January 12
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Featured Event
© Tony Spina—Detroit Free Press/Zuma Press Inc/Alamy
Berry Gordy took a major step toward transforming American music on this day in 1959, when he launched Tamla Records. With Smokey Robinson and the Miracles signed as its first act, Tamla soon merged with Gordy’s other label, Motown Records, to form one of the most influential music companies in American history. [Read today’s edition of Today in History >>]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
© IanDagnall Computing/Alamy
Happy it is for those who dared insult us, that their naked bones are not now piled up in an everlasting monument of Massachusetts’ bravery.
John Hancock, born this day in 1737, was a leader of the American Revolution, the first signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and president of the Continental Congress from May 1775 to October 1777.
Famous Birthdays
More on January 12
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny Chmielewski
2010
A magnitude-7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti, killing more than 300,000 people, according to the country’s official count, and creating a prolonged humanitarian disaster. [What are some of the most destructive earthquakes in history?]
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD
2005
The U.S. space probe Deep Impact was launched. A few months later it shot a 370-kg (810-pound) mass into the nucleus of the comet Tempel 1 in order to study its cometary structure. [Sort fact from fiction in our space objects quiz.]
© Columbia Broadcasting System
1971
The groundbreaking television series All in the Family debuted on CBS and quickly became known for its frank and satirical treatment of sensitive or important topics. [Read our list of the 10 best American sitcoms.]
© Jerry Coli/Dreamstime.com
1969
Quarterback Joe Namath, having “guaranteed” victory, led the New York Jets to a 16–7 win over the favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about American football.]
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
1966
The live-action TV series Batman premiered on ABC. A huge hit, it starred Adam West as the Caped Crusader and Burt Ward as Robin. [How much do you know about superheroes?]
© Tony Karumba—AFP/Getty Images
1960
The British government formally ended the state of emergency it had declared in Kenya in response to the beginning of the Mau Mau Rebellion in 1952. The conflict killed an estimated 20,000 people.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; neg. no. LC USZ 62 12692
1932
Hattie Ophelia Caraway became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate. [Read about seven female firsts in U.S. politics.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1916
P.W. Botha, prime minister (1978–84) and president (1984–89) of South Africa, was born. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about South Africa.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1879
The Anglo-Zulu War began this week as the British sought control over Zululand in eastern South Africa.
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1773
The oldest public museum in the United States was established in colonial Charleston, South Carolina. Its original purpose was to promote the better understanding of agriculture and herbal medicine in the area.