Today in Military History 1 Jan - 31 Mar

1 Jan

1849 Triumphal reception at West Point for Bvt Lt Gen Winfield Scott, newly returned from Mexico
1861 On orders of Winfield Scott, Charles P. Stone begins organizing an anti-secessionist militia in Washington
1863 Battle of Galveston, Texas: Confederates recapture the city
1863 Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect
1880 Dr. John Watson meets Sherlock Holmes
1892 Ellis Island opens; Irish-born Annie Moore is the first of over 12 million immigrants to arrive in America there
1911 Maj Jimmie Erickson takes the first aerial photograph, San Diego
1915 The first known act of German sabotage in the U.S.: The John A. Roebling Munitions Plant in Trenton is destroyed by fire
1920 The League of Nations convenes for the first time
1923 The Rosewood Massacre: Rumors of the rape of a white woman prompt a week long pogrom against Americans of African decent in Rosewood, Fla. -- at least 8 Black people are killed, millions in damage
1937 US Army Air Corps physiological research laboratory completed, Ohio
1942 Philippine Army covers final withdrawal of South Luzon Force into Bataan
1943 Guadalcanal: Americal Div resumes its assault on Mt. Austen.
1944 Oran, Algeria: Army defeats Navy 10-7 in the "Arab Bowl"
1944 Western New Britain: Allies overcome last Japanese resistance
1946 Emperor Hirohito of Japan announces he is not a god
1950 First woman doctor commissioned in the USN, Mary T. Sproul
1951 Massive Chinese/North Korean assault on UN-lines
1959 Triumphal entry of Fidel Castro into Havana as Fulgencio Batista flees

BORN

1735 Paul Revere, patriot, silversmith, gunfounder, d. 1818
1739 Edmund Burke, Whig politician, author ("Reflections on the Revolution"), d. 1797
1745 "Mad" Anthony Wayne, Revolutionary general, Victor of Stoney Point, Fallen Timbers, d. 1795 -- Learn More
1752 Elizabeth Griscom "Betsy" Ross, mythic flag maker, d. 1836
1801 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
1819 George Foster Shepley, Brig. Gen., U.S.V., d 1878
1827 William Lewis "Old Tige" Cabell, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1911
1838 William Hugh Young, Brig. Gen., C.S.A., d 1901
1839 James Ryder Randall, songwriter ("Maryland, My Maryland"), d. 1908
1839 Maria Louise Rame - "Ouida", novelist ("Under Two Flags"), d. 1908
1874 William Franklin "Frank" Knox, sometime Rough Rider, Republican newspaper publisher and politician, FDR's SecNav (1940-1944), d. 1944
1883 William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan, sometime commander, 165th Infantry (69th NY), Medal of Honor, Director, OSS, d. 1954
1887 Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral and spymaster, executed by Hitler, 1945
1892 Manuel Roxas y Acuña, 1st President of the Philippines (1946-1948), d. 1948
1895 J. Edgar Hoover, Director, FBI (1935-1972), d. 1972
1895 Sean Aloysius O'Fearna - John Ford - naval officer, director ("Why We Fight"), d. 1973
1900 The Commonwealth of Australia
1909 Dana Andrews, actor ("Battle of the Bulge"), d. 1992
1919 Jerome David "J.D." Salinger, 91, D-Day veteran and author "The Catcher in the Rye", d. 2010.
1920 Basil L. Plumley, Sgt Maj, US, veteran of three wars and five combat jumps, hero of the Ia Drang Valley, d. 2012
1923 The USSR
1962 The US Navy SEALs

DIED

1787 Arthur Middleton, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, at 44
1877 Medal of Honor-holder Adam Payne, former Seminole Indian Scout, shotgunned in the back at a dance at Ft. Clark, Texas, by Deputy Sheriff Clarion Windus, also a MoH-holder
1961 Dashiell Hammett, 66, veteran, novelist ("The Maltese Falcon")
1969 Ian Fleming, 56, imaginative secret agent, author ("James Bond")
1972 Maurice Chevalier, 86, poilu, entertainer, quasi-collaborator
1992 Grace Hopper, Admiral of the Cyber Sea, at 85
2008 Erich Kaestner, 107, last German veteran of WW I

 

2 Jan

1777 Battle of the Assunpink Creek: George Washington's army defeats the British near Trenton, New Jersey
1861 South Carolinian forces seize inactive Ft Johnson in Charlestown Harbor
1870 Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins
1904 Draft dodger and radical socialist Benito Mussolini reports for conscription into the Italian Army under an amnesty
1942 28 Allied nations pledge to make no separate peace with the Axis
1943 Papua: U.S. I Corps captures Buna Mission
1944 New Guinea: Allies land on Saidor, isolating 12,000 Japanese troops.
1945 USN convoys depart Leyte to invade Luzon, while beating off Kamikaze.
1954 The premiere of the film "The Caine Mutiny" in New York
1967 Operation Bolo: In the largest air combat action of the Vietnam War, 28 F-4C Phantoms engage 9 MiG-21s; US a/c down 7-9 MiGs with no loss

BORN

1752 Philip Freneau, Patriot poet ("The American Village"), d. 1832
1769 The American Philosophical Society, formed in Philadelphia, with Benjamin Franklin as its first president, America's oldest scholarly association
1835 Charles Russell Lowell Jr, Brig Gen, U.S., d/w 1864
1880 Louis Breguet, French aviation pioneer, d. 1955
1909 Barry Goldwater, airman, politician, d. 1998

DIED

1536 John of Leiden, c. 25, Anabaptist "Prophet" and rebel, executed
1904 James "Old Pete" Longstreet, 82, Lt. Gen., C.S.A., Lee's "Old War Horse"
1921 Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, 64, who scorned "a mere scrap of paper"
2000 Patrick O'Brian, 85, author ("Master and Commander")
2008 George MacDonald Fraser, 82, soldier, author ("Flashman," "Quartered Safe Out Here")
2011 Richard Winters, who led "The Band of Brothers", Company E, 506th Parachute Infantry, 19 days short of 93

 

3 Jan

1777 Battle of Princeton: Washington defeats the British
1862 Valley Campaign: Stonewall Jackson moves north from Winchester
1914 Pancho Villa signed an agreement with the Mutual Film Corporation to film his battles -- Learn More
1943 Guadalcanal: Americal Div partially surrounds Japanese Gifu position.
1943 Papua: U.S. and Australian forces mop up in the Buna area
1944 Marine ace "Pappy" Boyington (28 kills) captured by the Japanese
1945 Third Fleet stages raids on Okinawa, Formosa, & the Pescadores
1990 Panama's Gen Manuel Noriega surrenders to US authorities
1993 George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START II).

BORN
1826 The Military Society of the War of 1812, formed in New York by officer veterans of the Second British War
1901 Ngo Dinh Diem, President of Vietnam (1955-63), k. 1963
1918 Maxene Andrews, of the "Andrews Sisters", d. 1995

DIED

1931 Joseph "Papa" Joffre, Marshal of France, at 78 -- Learn More
1933 Wilhelm Cuno, German Chancellor (1922-23), at 56
1946 William "Lord Haw Haw" Joyce, 39, hanged for treason

 

4 Jan
1780 Snowstorm hits Washington's army at Morristown, NJ
1832 Slave insurrection at Trinidad
1853 USN buys Mare Is, San Francisco Bay, for a shipyard
1861 Ft Morgan, Mobile, seized by Alabama
1910 USS 'Michigan' (BB-27) is commissioned, the first dreadnought to be ordered, though commissioned later than the British ship that gave the all-big-gun battleship its name
1942 Japanese troops continue to advance in Malaya.
1942 Philippine Army abandons the Borac-Guagua line
1942 U.S. a/c attack Japanese shipping in Davao harbor, the Philippines
1943 Japanese GHQ orders the evacuation of Guadalcanal.
1943 First combat use of proximity fuzed AA ammo, USS 'Helena' (CL-50) off Munda
1944 Operation Carpetbagger begins, the Allied campaign to airdrop arms and supplies to the Resistance in Europe,
1945 Germans execute resistance strikers in Amsterdam
1945 Luzon: 3rd Fleet hit by kamikaze, USS 'Ommaney Bay' (CVE-79) is lost
1951 Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul
1989 Second Gulf of Sidra Incident: two USN F-14s down two Libyan MiG-23s

BORN

1580 Anglican Archbishop James Ussher, who "calculated" the age of the universe, d. 1665
1821 John James Peck, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1878
1822 Joseph Jones Reynolds, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1899
1823 Peter Joseph Osterhaus, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1917
1832 George Tryon, British admiral who would sink himself in 1893
1838 "General Tom Thumb" [Charles Stratton], d. 1883
1906 William Bendix, actor ("Wake Island"), d. 1964
1908 Angela Maria "Geli" Raubal, Hitler's niece, possible lover, d. in questionable circumstances, 1931 -- Learn More
1920 William Colby, OSS, CIA, d. 1996
1921 Paul Prucha, Jesuit, historian ("The Sword of the Republic: The United States Army on the Frontier, 1783-1846," etc.), d. 2015


DIED

1863 Roger W. Hanson, Brig. Gen., C.S.A., kia at 35
1985 Lt. Gen. Sir Brian Gwynne Horrocks, 89, who commanded XXX Corps in northwest Europe
2004 John Toland, 91, historian ("The Rising Sun")
2008 Sir Edmund Hillary, airman, conqueror of Everest, at 88
2010 Tsutomo Yamaguchi, 93, who survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings

 

5 Jan

1066 Accession of Harold Godwinson as King of England (Jan 5-Oct 14, 1055)
1608 Capt. John Smith is captured by the Indians
1781 Richmond, Virginia, burned by British forces under Benedict Arnold
1861 Alabama troops seize Forts Morgan & Gaines on Mobile Bay
1875 Cdr Edward Lull, USN, begins survey of canal route across Panama
1914 Henry Ford introduces the 8-hr work day and a minimum wage of $5 a day
1942 Malaya: Japanese troops continue to advance.
1944 New Guinea: US-Aussie offensives struggle towards Kelanoa.e
1961 US breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba
1968 Lt Clarence W. Cote becomes the first male officer in the Navy Nurse Corps
1969 USSR launches Venera 5 - will make 1st successful planetary landing on Venus

BORN

1779 Stephen Decatur, US naval hero, k. in a duel, 1820 -- Learn More
1779 Zebulon Pike, army explorer who found a mountain, Brig. Gen., kia 1813
1813 Thomas Neville Waul, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1903
1822 Joseph Brevard Kershaw, Maj Gen, C.S.A., d. 1894
1828 August Valentine Kautz, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1895
1840 John Doby Kennedy, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1896
1901 Count Honore d'Estienne d'Orves, naval officer, "first martyr of Free France," executed by the Nazis 1941
1912 Frank Pace Jr, Secretary of Army (1950-53), d. 1988
1930 Edward G Givens Jr, USAF, astronaut, d. 1987


DIED


1933 Calvin Coolidge Jr., 60, President (1923-1929) -- Learn More
1941 Amy Johnson, 37, intrepid aviatrix, drowned in the Thames Estuary after bailing out, and Lt Cmdr Walter Fletcher, drowned attempting to rescue her
2010 George S. Pappas, 90, USMA 1944, Coast Artilleryman, historian

 

6 JAN

1861 Florida state troops seize the Federal arsenal at Apalachicola
1927 US marines sent to Nicaragua
1940 Germans massacre Poles in Poznan
1941 FDR's State of the Union address, declaring the "Four Freedoms"; of speech & worship, from want & fear.
1943 Papua: US and Australian troops mass for a final assault on Sanananda.
1944 Nimitz issues plan for the capture of the Marshall Islands.
1960 A bomb destroys National Airlines Flight 2511 from New York to Miami over North Carolina, in a still unsolved case
1961 Nikita Khruschev declares that the Soviet Union will back Third World "wars of national liberation"
2021 Thousands of self-proclaimed proclaimed 'Patriots' stormed the Capitol building -- five die


BORN

1776 The U.S. Regular Army: Alexander Hamilton's "New York Provincial Company of Artillery" is organized (now the 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery)
1799 Jedediah Smith, mountain man, fur trader, Indian fighter, d. 1831
1807 Joseph Holt, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1894
1822 Heinrich Schliemann, who found Troy, which had never really been lost, d. 1890
1827 John Calvin Brown, Maj Gen, C.S.A., d. 1889
1827 John Wesley Frazer, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1906
1854 Sherlock Holmes, famous fictional detective
1878 Carl Sandburg, soldier, poet, biographer, d. 1967
1880 Tom Mix, deserter, movie star, d. 1940

DIED

1882 Richard Henry Dana, Jr., 66, sailor, author ("Two Years Before the Mast")
1913 Frederick Hitch, 56, who won a VC at Rorke's Drift
1919 Theodore Roosevelt, USA President, Medal of Honor, Nobel Peace Prize, at 60 -- Learn More
1945 LTG Herbert Lumsden, CB, DSO, MC, Churchill's personal representative to MacArthur's HQ, 47, kamikaze strike on the bridge of the USS New Mexico (BB-40)
2006 CWO Hugh Thompson, who saved lives at My Lai, at 62.
2007 Roberta Wohlsteter, historian ("Pearl Habor: Warning & Decision"), at 94
2017 Prince Bayezid Effendi -- Osman Bayezid Osmanoglu, U.S. soldier, Heir to the Ottoman Throne (2009-17), 92

 

7 Jan
1789 First American presidential election
1941 Isoruku Yamamoto proposes a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor
1942 Bataan: 15,000 US & 65,000 Philippine troops go on half-rations, as the Japanese close up to their lines
1943 Guadalcanal: US strength reaches 50,000, Japanese less than 25,000.
1945 British Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery tells a press conference that he won the Battle of the Bulge
1953 Pres Truman announces development of the hydrogen bomb
1979 Vietnamese forces capture Phnom Penh from the Khmer Rouge
2015 Islamist terrorists attack the office of the magazine 'Charlie Hebdo' in Paris, killing 12 and wounding several others

BORN

1799 Daniel Tyler, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1882
1800 Millard Fillmore, militiaman, President (1850-53), d. 1874 -- Learn More
1808 Jacob Ammen, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1894
1816 Stephen Miller, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1881
1821 Lucius Jeremiah Gartrell, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1891
1824 James Morrison Hawes, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1889

DIED

1932 André Maginot, 54, French WW I veteran, War Minister, after whom the line was named
1989 Hirohito, 87, Emperor Showa of Japan (1926-1989)

 

8 Jan
1811 The Great Louisiana/Charles Deslondes Slave Rebellion begins in St. Charles & St. James Parishes, Louisiana; 2 whites, c. 100 blacks die in a week
1815 Battle of New Orleans, 15 days after the Treaty of Ghent
1865 Battle of Dove Creek: Indians defeat Confederate Texans, near San Angelo
1877 The Battle of Wolf Mountain, Montana: Crazy Horse is defeated by the U.S. Army - the last battle of the Great Sioux War
1918 Pres Wilson outlines the "14 Points" for WW I peace, prompting Clemenceau to comment that God "only had ten Commandments"
1923 First successful flight of a rotary wing aircraft, Juan de la Cierva's autogyro
1944 U.S. Navy bombards Japanese base in the Shortland Islands.
1945 Heavy US air strikes on Luzon, concentrating on Lingayen Gulf area
1947 George C. Marshall becomes Secretary of State
1973 Secret peace talks between US & North Vietnam resume near Paris
2011 Mass shooting at a supermarket in Casas Adobes, Arizona; 6 die, 13 wounded, including Rep. Gabby Giffords

BORN

1814 Thomas Green, Brig Gen, C.S.A., kia by the U.S. Navy, 1864
1815 George Webb Morell, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1883
1815 Lawrence Pike Graham, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1905
1817 John Selden Roane, Brig Gen, d. 1867
1821 James "Old Pete" Longstreet, Lt. Gen., C.S.A., Lee's "Old War Horse", d. 1904
1830 Gouverneur Kemble Warren, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1882
1883 Patrick Jay Hurley, Maj. Gen., & Sec War (1929-1933), d. 1963
1900 John Travers Cornwell, who received a VC at Jutland, kia 1916 -- Learn More
1935 Elvis Aaron Presley, sometime Sgt, 3rd Armored Division, d. 1977

DIED

1922 Col. Charles Young (USMA, 1889), 57, senior officer in the Regular Army, while serving as military attache in Nigeria
1941 Lord Robert Baden Powell, Founder of the Boy Scouts, at 83
2010 Hans Trefousse, 88, historian ("Rutherford B. Hayes"), GI -- Learn More

 

9 Jan

1815 The British Fleet ends 10 days of bombardingof Ft. St. Philip, giving up its attempt to capture New Orleans -- Learn More
1861 First Shot of the Civil War: US steamer 'Star of the West' is fired on by South Carolina militia batteries off Charleston
1861 Mississippi becomes 2nd state to secede
1904 Lt Gen Samuel B. M. Young,first US Army Chief-of-Staff, retires, after being on active duty since Apr 25, 1861.
1936 Garand M-1 semi-automatic rifle adopted by the US Army
1942 Japanese submarines begin operating in the Indian Ocean.
1951 USS 'Brooklyn' (CL-40) transferred to Chile
1952 USMC recalls Ted Williams to active duty for the Korean War

BORN

1822 John Porter Hatchm Brig. Gen., U.S.V., d 1901
1854 Jennie Jerome, in Brooklyn, Winston Churchill's Momma, d. 1921 -- Learn More
1895 Lucian King Truscott, Jr., Gen., US., commander of Fifth Army in Italy (Dec 1944-May 1945) ), d. 1965 -- Learn More
1900 Corentin Jean Carré, the "Youngest Poilu", died of wounds 1918 -- Learn More
1908 Simone de Beauvoir, leftist Vichyite feminist ("The Second Sex"), d. 1986
1913 Richard M. Nixon, Naval officer, President (1969-1974), d. 1994
1942 The Joint Chiefs of Staff, formed by executive order of FDR

DIED

1324 Marco Polo, Venetian merchant, globe trotter, naval officer, b. 1254
1499 Elector Johan Cicero of Brandenburg (1486-1499), at 43
1873 Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, 64, President of France (1848-1852), Emperor Napoleon III (1852-1870), at 64 -- Learn More
2009 Jay Luvass, historian ("The Military Legacy of the Civil War: The European Inheritance"), at 81

 

10 Jan

1776 Publication of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"
1847 US Navy-Marine Corps landing party occupies Los Angeles
1854 Pro-slavery filibuster William Walker proclaims the 'Republic of Sonora' in Baja California; ousted within weeks by Mexican forces
1861 Florida becomes 3rd state to secede
1861 Louisiana state troops capture Fts Jackson & St. Philip
1861 US forts & property seized by Mississippi
1862 Battle of Big Sandy River/Middle Creek, KY
1862 Battle of Romney, WV
1920 First meeting of the League of Nations
1941 Nazis order registration of Jews in Austria
1942 As Japanese troops close up to the Fil-American lines, Gen. Douglas MacArthur makes his first visit to the front on Bataan . . . and his last.
1942 Heinz Hitler (19), nephew of Der Fuhrer, is captured on the Eastern Front while serving as an NCO in the 23rd Artillery; dies in a Soviet P/W camp
1943 FDR leaves for the Casablanca Conference, the first trans-oceanic flight by a president
1943 Guadalcanal: "Tokyo Express" is ambushed by PT-boats, losing two ships
1943 Guadalcanal: Henderson Field is complete for use in all weather
1943 Guadalcanal: U.S. forces begin a general offensive to eliminate Japanese.
1944 New Britain: Major Japanese counterattacks.
1945 British and Indian forces capture Shwego, in the Arakan.
1945 Luzon: US forces enlarge their beachhead.
1946 Army Signal Corps bounces a radar beam off the moon.
1946 First meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, London
1969 Sweden recognizes North Vietnam

BORN

1738 Ethan Allen, Green Mountain Boy, drowned 1789 -- Learn More
1815 Alexander Brydie Dyer, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1874
1815 Thomas Williams, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1862
1825 Alexander Travis Hawthorn, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1899
1834 John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton -- Lord Acton, English historian and politician, who said "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.", d. 1902

DIED

1862 Samuel Colt, at 47, firearms designer, just as business was getting good
1917 William F. Cody - "Buffalo Bill," b. 1846
1961 Dashiell Hammett, 66, veteran, author ("The Maltese Falcon")
2011 Bill Bower, 93, Col., USAF (Ret), last surviving pilot from the Doolittle Raid
2017 Clare Hollingworth, 105, intrepid English war correspondent who scooped Hitler's invasion of Poland

 

11 Jan

1785 The Continental Congress convenes in New York
1861 Alabama becomes 4th state to secede
1863 CSS 'Alabama' sinks USS 'Hatteras' off Galveston
1863 Union forces capture Arkansas Post/Ft Hindman
1943 Guadalcanal: US 35th Inf Rgt succeeds in encircling the Gifu, against fierce Japanese resistance.
1945 Japanese decide to put remaining resources into suicide weapons.
1989 140 nations agree to ban chemical weapons
1991 Congress authorizes Pres G.H.W. Bush to undertake offensive operations against Iraq

BORN
1757 Alexander Hamilton, Volunteer of 1775, SecTreas, MG, U.S., k. in a duel, 1804
1807 Alfred Eugene "Mudwall" Jackson, Brig Gen, C.S.A.
1814 Richard Griffith, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1862
1816 Fitz-Henry Warren, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1878
1818 John Reese Kenly, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1891
1831 James Ronald Chalmers, Brig Gen, C.S., d. 1898
1928 David L Wolper, producer ("North & South ")

DIED

1797 Francis "Lightfoot" Lee, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, at 62
1843 Francis Scott Key of "The Star Spangled Banner", at 63
1893 Benjamin F Butler, Maj Gen, U.S., who proved every woman in New Orleans was a lady, at 74
1977 Princess Lelia of Sermoneta, at 64; last of a 1000 year old dynasty
1988 Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, of the "Black Sheep", MoH, b. 1912

 

12 Jan

1861 Lt Adam Slemmer, USA, refuses to surrender Ft Pickens to Florida state troops
1863 President Jefferson Davis delivers his "State of the Confederacy" address
1942 National War Labor Board created
1943 Aleutians: 'Worden' (DD-352) lost to the hazards of the sea
1944 Churchill and de Gaulle confer in Marrakech
1946 The 82nd Airborne Division marches up Fifth Avenue to a tumultuous greeting
1953 First landings on an American angled deck carrier, 'Antietam' (CV-36).
2008 Wreckage of the French battleship 'Danton', sunk by a U-boat in 1917, is located off Sardinia

BORN

1729 Edmund Burke, Anglo-Irish liberal political thinker, d. 1797
1737 John Hancock, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, d. 1793
1792 Robert Patterson, American militiaman & soldier, 1812-1861, who dropped the ball in '61, d. 1881
1814 Jones Mitchell Withers, Maj Gen, C.S., d. 1890
1819 Zealous Bates Tower, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1900
1825 Joseph R. Davis, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1896; inept nephew of Jefferson Davis
1832 Richard Waterhouse Jr, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1876
1925 T.R. (Theodore Reed) Fehrenbach, Jr., Army officer, historian ("This Kind of War," "Lone Star," "Fire and Blood, d. 2013


DIED

1789 Ethan Allen, 52, Green Mountain Boy, accidentally drowned while drunk
1967 Holland M. "Howlin' Mad" Smith, 84, USMC general
2003 Leopoldo Galtieri, 75, Argentine soldier, dictator (1981-1982), who brought about the Falklands War, which brought him down
2008 Bill Stone, 108, Royal Navy veteran, the last surviving Briton to have served in both world wars -- Learn More

 

13 Jan

1830 Third Great Fire of New Orleans: a hearth fire goes out of control, many buildings burn, blamed on a slave conspiracy
1865 US Army/Navy begin a siege of Ft Fisher, NC; falls Jan 15
1874 Battle between jobless & police in NYC, 100s injured
1874 US troops land in Honolulu to protect King Lunalilo of Hawaii
1917 Munitions disaster at Ekonomia, near Arkhangel, Russia -- c. 10,000 tons explode, 1,500 die
1942 Elms Br 18th Div reach Singapore, as Japanese close in
1943 Guadalcanal: the 25th Inf Div captures the Galloping Horse, as the 2nd Mar Div attacks westward along the coast
1943 Hitler declares Germany must wage "Total War"
1943 Submarine 'Guardfish' (SS-217) torpedoes a Japanese patrol vessel off New Ireland.
1943 Three "Jewish transports" arrive at Auschwitz, from Berlin, the Netherlands, and Zambrów, totalling some 3,960 people, of whom 2,446 are immediately gassed
1958 9,000 scientists from 43 nations petition the UN for a nuclear test ban
1968 Beginning of the Tet Offensive in Vietnam

BORN

1807 Napoleon Bonaparte Buford, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1883
1808 Salmon P. Chase, Lincoln's SecTres, d. 1873
1812 Humphrey Marshall, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1872
1815 William Henry French, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1881
1880 Umberto Pugliese, Jewish Italian naval architect, designer of 'Zara', 'Littorio' d. 1961
1904 Richard Stewart Addinsell, composer ("Warsaw Concerto" aka "Suicide Squadrons"), d. 1977


DIED

1929 Wyatt Earp, at 80, in bed, in Hollywood
1934 Maj.Gen. Jean-Baptiste Marchand, daring soldier and explorer, at 70
1988 Pres Chiang Ching-kuo of Taiwan (1978-88), at 81, son and heir of Chaing Kai-shek

 

14 Januar

1784 Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris, ending the Revolutionary War
1813 US Frigate 'Chesapeake' captures British brig 'Hero'
1815 Four British ships capture the USS 'President', and discover the secret of building a 44-gun single deck frigate that doesn't "hog" and break under its own weight.
1859 Lt. James Brooke, USN, claims French Frigate Shoal for the US
1863 US Navy GO No 4: The Emancipation Proclamation is announced to the fleet
1941 Belgian government-in-exile BBC broadcaster Victor de Laveleye proposes the use of "V for Victoiry" as a sign of the Resistance, which is shortly popularized by Winston Churchill
1942 Allied Arcadia Conference in Washington ends.
1943 FDR, Churchill, Chiang, de Gaulle, Giraud, and others began eleven days of meetings at Casablanca
1967 NY Times reports the Army is conducting secret germ warfare experiments on the public
1969 Fire aboard USS 'Enterprise' (CVN-65), off Vietnam, 28 die, 344 injured


BORN

1730 William Whipple, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, d. 1785.
1741 Benedict Arnold, American hero and traitor, d. 1801 -- Learn More
1806 Matthew Fontaine Maury, USN/CSN, "Father of American Oceanography", d. 1873
1819 Frederick Steele, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1868
1831 John Bullock Clark Jr, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1903
1836 Hugh Judson Kilpatrick, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1881
1875 Albert Schweitzer, Peace Nobelist, d. 1965
1882 Hendrik Willem van Loon, Dutch-born American historian, journalist, & children author ("Van Loon's Lives", etc) , d. 1944
1892 Martin Niemoller, U-Bootsman, clergyman, opponent of Hitler, d. 1984

DIED

1957 Humphrey Bogart, 57, Steersman, USS 'Leviathan', actor ("Casablanca," "Sahara")
2009 Ricardo Montalbán, 88, Mexican-American actor (Rodriguez in "Battle Ground," Khan in "Star Trek")

 

15 January
1865 Union soldiers, sailors, & marines ( includ George Dewey), storm Ft Fisher, NC
1865 U.S. soldiers, sailors, and marines stormed Confederate Fort Fisher, off Wilmington -- Learn More
1919 The 'Great Molasses Flood' in Boston, 21 die
1942 Bataan: Japanese troops penetrate US/Philippine defenses
1942 Chinese halt a Japanese offensive near Changsha in Hunan Province.
1943 Dedication of the Pentagon
1943 Guadalcanal: US forces make only limited gains..
1943 Papua: Allied forces make limited gains near Sanananda
1944 European Advisory Commission decides to divide Germany
1945 Japanese offensive in China advances on the U.S. airbase in Sichuan.
1951 German court gives Ilse Koch, "The Bitch of Buchenwald", life (suicide in prison)
1973 Pres Nixon suspends all US offensive action over North Vietnam
1997 Dr Jerry Lineger, Capt, USN, joins MIR via Space Shuttle Atlantis

BORN
1716 Philip Livingston, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, d. 1778.
1815 Henry Morris Naglee, saucy Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1886
1817 Lewis Golding Arnold, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1871
1821 John C. Breckinridge, Vice-President (1857-1861), Maj Gen, CSA
1821 Lafayette McLaws, Maj Gen, C.S.A., d. 1897
1894 Ecaterina Teodoroiu, Romanian army nurse and infantry officer, kia 1917
1908 Edward Teller, "Father of the H-Bomb," d. 2003
1914 Hugh Trevor-Roper, MI-6 veteran, historian ("The Last Days of Adolph Hitler"),
1920 John J. O'Connor, Vicar-General of the Armed Forces, Archbishop of NY (1984-2000), d. 2000.
1929 Martin Luther King Jr, American, assassinated 1968
1934 David Chandler, historian ("The Campaigns of Napoleon"), d. 2004

DIED

1896 Matthew B Brady, 73, war photographer
1926 John Harling, 93, the last known veteran of the "Light Brigade".
1948 Josephus Daniels, 85, SecNav (1913-1921) -- Learn More
1950 General of the Air Force Henry "Hap" Arnold, 63

 

16 Jan

1776 Congress approves the enlistment of free black men in the Continental Army
1777 Vermont declares independence from NY
1861 Lt Adam Slemmer, USA, again rejects demands by Florida state troops to surrender Ft Pickens
1863 Raiding cruise of CSS 'Florida' begins (ends Aug 23)
1920 National Prohibition under the XVIII Amendment goes into effect at midnight; repealed in 1933
1924 During Fleet Problem III, an "enemy" agent "sabotages" the battleship 'New York' (BB 34) in the Panama Canal -- Learn More
1941 The War Department forms a squadron for black aviation cadets
1942 Bataan: Heavy fighting
1943 Guadalcanal: 2nd Marine Div clears Japanese troops out of "the Ravine"
1944 Gen Eisenhower takes command of Operation Overlord
1945 US First and Third Armies meet at Houffalize, Belgium
1951 Viet Minh offensive at Hanoi
1954 "South Pacific" closes after 1928 performances at the Majestic Theatre in NY
1957 Three B-52s leave California on the first non-stop world flight
2001 Andrew J. Smith, 55th Mass, posthumously awarded a Medal of Honor, for Nov 30, 1864.
2001 Theodore Roosevelt is awarded a Medal of Honor for San Juan Heights in 1898 -- Learn More

BORN

1807 Charles Henry Davis, Rear Adm, U.S., d. 1877
1815 Henry Halleck, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1872; "Old Brians" or "Woodenhead"
1822 Henri Eugène Philippe Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, French soldier, d. 1897 -- Learn More
1825 George Edward Pickett, Maj Gen, C.S.A., d. 1875
1834 Albert Lindley Lee, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1907
1837 James Phillip Simms, Brig Gen, C.S., d. 1887
1853 Gen. Sir Ian Hamilton, brilliantly inept British commander at Gallipoli,
1910 David McCampbell, Pacific War ace, 34 kills, d. 1996
1920 Prince Joachim Murat, 7th Prince Murat & 6th Prince of Pontecorvo, kia, 1944 during the Liberation of France

DIED

1833 Banastre Tarleton, 78, brutal British general in the American Revolution
1942 Carole Lombard, 33, actress, plane crash during a war bond drive
2014 Hiroo Onoda, 91, Japanese Army officer who did not surrender until 1974, on his 52nd birthday
2017 Capt. Eugene Cernan, USN, 82, astronaut, the last surviving person to have walked on the moon

 

1821 Mexico grants Moses Austin extensive lands in Texas
1832 USS 'Peacock' conducts a diplomatic mission to Vietnamese court
1862 US gunboat 'Lexington' bombards Ft Henry, TN (surrenders Jan 22)
1893 American businessmen stage a coup in Hawaii, deposing Queen Liliuokalani
1899 CDR Taussig of the USS 'Bennington' takes formal possession of Wake Island
1942 Bataan: Heavy fighting continues.
1943 National "Tin Can Drive" Day -- Learn More
1943 Papua: Allied forces begin a major offensive against Sanananda.
1945 Soviets drive the Germans out of Warsaw
1955 USS 'Nautilus' (SSN-571) gets underway on nuclear power
1961 Pres. Eisenhower's farewell address warns of a "military industrial complex"
1966 A B-52 carrying four hydrogen bombs crashes off Spanish coast
1991 Operation Desert Storm: Coalition air offensive is unleashed over Iraq, US pilot Jeffrey Zahn is shot down and captured

Births
1706 Benjamin Franklin, American, d. 1790 [NS] -- Learn More
1721 Hugh Mercer, Patriot general, kia, 1777
1811 Joshua Abraham Norton, "Norton I, Emperor of the United States, Protector of Mexico"(1859-1880), in England, d. 1880
1828 Lewis A. Grant, Brig. Gen, USV, Medal of Honor, d. 1918
1886 Glenn Martin, American aviation pioneer, d. 1955
1899 Alfonse Gabriel Capone, Brooklyn, entrepreneur, d. 1947
1929 Popeye the Sailor Man, premiered in a 'Thimble Theatre' cartoon

DIED
1891 George Bancroft, 90, SecNav (1845-1846), father of USNA, historian
1893 Rutherford B Hayes, general, President (1877-81), at 70 -- Learn More
1957 Humphrey Bogart, 57, veteran, actor ("The Caine Mutiny")

 

18 Jan

1911 First airplane landing on a ship: Eugene Ely in a Curtiss Flyer on USS 'Pennsylvania' (ACR-4)
1915 The U.S. Revenue Marine is renamed the U.S. Coast Guard
1919 Versailles Peace Conference begins [see 1871]
1943 US bans sale of sliced bread, to save metal parts in slicing machines
1945 Peleliu: Japanese stragglers raid U.S. ammo dumps and airbase
1957 Three B-52s complete round-the-world flight in 45 hrs & 19 mins; one man did it backwards
1960 US & Japan sign joint defense treaty
1991 Iraq launches SCUD missiles against Israel

BORN

1809 Richard Caswell Gatlin, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1896
1815 James Chesnut Jr, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1885
1820 Abraham Buford, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1884
1831 Edward Ferrero, cowardly Brig. Gen., U.S., d. 1899

DIED
1862 John Tyler, militiaman, first American vice-president to succeed to the presidency (1841-1845), at 71 - Learn More
1991 Hamilton Fish III, veteran, congressman, isolationist, at 102 -- Learn More
2011 Sargent Shriver, 95, gunnery officer USS 'South Dakota' (BB-57), Santa Cruz & Guadalcanal, first head of the Peace Corps -- Learn More

 

19 JAN
1861 Georgia becomes 5th state to secede
1861 Mississippi troops take Ft Massachusetts, on Ship Island
1862 Battle of Mill Springs/Fishing Creek/Logan's Crossroads, KY
1920 The Senate rejects American membership in the League of Nations
1943 Guadalcanal: U.S. destroyers shell Japanese positions
1977 Pres Gerry Ford pardons Iva Toguri d'Aquino - "Tokyo Rose"

BORN

1736 James Watt, inventor of the practical steam engine, d. 1819
1807 Robert ELee, Col., USA., Gen., CSA, Cdr, Army of Northern Virginia, d. 1870
1809 Edgar Allan Poe, West Point drop-out, author, poet, d. 1849
1816 Henry Gray, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1892
1830 George Blake Cosby, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1909
1839 Paul Cézanne, Post-Impressionist artist, draft dodger of 1870, d. 1906
1917 Nigel Nicholson, Guardsman, litterateur, d. 2004

DIED

1969 Jan Palach, 20, three days after immolating himself to protest the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia

 

20 Jan

1778 First American court martial begins, Cambridge, Mass
Stories of American History : America's Dusty Files - January 20, 1778 - First American Military Court Martial Trial Begins
1783 The end of hostilities in the Revolutionary War

1841 China cedes Hong Kong to the British, who return it in 1997

1887 Senate approves lease of Pearl Harbor for a base
1914 USN opens a school for aviators at Pensacola, Fla.
1943 Guadalcanal: 25th Infantry Div tightens its hold on the Gifu.
1943 Papua: Japanese resistance on the Sanananda front collapses.
1944 Burma: Allies prepare major offensive to open the "Burma Road".
1944 Rapido River: US 36th Inf Div begins an ill-planned two-day attempt to force German defenses
1945 1st truck convoy on the re-opened Burma Road, still under repair.
1952 British army occupies Ismailiya, Suez Canal Zone
1958 Elvis receives "Greetings" from his Draft Board
1981 Illegaly held by the Iranian government for 444 days, 52 Americans are finally released
1991 During an Iraqi SCUD attack on Israel, US Patriot missiles are used for the first time, with mixed success

BORN

1884 Charles W. Whittlesey, who earned a Medal of Honor commanding the "Lost Battalion" in 1918, suicide 1921
1930 Edwin Aldrin, astronaut, 2nd man on the Moon

DIED

1862 Felix Zollicoffer, Brig Gen, C.S.A., KIA, 49