Welcome to Today In History for Wednesday, January 7, 2009.

On this day in history ..

• 0754 - Pope Stefanus II arrives in Ponthion
• 1325 - Afonso IV succeeds Dionysius as king of Portugal
• 1558 - Calais, last English possession in France, retaken by French
• 1566 - Antonio "Michele" Ghislieri is elected Pope Pius V
• 1566 - Michaele Ghislieri is elected Pope Pius V
• 1579 - England signs an offensive & defensive alliance with Netherland
• 1584 - Last day of the Julian calendar in Bohemia & Holy Roman empire
• 1598 - Boris Godunov seizes Russian throne on death of Feodore I
• 1601 - Robert, Earl of Essex leads revolt in London against Queen Elizabeth
• 1608 - Fire destroys Jamestown, Virginia
• 1610 - Galileo discovers 1st 3 Jupiter satellites, Io, Europa & Ganymede
• 1618 - Francis Bacon becomes English lord chancellor
• 1622 - Germany & Transylvania sign Peace of Nikolsburg
• 1630 - Composer Pier Cavalli marries rich widow Maria Sosomeno
• 1654 - Fire after heavy storm destroys 2/3 of De Rijp Neth, 1 dies
• 1698 - Russian Czar Peter the Great departs Neth to England
• 1714 - Typewriter patented by Englishman Henry Mill (built years later)
• 1761 - Battle at Panipat India: Afghan army beats Mahratten
• 1782 - 1st US commercial bank, Bank of North America, opens in Philadelphia
• 1784 - 1st US seed business established by David Landreth, Philadelphia
• 1785 - 1st balloon flight across English Channel (Blanchard & Jeffries)
• 1817 - 2nd Bank of US opens
• 1822 - 1st printing in Hawaii
• 1822 - Liberia colonized by Americans
• 1830 - 1st US Railroad Station opens (Baltimore)
• 1835 - HMS Beagle anchors off Chonos Archipelago
• 1842 - Gioacchino Rossini's opera "Stabat Mater" premieres in Paris
• 1861 - Florida troops takeover Ft Marion at St Augustine
• 1862 - Battle of Manassas Junction, VA
• 1862 - Romney Campaign-Stonewall Jackson march towards Romney, WV
• 1868 - Arkansas constitutional convention meets in Little Rock
• 1868 - Mississippi constitutional convention meets in Jackson
• 1879 - Dutch King Willem II marries Emma von Waldeck-Pyrmont
• 1888 - Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "Valley of Fear" (BG)
• 1890 - W B Purvis patents fountain pen
• 1892 - Mine explosion kills 100, Krebs, Okla-blacks trying to help rescue white survivors, driven away with guns
• 1893 - Hermann Sudermanns "Heimat," premieres in Berlin
• 1894 - Motion picture experiment of comedian Fred Ott filmed sneezing
• 1896 - Fanny Farmer publishes her 1st cookbook
• 1899 - Walter Camp publishes his 1st All-American football team in Collier's
• 1903 - Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of Blanched Soldier" (BG)
• 1903 - Vincent d'Indy's opera "L'etranger," premieres in Brussel
• 1904 - Marconi Co establishes "CQD" as 1st intl radio distress signal
• 1907 - Clyde Fitch' "Truth," premieres in NYC
• 1908 - England beat Australia by one wicket at the MCG
• 1910 - Stanley Cup: Ottawa Senators sweep Galt (Ont) in 2 games
• 1911 - 1st airplane bombing experiments with explosives, SF
• 1911 - Dutch Scouts Organization established in Amsterdam
• 1913 - William M Burton patents a process to "crack" petroleum
• 1914 - 1st steamboat passes through Panama Canal
• 1916 - German troops conquer Fort Vaux at Verdun
• 1923 - Baltimore Sun warns of Ku Klux Klan
• 1925 - Musical "Big Boy" with Al Jolson premieres in NYC
• 1927 - Coml transatlantic telephone service inaugurated between NY & London
• 1927 - Harlem Globetrotters play 1st game (Hinckley, Ill)
• 1929 - "Buck Rogers," 1st sci-fi comic strip, premieres
• 1929 - "Tarzan," one of the 1st adventure comic strips, 1st appears
• 1929 - 1st telephone connection between Netherlands & East Indies
• 1930 - Edwin Justus Mayer's "Children of Darkness," premieres in NYC
• 1932 - 1st game played at Orchard Lake Curling Club, Mich
• 1933 - 1st edition of People & Fatherland published in Netherlands
• 1934 - "Flash Gordon" comic strip (by Alex Raymond) debuts
• 1934 - Princess Juliana marries German prince Bernhard von Lippe-Biesterfeld
• 1935 - Z”e Akins' "Old Maid," premieres in NYC
• 1936 - Tennis champs Helen Moody & Howard Kinsley volley 2,001 times (1h18m)
• 1939 - US worker's union leader Tom Mooney freed (jailed since 1916)
• 1942 - WW II siege of Bataan starts
• 1944 - Air Force announces production of 1st US jet fighter, the Bell P-59
• 1945 - Lord Haw-Haw reports total German victory at Ardennen
• 1946 - Cambodia becomes autonomous state inside French Union
• 1947 - Aust v Eng at MCG drawn in 6 days, 1st cricket draw in Aust since 1882
• 1948 - US president Truman raises taxes for Marshall-plan
• 1949 - 1st photo of genes taken at U of S Calif by Pease & Baker
• 1950 - "Happy as Larry" closes at Coronet Theater NYC after 3 performances
• 1950 - Hank Snow's 1st appearance on "Grand Ole Opry"
• 1950 - Mental health wing of Mercy Hospital burns, kills 41 (Davenport Ia)
• 1952 - French Plevin govt falls
• 1953 - Pres Truman announces development of hydrogen bomb
• 1955 - Marian Anderson becomes 1st black singer to perform at Met (NYC)
• 1955 - WCIQ TV channel 7 in Mt Cheaha, AL (PBS) begins broadcasting
• 1956 - Vinoo Mankad scores 231 v NZ, 413 opening stand with Roy
• 1958 - USSR shrinks army to 300,000
• 1959 - US recognizes Fidel Castro's Cuban govt
• 1961 - 1st NFL Playoff Bowl (runner-up bowl)-Detroit beats Cleveland 17-16
• 1961 - Trucial States (now UAE) issue their 1st postage stamps
• 1962 - AFL Pro Bowl: West beats East 47-27
• 1962 - Assassination attempt on Indonesian president Sukarno, fails
• 1962 - Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to John Hall Wheelock
• 1963 - 1st class postage raised from 4› to 5›
• 1964 - Bahamas becomes self-governing
• 1964 - Dick Weber rolls highest bowling game in air (Boeing 707)
• 1965 - France announces it will convert $150 million of its currency to gold
• 1966 - Dance Theatre of Harlem debuts
• 1966 - Gene Kiniski beats Lou Thesz in St Louis, to become NWA champ
• 1967 - "Newlywed Game" premieres on ABC TV
• 1968 - "GE College Bowl" quiz show premieres on NBC TV
• 1968 - 1st class postage raised from 5› to 6›
• 1969 - US Congress doubles president salary
• 1970 - Farmers sue Max Yasgur for $35,000 in damages caused by "Woodstock"
• 1971 - -40øF (-40øC), Hawley Lake, Ariz (state record)
• 1972 - Iberian Airlines crashes into 800' peak on island of Ibiza, 104 die
• 1972 - LA Lakers chalk up 33rd consecutive win (NBA record)
• 1972 - Lewis F Powell Jr becomes a Supreme Court Justice
• 1972 - William Hubbs Rehnquist, sworn in as Supreme Court Justice
• 1973 - "Purlie" closes at Billy Rose Theater NYC after 14 performances
• 1973 - British Darts Organisation founded in North London
• 1973 - Jo Ann Prentice wins LPGA Burdine's Golf Invitational
• 1973 - Johnny Watkins bowls six overs 0-21 v Pakistan Never again
• 1973 - US poet James Merrill wins Bollingen Prize
• 1973 - WNPB TV channel 13 in Marquette, MI (PBS) begins broadcasting
• 1974 - Dutch rations gasoline
• 1975 - "Shenandoah" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 1050 performances
• 1975 - Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to AR Ammons (Sphere)
• 1975 - Gary Geld & Peter Udell's musical "Shenandoah," premieres in NYC
• 1975 - Led Zeppelin fans riot before Boston concert, causing $30,000 damage
• 1977 - Huyman Rights Charta '77 established in Prague
• 1978 - Angola revises its constitution
• 1979 - Vietnamese forces capture Phnom Penh from Khmer Rouge
• 1980 - Minn ends Phila Flyers' NHL record 35 game unbeaten streak ends
• 1982 - "Fame" premieres on NBC TV
• 1982 - Islander's Bryan Trottier's 10th career hat trick
• 1983 - Australia regain the Ashes with a 2-1 series win v England
• 1983 - Reagan ends US arms embargo against Guatemala
• 1985 - "King & I" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 191 performances
• 1985 - Japanese space probe Sakigake launched to Halley's comet
• 1985 - KHQ-AM in Spokane WA changes call letters to KLSN (now KAQQ)
• 1985 - Lou Brock & Hoyt Wilhelm, elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame
• 1986 - Chicago Bears defeat New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX
• 1986 - Netherlands Bank issues 250 guilder notes
• 1986 - STS 61-C mission scrubbed at T -9m because of weather problems
• 1986 - US president Reagan proclaims economic sanctions against Libya
• 1987 - French airplanes harass Libyan positions in Duadi Doum
• 1987 - Kapil Dev takes his 300th Test wicket, at 28 the youngest
• 1989 - Akhito becomes emperor of Japan
• 1989 - Intl Conference on Limitation of Chemical Weapons opens in Paris
• 1989 - NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers longest win streak (11)
• 1989 - Cleve Cavs block 21 NY Knick shots tying NBA regulation game record
• 1990 - Lynn Jennings runs world record 5K indoor at 15:22.64
• 1990 - Tower Of Pisa closed to the public after leaning too far
• 1991 - "Nia Peeples Party Machine" premieres on TV
• 1992 - AT&T releases video-telephone ($1,499)
• 1992 - Last day of Test cricket for Imran Khan
• 1992 - Tom Seaver & Rollie Fingers elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame
• 1994 - South Africa beat Australia in the Sydney Test by 5 runs
• 1994 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Tonya Harding
• 1994 - United Express commuter plane crashes in Ohio, killing 5
• 1995 - "Christmas Carol" closes at Richard Rodgers Theater NYC after 18 perfs
• 1995 - "Passion" closes at Plymouth Theater NYC after 280 performances
• 1996 - "Crazy after You" closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 1622 perfs
• 1996 - "Fool Moon" closes at Ambassador Theater NYC after * performances
• 1996 - 16th United Negro College Fund raises $12,600,000
• 1997 - Newt Gingrich, narrowly re-elected speaker of the House

Famous Kansas Events for this day ..

• 1861 - The sixth and last Kansas Territorial Legislature convenes, and again moves its meeting from Lecompton to Lawrence.
• 1911 - Judge John C. Pollock, U.S. District Court holds that liquor bought legally in other states could be delivered to Kansas
• 1911 - Judge John C. Pollock, U.S. District Court rules that sellers of beer in Kansas must be tried in state courts.
• 1918 - As part of War effort, Dodge City board of education abolishes German classes in high school.
• 1920 - Bank robbers blew the safe, shot and wounded John Schrader, the bank president, and escaped with 24 two-cent stamps from the State Bank of Stanley.
• 1920 - Dr. Forrest C. "Phog" Allen begins his first season as basketball coach at KU
• 1927 - NAT awards Travel Air contract for 7 Monoplanes.
• 1963 - Learjet Corp. begins business in Wichita