January 29
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Featured Event
Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (48033816)
Edgar Allan Poeâs âThe Ravenâ first appears in print
On this day in 1845, Edgar Allan Poeâs melancholy poem âThe Ravenâ was first published, though the original publication in which it appeared is a matter of debate. âThe Ravenâ follows the unnamed narratorâs slow descent into madness as he mourns his lost love. Though not Poeâs first work, âThe Ravenâ was the first to bring the poet renown and recognition. [Read todayâs edition of Today in History > >]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
© J Stone/Shutterstock.com
Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Donât fight them. Just find a different way to stand.
Oprah Winfrey, born this day in 1954, became one of the wealthiest and most influential women in the United States largely as a result of the tremendous popularity of her Emmy Award-winning television talk show.
Famous Birthdays
More on January 29
© Patrick RiviereâHulton Archive/Getty Images
2015
Colleen McCullough, best known for her sweeping romance The Thorn Birds (1977) and for the Masters of Rome series (1990â2007), died at age 77. [Can you match these opening lines to their works?]
Between the Covers Rare Books, Inc., Merchantville, NJ
2004
Author Janet Frame, who created a unique body of work that presents perhaps the most-recognized voice of New Zealand to those outside her native country, died at age 79. [Test your knowledge of famous writers.]
© Luke Frazza/Greg Mathieson/MaiâThe Chronicle Collection/Getty Images
2002
U.S. President George W. Bush, delivering a State of the Union address, described Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as an âaxis of evilâ for their attempts to develop nuclear, chemical, or biological weaponry.
Simon Bruty/Getty Images
1966
Soccer player RomĂĄrio, who was one of the most prolific goal scorers in the sportâs history, was born in Rio de Janeiro. [Sort fact from fiction in our soccer quiz.]
© Columbia Pictures Corporation
1964
The British film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, a landmark Cold War farce directed by Stanley Kubrick, was released in theaters. [Take our quiz about Stanley Kubrick.]
M.Flynn/Alamy
1932
A groundbreaking exhibition of Surrealist artââSurrealism Paintings, Drawings and Photographsââopened at Julien Levy Gallery in New York City. The exhibition introduced gallerygoers to works by Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, and Marcel Duchamp. The centerpiece of the exhibit was Salvador DalĂâs The Persistence of Memory (1931). [Learn more about the people, places, and events that shaped the 1930s.]
George Grantham Bain Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ggbain-36447)
1936
Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb were among the first players to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. [Read our list of the 10 greatest baseball players of all time.]
© Corbis
1924
The first machine for rolling ice cream cones was patented by Carl Rutherford Taylor of Cleveland. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about food.]
New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC-USZ62-123257)
1919
The Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. When it went into effect in 1920, it imposed a federal ban on alcoholic beverages and kicked off the Prohibition era. [How did people get alcohol during Prohibition?]
Image: EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1900
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs was organized in Philadelphia. [How much do you know about baseball?]
Arnoldo Mondadori Editorie S.P./age fotostock
1886
Karl Benz patented the first practical automobile powered by an internal-combustion engine. [Take our quiz about machinery and manufacturing.]
David Magarshack
1860
Anton Chekhovâwho was known for his plays and short stories, which often lacked complex plots and neat solutionsâwas born. [Test your knowledge of Russian literature.]