January 26
Activity of the day
Today is . . .
- Australia Day
- National day India
- Feast Day of Paula, patron saint of widows
On this day . . .
- Vicente Pinzón discovers Brazil (1500)
- The British first land at Sydney Cove, Australia (1788)
- Michigan becomes the 26th state of the Union (1837)
- In the Spanish Civil War, Franco's forces take Barcelona (1939)
- Hong Kong is proclaimed British sovereign territory (1841)
- The Rugby Union is founded in Britain (1871)
- The first electric dental drill is patented (1875)
- Karl Benz patents his three-wheel drive motor car (1886)
- Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical The Phantom of the Opera has its first performance on Broadway (1988)
- India becomes a republic within the Commonwealth (1950)
- Hindi becomes the official language of India (1965)
- Unemployment in Britain passes 3 million (1982)
- President Bill Clinton denies having an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky (1998)
Births
- Samuel Parr, schoolmaster and writer (1747)
- Stephane Grappelli, French violinist (1908)
- Paul Newman, American film actor (1925)
- Eartha Kitt, American singer (1928)
- Roger Vadim, French film director (1928)
- Jacqueline du Pré, English cellist (1945)
- Björn Andresen, Swedish actor (1955)
- Ellen DeGeneres, American actress and comedian (1958)
- José Mourinho, Portuguese football manager (1963)
- Andrew Ridgeley, English musician (1963)
Deaths
- Grace Moore, American singer and film actress, killed in an air crash (1947)
- Edward G Robinson, American film actor (1973)
- Nelson Rockefeller, American statesman (1979)
- José Ferrer, Puerto Rican actor (1992)
- Christian Brando, actor and son of Marlon Brando (2008)