This Week in History

January 2

Carolyn Butler was born.

Lisa Gillespie was born.

1935 – The Bruno R. Hauptmann trial began for the kidnap and murder of the Lindbergh baby.

1994 – Rudolph Giuliani is inaugurated as New York City’s mayor.

January 3

Kathleen Byrne was born.

Janet Racy was born.

1870 – Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge began.

1959 – Alaska became the 49th state in the United States.

1962 – Pope John XXIII excommunicated Fidel Castro.

JANUARY 4

Katie McFadden was born.

Jen Linehan was born.

Robert Donohoe was born.

Megan LaCognata was born.

Flip Mullen was born

Jeanne McAuliffe was born

1965 – President Johnson outlined his “Great Society” in his State of the Union address.

1999 – Former wrestler Jesse Ventura was sworn in as Minnesota’s governor.

JANUARY 5 

Mary Ellen Blum Olsen was born.

1914 – Henry Ford introduced the $5-a-day minimum wage.

1972 – President Nixon ordered the development of the space shuttle.

JANUARY 6

John Carrington was born.

Rebecca Carey was born.

Barbara Donohue Bergstrom was born

1759 – George Washington married Martha Custis.

1994 – Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed on her leg by men including husband of rival skater Tonya Harding.

JANUARY 7

Dennis Cook was born.

Patrick Clark was born.

Sarah McGonigle was born.

Augusta Marino was born.

1927 – Transatlantic commercial telephone service began between New York and London.

1953 – Harry Truman announced that the U.S. had developed the hydrogen bomb.

JANUARY 8

Jill Brady was born.

Christine Charles was born.

Bridget Valdemira was born.

1958 – Bobby Fischer won the United States Chess Championship for the first time at age 14.

1964 – President Lyndon Johnson announced his War on Poverty.