January 17
Activity of the day
Today is . . .
- Feast of St Anthony of Egypt, patron saint of domestic animals and gravediggers
On this day . . .
- Captain Cook's Resolution becomes the first ship to cross the Antarctic Circle (1773)
- English explorer Robert Falcon Scott reaches the South Pole, one month after Norwegian Roald Amundsen (1912)
- The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, premieres (1949)
- Ferdinand Marcos becomes 'President for Life' of the Philippines (1973)
- Breakfast TV starts in the U.K. (1983)
- An earthquake measuring 6.6 on Richter scale hits Los Angeles
(1994)
Births
- Benjamin Franklin, American statesman and scientist (1706)
- Konstantin Stanislavsky, actor and teacher (1863)
- Mack Sennett, Canadian film director (1880)
- Nevil Shute, English novelist (1899)
- Al Capone, American gangster (1899)
- Eartha Kitt, American singer (1927)
- Vidal Sassoon, English hair stylist (1928)
- Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay), American boxer (1942)
- Françoise Hardy, French actress (1944)
- Jim Carrey, American comedian (1962)
- Michelle Obama, First Lady of the U.S. (1964)
- Richard Hawley, English singer, guitarist, and songwriter (1967)
- Freddy Rodriguez, Puerto Rican-American actor (1975)
- Connor Cruise, American actor (1995)
Deaths
- Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni, Italian composer (1751)
- Quintin Hogg, English merchant and philanthropist (1903)
- Camilo Jose Cela, Spanish writer (2002)
- Bobby Fischer, American chess player (2008)