the 1887 constitution, but Dole refused to step aside and instead proclaimed the independent Republic of Hawaii, which was organized into a US territory in 1900. Liliuokalani herself spent much of the remainder of her life in the United States, where she unsuccessfully petitioned the federal government for compensation for seized property and other losses. The territorial legislature of Hawaii finally voted her an annual pension of four thousand dollars and permitted her to receive the income from a small sugar plantation. In additional to her political fame, Liliuokalani is also known for composing many Hawaiian songs, including the popular "Aloha Oe," or "Farewell to Thee."
1864 Battle of Moorefield WV (Rosser's Raid)
1864 Cavalry skirmish at Medley, West Virginia
1863 Battle at Bear River WA US Army vs Indians
^ 1861 Divided Kansas enters the Union (celebrates Admission Day)
      The territory of Kansas is admitted into the Union as the thirty-fourth state, or the twenty-eighth state if the secession of eight Southern states over the previous six weeks is taken into account. Kansas, deeply divided over the issue of slavery, is granted statehood as a free state in a gesture of support for the Kansas’ militant anti-slavery forces, which had been in armed conflict with pro-slavery groups since Kansas became a territory in 1854. Trouble in territorial Kansas began with the signing of the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act by President Franklin Pierce. The act stipulated that settlers in the newly created territories of Nebraska and Kansas would decide by popular vote whether their territory would be free or slave. In early 1855, Kansas’ first election proved a violent affair as over 5,000 Border Ruffians invaded the territory from western Missouri and forced the election of a pro-slavery legislature. To prevent further bloodshed, Andrew H. Reeder, appointed territorial governor by President Pierce, reluctantly approved the election. A few months later, the Kansas Free State forces were formed, armed by supporters in the North and featuring the leadership of militant abolitionist John Brown. In May of 1857, Border Ruffians sacked the abolitionist town of Lawrence. In retaliation, a small Free State force under John Brown massacred a number of pro-slavery Kansans along the Pottawatomie Creek. Over the next four years, raids, skirmishes, and massacres continued in "Bleeding Kansas," as it became popularly known. The territory’s admittance into the Union in January of 1861 only increased tension, but, just three-and-a-half-months later, the irrepressible differences in Kansas were swallowed up by the full-scale outbreak of the American Civil War. During the Civil War, Kansas suffered the highest rate of fatal casualties of any Union state, largely due to its great internal divisions over the issue of slavery.
1850 Henry Clay introduces to the US Senate a compromise bill on slavery that includes the admission of California into the Union as a free state.
1848 Sicily accepts new Constitution (choose parliament/freedom of press).
^ 1834 First use of US troops to repress workers
      Workers on the then-unfinished Chesapeake and Ohio Canal rioted after a planned strike was brutally extinguished. President Andrew Jackson swiftly called on Secretary of War Lewis Cass to send Federal troops in to quell the workers. While this was an eventful moment for the nation—it marked the first, though hardly the last time Federal troops were deployed to settle a labor "dispute"—it was just another roadblock in the troubled history of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Originally conceived as a transit and trade friendly route between the Midwest and Atlantic seaports, the canal was periodically delayed by fiscal woes, stiff competition from the Erie Canal, as well as the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. When construction began in 1828, the canal was designed to reach Pittsburgh; by the time the project was abandoned in 1850, the waterway reached Cumberland. Flooding forced the close of the canal in 1924; it was bought by the US government in 1938 and transformed into a national historic park in 1971.
1810 La invasión de Andalucía por los franceses provoca el descrédito de la Junta Central, que pone sus poderes en un Consejo de Regencia constituido en la isla de León (el actual San Fernando, en Cádiz).
1801 Tratado hispano-francés, promovido por Napoleón, para incitar a la guerra a Portugal y separar a este país de Inglaterra.
1788 Australia Day
^ 1712 Le congrès d'Utrecht
      Les diplomates français et anglais se réunissent en congrès à Utrecht. Ils veulent en finir avec la guerre de la succession d'Espagne, qui épuise l'Europe. En 1700, le roi d'Espagne Charles II, sans enfant, avait légué son royaume à Philippe d'Anjou, petit-fils de Louis XIV. Craignant une union de la France et de l'Espagne, plusieurs Etats européens, dont l'Angleterre et l'Autriche, se coalisent contre les Bourbons. La France essuie de très graves revers et craint même d'être envahie.
      Au congrès d'Utrecht, chacun attend le sort des armes. Dans un ultime sursaut, le maréchal Villars écarte à Denain la menace d'invasion. Louis XIV peut enfin négocier la paix dans des conditions à peu près honorables. Il n'en doit pas moins sacrifier la colonie d'Acadie, au Canada, et plusieurs villes de la frontière avec les Etats allemands. Son petit-fils devient roi d'Espagne sous le nom de Philippe V, tout en renonçant à ses droits sur le trône de France. Bien accueilli par ses sujets, Philippe V ne sera surpassé en popularité que par son lointain descendant, l'actuel roi d'Espagne Juan Carlos Ier.
1676 Fyodor Alekseyevitch becomes czar of Russia.
1641 Tras ser proclamado soberano de Portugal por las Cortes, Juan IV emprende una política de alianzas contra Felipe IV para afianzar su situación frente a Castilla.
1613 Galileo observes Neptune but fails to recognize what he sees.
1587 Deventer and Zutphen surrender to Spain.
1574 Sea battle of Reimerswaal — Admiral Boisot beats Spanish fleet.
TO THE TOP
bombed bus^ Deaths which occurred on a January 29:
2004 Eleven persons, including suicide bomber of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, in the back of Egged bus No. 19, at 08:50 (06:50 UT), on the corners of Arlozorov and Gaza streets in the Rehavia district of downtown Jerusalem, 15 meters from the official residence of Prime Minister Sharon. Some 45 persons are injured.
[three corpses are seen >]
2003 William Gray, Faye Wilkins, and a contract worker, in explosion at 13:27 followed by several hours of fire in Kingston, North Carolina, at the West Pharmaceutical Services plant, which makes plastic syringe plungers and IV supplies, and was found in October 2002 to be guilty of 15 safety violations involving its electrical systems design, wiring and use; portable fire extinguishers; hazardous waste operations; and communications, leading to a settlement on 08 January 2003 for a $9075 fine. 37 persons are injured. The explosion occurs in the factory's automatic compounding system section, which makes molten rubber.
2002 Mim and Alif, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, conjoined twins girls born on 24 January 2002, die 10 hours after being surgically separated.
2001 Mohammad Abu Moussa, 21, Palestinian shot in the stomach by Israeli troops during a confrontation near the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim in Gaza. This brings the total killed during the al-Aqsa intifada which began in late September, to at least 313 Palestinians, 48 Israelis and 13 Israeli Arabs.
Courtney Morley2001 Courtney Ann Morley-Clarke, 3, [< photo] stabbed once then suffocated soon after being kidnapped at 03:00 from her home on Northwind Avenue, Point Clare near Gosford, New South Wales, Australia, by a 13-year-old boy who was a ward of the state at age 3, adopted at age 6, and attending special schools for the emotionally disturbed since 2000.
1998 An off-duty policeman as bomb explodes at an abortion clinic in Birmingham, AL. A nurse is severely wounded. Eric Rudolph would be charged with this bombing and three other attacks (one of them: 16 January 1997: Two bomb blasts an hour apart at Atlanta building containing abortion clinic, injuring seven persons). Rudolph would go into hiding, be the target of a massive manhunt, but not be caught for years.
1997 Osvaldo Soriano, narrador y periodista argentino.
1989 Carlos Fernández López-Valdemoro, "Pepe Alameda", ensayista y periodista español.
^ 1989 Yugo's US importer goes bankrupt
      Global Motors, the American company that imported the Yugo car, filed for bankruptcy. The Yugo was a Yugoslavian-made economy car that sold for thousands of dollars less than its nearest competitor. Its astonishingly low price made it a popular car for a few years in the mid-1980s, but the car’s flaws soon became apparent. It was underpowered, unreliable, and, famously, you could punch holes in the body with a wooden pencil. The cars were also poorly warrantied, to the dismay of thousands of disappointed Yugo owners.
1986 Los 21 ocupantes de un avión DC-3 de Aerocalifornia que se estrella cerca del aeropuerto de Los Mochis (México).
1985 Rafael de la Fuente Benavides, "Martín Adán", escritor peruano.
1984 El teniente general Guillermo Quintana Lacacci, ex capitán general de Madrid, asesinado por ETA.
1984 John Whittaker, mathematician.
1968 Tsuguharu Leonard Fujita, Japanese painter born on 27 November 1886. MORE ON FUJITA AT ART “4” JANUARY with links to images.
1966: 165 persons in snow storm in north east US.
1963 Robert Lee Frost, 88, US poet (New Hampshire, 4 Pulitzers)
1963 Gabriel Maura Gamazo, político e historiador español.
1956 H[enry] L[ouis] Mencken, 75, US essayist/critic/satirist (Smart Set), in Baltimore.
1947: All 34 aboard a South American Airways Avro Tudor 4 airplane which disappears near the Azores.
1946 Harry L Hopkins, 55, US New Deal Democratic administrator who personified the ideology of vast federal work programs to relieve unemployment in the 1930s; he was Secretary of Commerce (1938-40) then he continued as President Franklin D. Roosevelt's emissary and closest personal adviser during World War II.US (Loan and Lease law)
1941 Ioannis Metaxas, 69, Greek General/dictator (1936-41), suicide.
^ 1940 Day 61 of Winter War: USSR aggression against Finland.
More deaths due to Stalin's desire to grab Finnish territory.

Soviet Union willing in principle to discuss peace
      Molotov announces through the Swedish Foreign Minister that the Soviet Union is in principle willing to discuss peace.
      Northern Finland: at 5 o'clock in the morning Colonel Siilasvuo's 9th Division launches a counteroffensive to destroy the Russian 54th Division in Kuhmo.
      Central Isthmus: in Summa, the enemy carries out a probing assault preceded by heavy preparatory artillery fire in the Hanhiojansuu sector. The Finnish defences repulse the assault.
      Eastern Isthmus: in Taipale, the enemy breaks through in the Terenttilä area. Intense fighting is still going on.
      Ladoga Karelia: Finnish troops continue their attacks on the West Lemetti 'motti'. Six Blenheim bombers from 10 Squadron bomb enemy transports at the mouth of the River Taipaleenjoki. When one of the aircraft has to make a forced landing, the others land on the ice and rescue the crew.
      Karelian Isthmus: Finnish fighters shoot down two enemy fire control planes.
     Häme: an enemy bomber makes a forced landing on Lake Iso Roinevesi in the municipality of Hauho. The Finnish air Force inherits a completely undamaged Russian DB-3 bomber.
      Ladoga Karelia: Soviet aircraft bomb Mantsi Fort.
      Turku: a late air-raid warning allows enemy bombers to catch the city by surprise and 36 people are killed on their way to the air-raid shelters; most of the victims are hit in front of the main post office.
      Finland's Minister of Social Affairs K.-A. Fagerholm travels to Oslo to appeal to Norway to send troops and fighter aircraft to Finland.
      Abroad: tickets for the bandy match between Finland and Sweden to raise funds for Finland are sold out. King Gustav V of Sweden is among those who have bought a ticket.

^ Neuvostoliitto on periaatteessa valmis keskustelemaan rauhasta Talvisodan 61. päivä, 29.tammikuuta.1940
       Molotov ilmoittaa Ruotsin ulkoministerin välityksellä, että Neuvostoliitto on periaatteessa valmis keskustelemaan rauhasta.
      Eversti Siilasvuon komentama 9. Divisioona aloittaa vastahyökkäyksen klo 5 Kuhmossa venäläisen 54. Divisioonan tuhoamiseksi.
      Kannaksella vihollinen tekee voimakkaan tykistövalmistelun jälkeen tiedusteluhyökkäyksen Hanhiojansuun suunnassa Summassa.
      Suomalaiset torjuvat hyökkäyksen.
      Taipaleessa vihollinen tekee sisäänmurron Terenttilän alueella ja taistelut jatkuvat kiivaina.
      Suomalaiset jatkavat hyökkäyksiä läntisen Lemetin motin tuhoamiseksiLaatokan Karjalassa. Lentolaivue 10 pommittaa kuudella BL-pommikoneella vihollisen kuljetuksia Taipaleenjoen suulla. Laivue menettää yhden koneen.Laivueen muut koneet laskeutuvat jäälle ja pelastavat pakkolaskun tehneen koneen miehistön.
      Kannaksella suomalaisten hävittäjien onnistuu ampua alas kaksi vihollisen tulenjohtokonetta.
      Vihollisen pommikone tekee pakkolaskun Ison Roineveden selälle Hauholla.Suomalaiset saavat sotasaaliiksi täysin vahingoittumattoman venäläisen DB-3 pommikoneen.
      Neuvostokoneet pommittavat Mantsin linnaketta. Turussa hälytys ilmavaarasta myöhästyy ja vihollisen pommikoneet yllättävät kaupunkilaiset: pommisuojiin pyrkiviä ihmisiä kuolee 36, joista suurin osa postitalon edustalla. Ministeri K. A. Fagerholm matkustaa Osloon ja vetoaa norjalaisiin sotilaiden ja hävittäjäkoneiden saamiseksi.
      Ulkomailta: Suomen tukemiseksi järjestettävän Suomen ja Ruotsin välisen jääpallo-ottelun liput on myyty loppuun. Myös Ruotsin Kuningas Kustaa V on lunastanut pääsylipun otteluun.

^ Sovjetunionen i princip redo att förhandla om fred Vinterkrigets 61 dag, den 29 januari 1940
      Molotov meddelar på förmedling av Sveriges utrikesminister att Sovjetunionen i princip är beredd att förhandla om fred.
      Den 9. Divisionen under ledning av överste Siilasvuo går till motattack kl. 5 i Kuhmo för att utplåna den ryska 54. Divisionen.
      På Näset inleder fienden efter häftiga artilleriförberedelser en forcerad spaning i riktning Hanhiojansuu vid Summa. Finnarna avvärjer anfallet.
      I Taipale gör fienden en inbrytning i området kring Terenttilä och striderna fortsätter intensivt.
      Finnarna fortsätter anfallen för att förinta mottin i västra Lemetti i Ladoga-Karelen. Flygdivision 10 bombar fiendens transporter med sex BL-plan vid mynningen av Taipaleenjoki. Divisionen mister ett plan. De övriga planen landar på isen och räddar besättningen som nödlandat.
      På Näset lyckas finska jagare skjuta ner två av fiendens eldledningsplan.
      Ett ryskt bombplan nödlandar i Hauho på åsen av Iso Roinevesi. Finland får ett fullständigt oskadat ryskt DB-3-bombplan som krigsbyte.
      Ryska plan bombar bunkern i Mantsi. I Åbo dröjer flyglarmet och fiendens bombplan överraskar stadsborna: när människorna försöker ta sig till bombskydd dödas 36 personer, av vilka de flesta framför posthuset.
      Minister K.-A. Fagerholm reser till Oslo för att begära norska soldater och jaktplan.
      Utrikes: Biljetterna till bandymatchen mellan Finland och Sverige som arrangerats för att stöda Finland är slutsålda. Också Sveriges Kung Gustav V har löst in en biljett till matchen.
1938 Armando Palacio Valdés, escritor español.
MORE ON VEDDER AT ART “4” JANUARY with links to images.
1906 Christaan IX, King of Denmark (1893-1906)
1900 Boers under Joubert beat English at Spionkop Natal, 2000 killed.
1899 Alfred Sisley, French painter born on 30 October 1839. MORE ON SISLEY AT ART “4” JANUARY with links to images.
1895 King Koko's Kopermannen assault on Akassa Niger, 100's killed
1888 Edward Lear, English landscape painter born in 1812. who is more widely known as the writer of an original kind of nonsense verse and as the popularizer of the limerick. His true genius is apparent in his nonsense poems, which portray a world of fantastic creatures in nonsense words. Author of: Laughable Lyrics: A Fourth Book of Nonsense Poems, Songs, Botany, Music, Etc. — More Nonsense, Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, Etc. — Queery Leary Nonsense: A Lear Nonsense Book. — WRITING BY LEAR ONLINE: A Book of Nonsense MORE ON LEAR AT ART “4” JANUARY with links to images.
click for full portrait^ 1820 British King George III, 81.
      Ten years after mental illness forced him to retire from public life, King George III, the British king who lost the American colonies, dies in Windsor Castle..
      Born on 04 June (24 May Julian) 1738 in London, George William Frederick, (Georg Wilhelm Friedrich), was king of Great Britain and Ireland (1760-1820) and elector (1760-1814) and then king (1814-20) of Hanover, during a period when Britain won an empire in the Seven Years' War but lost its American colonies, and then, after the struggle against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, emerged as a leading power in Europe. During the last years of his life (from 1811) he was intermittently mad—his son, the future George IV, acting as regent.
      George was retarded as a child, he only learned to read properly at the age of 11. In 1760, twenty-year-old George succeeded his grandfather, George II, as king of Great Britain and Ireland. Although he hoped to govern more directly than his predecessor had, King George III was unable to find a minister that he could trust until 1770, when he appointed Lord Frederick North of Kirtling as his chief minister. Lord North proved able to manage Parliament and willing to follow royal leadership, but George’s policy of coercion against the American colonists led to the outbreak of the American War for Independence and his subsequent refusal to accept the loss of his most profitable colonies prolonged the war.
      Although the debacle of the American Revolution contributed to widespread opposition to the king in Parliament, in 1784 his appointment as prime minister, William Pitt, succeeded in winning a parliamentary majority. Pitt’s ascendance brought to an end the supremacy of the old aristocratic Whig families in British government. After his prime minister secured power, the king retired from active participation in government, except for occasional interference in major issues such as Catholic Emancipation, which he stupidly defeated in 1801. George, who had suffered a short nervous breakdown in 1765 and a more serious one in the winter of 1788 to 1789, became permanently insane in 1810. It has been suggested that he was a victim of the hereditary disease porphyria, a defect of the blood that can cause mental illness when not treated. He spent the rest of his life in the care of his devoted wife, Charlotte Sophia, whom he had married in 1761. Following his retirement from public life in 1810, his son, the prince of Wales, was named prince regent, and upon his father’s death ascended to the throne as King George IV.
Portrait of George IIICaricature of George III
1730 (18 Feb Julian) Peter II, 14, czar of Russia (1727-30), of smallpox on the very day set for his wedding.
1715 Lamy, mathematician.
1696 Ivan V co-tsar of Russia (1682-89)
1676 Alexei Mijailovitch, Zar de Rusia.
1632 Jan Porcellis (or Parcellis, Persellis, Pourchelles), Flemish painter specialized in Maritime Scenes, born in 1584. MORE ON PORCELLIS AT ART “4” JANUARY with links to images.
1614 Ambroise Bosschaert (?) Dubois, French (or Flemish?) artist born in 1543
1499 Katherine von Bora, the former German nun who became Martin Luther's wife in 1525 when he was 41 and she 26. During their 21-year marriage, Katie bore Martin 3 sons and 3 daughters. Her death in 1552 followed six years after her husband's in 1546.
1119 Gelasius II [Giovannis Caetani], pope (1118-19)
0969 Peter tsar of Bulgaria (927-69)  
Births which occurred on a January 29:
1966 Sweet Charity opens at the Palace Theatre in New York City. It wourd run for 608 performances.
1936 Patrick Caulfield, British Pop artist. MORE ON CAULFIELD AT ART “4” JANUARY with links to images.
^ 1927 Edward Abbey, environmentalist and author, in Home, Pennsylvania.
      A self-proclaimed "enemy of the modern military-industrial state," which he believed was destroying the natural world and human freedom, Abbey's passionate dedication to protecting and preserving wilderness lands began in 1944, when he first visited the American Southwest as a 17-year-old hitchhiker. Enraptured by the beauty and untouched wilderness of the deserts and canyons, the young Abbey believed he had found his true homeland, and for the rest of his life, he never strayed far from the Southwest.
      In 1951, Abbey graduated from the University of New Mexico, where he had edited a student literary magazine; and after several attempts at graduate school, he decided to try to make a career as a writer. Abbey did not initially plan to become a "nature writer," a term he later came to despise. His earlier works, like the 1956 novel The Brave Cowboy, focused more on the modern destruction of the western spirit of independence and self-reliance than the destruction of the land itself. In 1968, though, Abbey put together a collection of essays and diary entries he had written during several summer stints as a ranger at Arches National Monument in Utah and published them as Desert Solitaire. A celebration of the "hard and brutal mysticism" of the Utah desert, Desert Solitaire won Abbey a national following and an enduring reputation as a zealous advocate for wilderness preservation.
      Whereas Desert Solitaire offered a philosophical argument of why humans needed to preserve wilderness, Abbey's most influential book, The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975), offered a radical plan for exactly how they might do so. A fictional story of an irreverent band of wilderness advocates battling against the encroaching forces of modernization, the book became something of a blueprint for radical western environmental groups like Earth First! Environmentalists adopted the term "monkey-wrenching" to refer to the non-violent sabotage of development projects that threatened the wilderness. Abbey's book offered advice on how to sabotage heavy earthmoving equipment or road-building projects, and a small but highly visible minority of wilderness proponents actually put his ideas into action. In 1989, Abbey died of cancer at his home outside of Tucson, Arizona. At the author's request, friends and family buried him in an unmarked grave somewhere in the vast reaches of the Arizona desert.
1926 Abdus Salam, paquistaní, Premio Nobel de Física 1979.
1924 Ice cream cone-rolling machine of Carl Rutherford Taylor of Cleveland is awarded US Patent 1'481'813.
1923 Autogiro, first flight (Juan de la Cierva, Madrid Spain)
1910 Henri Queffélec, écrivain, à Brest.
1908 Adam Clayton Powell (Representative-D-NY, 1945-1970)
1905 Barnett Newman, US Abstract Expressionist and Minimalist painter who died on 04 July 1970. — more with links to images.
^ 1901 Allen Du Mont
      Allen Du Mont perfected the cathode-ray tube and manufactured the first commercially available television sets. Brooklyn-born Du Mont worked as chief engineer at De Forest Radio Company until 1931, when his interest in television led him to start his own company, the Allen B. Du Mont Lab. In 1937, he offered his television receivers for sale and set up experimental broadcasting stations. Du Mont continued to shape the television industry. He helped formulate broadcast standards for black and white — and later, color — television, and he worked with the FCC to allocate frequencies for television channels.
1888 Sydney Chapman, English mathematical physicist who died on 16 June 1970.
1886 Alfonso Rodriguez Castelao, escritor, dibujante y político galleguista español.
^ 1886 First practical automobile
      Karl Benz received a patent for his "Motorwagen" on this day. The Motorwagen, a three-wheeled automobile powered by an internal-combustion engine, was the first practical internal-combustion vehicle ever constructed. It made its first test run in early 1885. Benz completed his first four-wheeled motorcar in 1893, and went on to build many successful racing cars. In 1926, his company, Benz and Co., merged with Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft to form Daimler-Benz, an industry giant that has remained a formidable auto maker to the present day.
1876 Carl Henrik Ludolf Nielsen composer
1874 John Davison Rockefeller Jr. Cleveland OH,US philanthropist, son of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., and heir to the Rockefeller fortune, who built Rockefeller Center in New York City and was instrumental in the decision to locate the United Nations in that city. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., joined his father in business for a time but from 1910 devoted his energies almost exclusively to philanthropy. He had five sons: John D. III, Nelson A., Laurance S., Winthrop, and David, and one daughter.
1872 Sir William Rothenstein, English painter who died in 1945. — more with links to images.
1868 Albin Egger-Lienz, Austrian artist who died on 04 November 1926.
1867 Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, novelista español.
1866 Romain Rolland, écrivain, à Clamecy (Nièvre). Pendant la Grande Guerre, Rolland se retirera en Suisse. Dans «Au-dessus de la mêlée», il plaidera pour la paix et la sauvegarde de la culture occidentale, ce qui lui vaudra le reproche de trahir son pays. Prix Nobel de littérature 1915. Il mourra le 30 décembre 1944.
1862 Frederick Delius Bradford England, composer (Hiawatha)
^ 1860 (17 January Julian) Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, in Taganrod, Russia, playwright, story writer [biografiya] who died of tuberculosis on 15 July (02 July Julian) 1904.
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  • ^ 1845 The Raven poem is published
          Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem The Raven, beginning "Once upon a midnight dreary," is published in the New York Evening Mirror. Poe's dark and macabre work reflected his own tumultuous and difficult life. Born in Boston on 19 January 1809, Poe was orphaned at age three and went to live with the family of a Richmond, Virginia, businessman. Poe enrolled in a military academy but was expelled for gambling. He later studied briefly at the University of Virginia.
          In 1827, Poe self-published a collection of poems. Six years later, his short story MS Found in a Bottle won $50 in a story contest. He edited a series of literary journals, including the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond starting in 1835, and Burton's Gentleman's Magazine in Philadelphia, starting in 1839. Poe's excessive drinking got him fired from several positions. His macabre work, often portraying motiveless crimes and intolerable guilt that induces growing mania in his characters, was a significant influence on such European writers as Charles Baudelaire, Stéphane Mallarmé, and even Dostoyevsky.
          On 7 October 1849 Poe would die a tragic death in Baltimore. Never able to overcome his drinking habits, he would be found in a delirious condition outside a saloon that was used as a voting place.
    THE RAVEN:
    
         Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
      Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
        While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
       As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
      "'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-
                    Only this, and nothing more."
    
        Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
      And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
        Eagerly I wished the morrow;- vainly I had sought to borrow
        From my books surcease of sorrow- sorrow for the lost Lenore-
      For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore-
                    Nameless here for evermore.
    
        And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
      Thrilled me- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
        So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,
        "'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door-
      Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;-
                    This it is, and nothing more."
    
        Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
      "Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
        But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
        And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
      That I scarce was sure I heard you"- here I opened wide the door;-
                    Darkness there, and nothing more.
    
        Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering,fearing,
      Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
        But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
        And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore!"
      This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"-
                    Merely this, and nothing more.
    
        Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
       Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
        "Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice:
        Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore-
      Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;-
                    'Tis the wind and nothing more."
    
        Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
      In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;
        Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
        But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door-
      Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door-
                    Perched, and sat, and nothing more.
    
       Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
      By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.
       "Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
       Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore-
      Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
                    Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
    
        Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
      Though its answer little meaning- little relevancy bore;
        For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
        Ever yet was blest with seeing bird above his chamber door-
      Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
                    With such name as "Nevermore."
    
    POE ONLINE:
    
        But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
      That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
        Nothing further then he uttered- not a feather then he fluttered—
        Till I scarcely more than muttered, "other friends have flown before—
      On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."
                    Then the bird said, "Nevermore."
    
         Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
      "Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,
         Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
         Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore—
      Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
                    Of 'Never- nevermore'."
    
        But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,
      Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;
        Then upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
        Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore—
      What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore
                    Meant in croaking "Nevermore."
    
        This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
      To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
        This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
        On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamplight gloated o'er,
      But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o'er,
                    She shall press, ah, nevermore!
    
        Then methought the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
      Swung by Seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor.
        "Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee- by these angels he hath sent thee
        Respite- respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore!
      Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"
                    Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
    
        "Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!- prophet still, if bird or devil!—
      Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
        Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—
        On this home by horror haunted- tell me truly, I implore—
      Is there- is there balm in Gilead?- tell me- tell me, I implore!"
                    Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
    
        "Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil- prophet still, if bird or devil!
      By that Heaven that bends above us- by that God we both adore—
        Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
        It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
      Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."
                    Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
    
        "Be that word our sign in parting, bird or fiend," I shrieked, upstarting—
      "Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
        Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
        Leave my loneliness unbroken!- quit the bust above my door!
      Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
                   Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
    
        And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
      On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
        And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
        And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
      And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
                    Shall be lifted— nevermore!
  • The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
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  • 1843 William McKinley, Niles OH, (R) 25th US President (1897-1901, assassinated while in office)
    1817 John Callcott Horsley, British painter who died on 18 October 1903. — more with an original limerick and links to images.
    1817 Ferrel, mathematician.
    1810 Eduard Kummer, mathematician. He died in 1893.
    1773 Friederich Mohs, minerólogo alemán, inventor de la escala que mide la dureza de los minerales.
    1770 Martinus Schouman, Dutch artist who died on 30 October 1848.
    1767 Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson, French painter who died on 08 December 1824. MORE ON GIRODET AT ART “4” JANUARY with links to images.
    1761 Abraham AA "Albert" Gallatin Switzerland, US minister of Finance (1801-14)
    ^ 1737 Thomas Paine leader of US independence, political essayist, philosopher : "These are the times that try men's souls."
          Paine was born in England and worked as a corsetmaker in his teens. He also worked as a sailor and schoolteacher before becoming a prominent pamphleteer. In 1774, Paine arrived in Philadelphia and came to support American independence.
          On 10 January 1776 Thomas Paine published his pamphlet Common Sense, setting forth the arguments for American independence. Pamphlets were an important medium for the spread of ideas in the 16th through 19th centuries. His 47-page pamphlet sold some 500'000 copies and had a powerful influence on American opinion. Paine served in the US Army and worked for the Committee of Foreign Affairs before returning to Europe in 1787. Back in England, he continued writing pamphlets in support of revolution. He published The Rights of Man, supporting the French revolution in 1791-1792, in answer to Edmund Burke's famous Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). His sentiments were highly unpopular with the British government, so he fled to France.
          When he first arrived in Paris, Paine was heartily welcomed and granted honorary citizenship by leaders of the revolution. However, before long, he ran afoul of his new hosts. Paine was strictly opposed to the death penalty under all circumstances and he vocally opposed the French revolutionaries who were sending hundreds to the guillotine. He also began writing a provocative new book, The Age of Reason, which promoted the controversial notion that God did not influence the actions of people and that science and rationality would prevail over religion and superstition. Although Paine realized that sentiment was turning against him in the autumn of 1793, he remained in France because he believed he was helping the people.
          Though the charges against Paine were never detailed, the French revolutionaries tried him in absentia on 26 December 1793 and convicted him. He was arrested on 28 December 1793 and taken to Luxembourg Prison. The jail was formerly a palace and was unlike any other detainment center in the world. He was treated to a large room with two windows and was locked inside only at night. His meals were catered from outside, and servants were permitted, though Paine did not take advantage of that particular luxury. However, he did carry a small sword that was permitted by jail authorities. While in prison, he continued to work on The Age of Reason and began an affair with actress Muriel Alette, who had been sentenced to death for being the mistress of a nobleman.
          Paine's imprisonment in France caused a general uproar in America and future President James Monroe used all of his diplomatic connections to get Paine released on 4 November 1794 after the fall of Robespierre and the end of the Terror.
         Paine remained in France until 1 September 1802, when he sailed for the United States, where he had come to be despised too. After The Age of Reason was published, he was called an anti-Christ, and his reputation was ruined. Thomas Paine died a poor man on 8 June 1809 in New York.
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  • Agrarian Justice
  • Letter to Andrew Dean
  • Origin of Free-Masonry
  • Predestination
  • Prospect Papers
  • Rights of Man
  • Rights of Man
  • Rights of Man
  • Rights of Man
  • The Rights of Man
  • The American Crisis
  • The American Crisis
  • The American Crisis
  • The Age of Reason
  • The Age of Reason
  • The Age of Reason
  • The Age of Reason
  • Letters concerning "The Age of Reason"
  • The Existence of God
  • Worship and Church Bells
  • Of the Religion of Deism Compared with the Christian Religion
  • Examination of the Prophecies
  • Dissertation on First Principles of Government
  • 1728 The Beggar's Opera of John Gay, is first performed, at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, London.
    1700 Daniel Bernoulli, Basel Switzerland, mathematician (10 time French award)
    1688 Emanuel Swedenborg Sweden, religious leader (Angelic Wisdom)
    ^ 1635 L'Académie française est fondée
          Le cardinal de Richelieu signe les lettres patentes qui fondent l'Académie française. Son nom vient du jardin Akademos, à Athènes, où Platon enseignait la philosophie. Sous la Renaissance, on a pris l'habitude d'appeler ainsi les sociétés savantes où l'on discutait de belles lettres et de sciences.
          L'Académie française est issue d'un petit groupe de lettrés et d'érudits qui se réunissaient chaque semaine chez l'un d'eux, Valentin Conrart, secrétaire du roi Louis XIII. L'un d'eux, le seigneur de Boisrobert, est secrétaire du Premier ministre, Richelieu. Il l'entretient de ces réunions.
          L'habile cardinal a alors l'idée de s'attacher les gens de lettres et de les mettre au service de l'Etat et du pouvoir monarchique. Il veut promouvoir l'esthétique classique au détriment de la préciosité et du baroque. Richelieu invite les érudits à se constituer en corps officiel et leur accorde sa protection. De 9, ils portent leur nombre à 28 avant que les lettres patentes ne limitent définitivement à 40 le nombre d'académiciens.
          La nouvelle Académie se voue à la langue française. L'article 24 de ses statuts énonce: «La principale fonction de l'Académie sera de travailler avec tout le soin et toute la diligence possibles à donner des règles certaines à notre langue et à la rendre pure, éloquente et capable de traiter les arts et la science...» Valentin Conrart, premier secrétaire perpétuel de l'Académie, avalise la pratique des réunions hebdomadaires destinées à la rédaction d'un Dictionnaire de la langue française et au perfectionnement de la langue.
          En 1638, Richelieu, soucieux de faire taire les railleries autour de la jeune Académie, l'engage à donner son sentiment sur la tragédie du «Cid», qu'a représentée Corneille l'année précédente. C'est l'unique fois où l'Académie prétend s'ériger en arbitre littéraire.
    Des traditions solides... et vaines
          Après la mort du cardinal, l'Académie sollicite la protection du chancelier Séguier puis du roi lui-même. L'Académie française et les autres académies royales sont supprimées par la Convention révolutionnaire en 1795 et remplacées par un Institut national des sciences et des arts.
          Le Premier consul Napoléon Bonaparte puis Louis XVIII et Louis-Philippe rétabliront l'Académie française dans sa plénitude. Cinq académies figurent aujourd'hui dans l'Institut de France. L'Institut siège depuis 1805 sous la fameuse Coupole du collège des Quatre-Nations. Celui-ci avait été fondé avec un legs de Mazarin pour éduquer les jeunes gens de quatre provinces nouvellement conquises par Louis XIV: Artois, Alsace, Cerdagne, Pignerol). Il a été érigé par Louis Le Vau sur les bords de la Seine. L'habit vert des académiciens a été officialisé par un décret du Premier Consul Napoléon Bonaparte en date du 23 floréal an IX (15 mai 1801). L'épée, qui désignait sous l'Ancien Régime les gens de la Maison du Roi, est devenue l'expression de la personnalité de chaque académicien. Les académiciens sont cooptés par leurs pairs et demeurent en fonction jusqu'à leur mort (d'où le surnom quelque peu ironique d'«Immortels»).
          L'Académie française a depuis la fin du XVIIe siècle une activité de pure forme et son travail sur le fameux Dictionnaire suscite le sourire plus que la considération. L'entrée sous la Coupole reste toutefois très prisée car elle permet de rencontrer des personnes de toutes origines dans une fraternité intellectuelle de bon aloi. Elle correspond le plus souvent à une fin de carrière et la moyenne d'âge élevée des impétrants n'encourage guère au dynamisme.
          Certains s'interrogent sur l'opportunité de donner à cette institution respectable plus d'initiative dans la promotion de la langue française. La moindre des réformes serait que les nouveaux élus aient un statut actif pendant quelques années durant lesquelles ils pourraient travailler et faire des propositions. Au terme de ce mandat, ils seraient invités à se cantonner dans un rôle honorifique et laisseraient le travail à de plus jeunes.
    1627 Jan Siberechts (or Sibrechts), Flemish landscape painter who died in 1703. MORE ON SIBERECHTS AT ART “4” JANUARY with links to images.
    Saint Gildas est un ermite écossais. Il meurt en 570 sur l'île d'Houat, près de Belle-Ile après avoir évangélisé la Bretagne. / Santos Valero, Constancio, Pedro Nolasco y Mauro.
    Thoughts for the day: “Everything can be acquired in solitude, except character.” — Stendhal.
    Stendhal ought to have said: “Everything can be acquired in solitude, except friends or enemies.”
    “Only a great mind dares express itself simply.” — Stendhal
    “The more one pleases generally, the less one pleases profoundly.” — Stendhal
    “The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.” — Robert Frost, US poet [1874-1963]
    “More people worry about getting work than work at getting worries.”
    “More people worry about getting a paycheck than worry about getting work.”
    “Work worries people, but worries get them worked up.”
    “People without worries worry that they might get worries.”
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