Events 1496 - Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine 1521 - Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther. 1777 - Battle of Princeton. American general George Washington defeats British general Charles Cornwallis. 1815 - Austria, Britain, and France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia. 1823 - Stephen F. Austin receives a grant of land in Texas from the government of Mexico 1833 - Britain seizes control of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. 1834 - The government of Mexico imprisons Stephen F. Austin in Mexico City 1840 - One of the Herald-Sun of Melbourne, Australia's predecessor papers The Port Phillip Herald is founded by George Cavanaugh. 1861 - American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States 1868 - The Japanese Meiji dynasty is restored and the Shogunate is abolished. 1888 - The 91 cm refracting telescope at Lick Observatory is used for the first time. It was the largest telescope in the world at the time. 1899 - The first known use of the word "automobile", in an editorial in the New York Times 1920 - Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sells Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000 and a $350,000 loan. The loan was to finance Frazee's Broadway production of the musical No, No, Nanette. 1925 - Benito Mussolini announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy. 1926 - General Theodorus Pángulos names himself dictator of Greece 1938 - The March of Dimes is established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. 1947 - Proceedings of the United States Congress are televised for the first time. 1951 - Dragnet airs on television for the first time (NBC). 1957 - Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. 1959 - Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state. 1961 - The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba. 1961 - The SL-1, a government-run reactor near Idaho Falls, Idaho leaks radiation, killing three workers at the installation. The radiation is contained. 1962 - Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro. 1966 - First Acid Test at the Fillmore, San Francisco, California. 1973 - Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) sells the New York Yankees for $10 million to a 12-person syndicate led by George Steinbrenner. 1987 - Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 1990 - Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces. 1993 - In Moscow, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). 1994 - An Aeroflot Tupolov TU-154 crashes and explodes after takeoff from Irkhutsk, Russia killing 125 including 1 on the ground 1997 - NBC's Today show Bryant Gumbel signs off for the last time. 2000 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published 2004 - Flight FSH604, a Boeing 737 owned by Flash Airlines, an Egyptian airliner, plunges into the Red Sea, killing all 148 aboard. 2004 - Spirit, a NASA Mars Rover, lands successfully on Mars. Births 106 BC - Cicero, Roman statesman and philosopher († 43 BC) 1793 - Lucretia Mott, women's rights activist and abolitionist († 1880) 1829 - Konrad Duden, philologist († 1911) 1855 - Hubert Bland, socialist and co-founder of Fabian Society († 1914) 1879 - Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States 1883 - Clement Attlee, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom († 1967) 1887 - August Macke, painter († 1914) 1892 - J. R. R. Tolkien, writer and philologist († 1973) 1897 - Pola Negri, actress († 1987) 1897 - Marion Davies, actress († 1961) 1901 - Ngo Dinh Diem, President of South Vietnam († 1963) 1905 - Anna May Wong, actress († 1961) 1907 - Ray Milland, actor († 1986) 1909 - Victor Borge, entertainer and humorist († 2000) 1911 - John Sturges, director 1916 - Betty Furness, actress, consumer activist 1924 - Hank Stram, American football coach, broadcaster 1926 - George Martin, "5th Beatle": producer of The Beatles' records 1929 - Sergio Leone, director († 1989) 1930 - Robert Loggia, actor 1932 - Dabney Coleman, actor 1936 - Georgina Spelvin, pornographic film actress 1939 - Bobby Hull, ice hockey player 1941 - Van Dyke Parks, musician, composer 1942 - John Thaw, actor († 2002) 1945 - Stephen Stills, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1945 - Victoria Principal, actress 1946 - John Paul Jones, bassist from Led Zeppelin 1956 - Mel Gibson, actor and director 1960 - Joan Chen, actress 1969 - Michael Schumacher, Formula One driver 1975 - Danica McKellar, actress 1976 - Jason Marsden, actor 1981 - Polly Klaas, young victim of crime († 1993) 1989 - Alex D. Linz, actor Deaths 1322 - Philip V, king of France 1543 - Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, first European to visit California 1641 - Jeremiah Horrocks, English astronomer 1785 - Baldassare Galuppi, composer 1795 - Josiah Wedgwood, potter 1875 - Pierre Larousse, French editor and encyclopedist 1923 - Jaroslav Hasek, Czech novelist 1933 - Jack Pickford, actor, Hollywood's first "bad boy" 1945 - Edgar Cayce, psychic 1946 - William Joyce (executed), Nazi propagandist 1950 - Emil Jannings, actor 1967 - Jack Ruby, convicted killer of Lee Harvey Oswald 1979 - Conrad Hilton, hotelier 1980 - Joy Adamson, conservationist and author of Born Free 1981- Her Royal Highness Princess Alice of Albany, the last grandchild of Queen Victoria 1992 - Dame Judith Anderson, actress 2002 - Freddy Heineken, CEO of the beer brewery 2003 - José Maria Gironella, author and poet Holidays and observances The tenth day of Christmas in Western Christianity. Roman Empire - Festival in honor of Pax See Also: January 2 - January 4 - December 3 - February 3 - listing of all days January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
January 2 - January 4 - December 3 - February 3 - listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December