100 years ago

George Burns and Gracie Allen [Photo courtesy imdb]

The month of January has been home to many historical events over the years.

• The first radio station in Ireland, 2RN, begins broadcasting on Jan. 1.
• Theodoros Pangalos declares a state of emergency in Greece and assumes dictatorial powers on Jan. 3. Pangalos had become Prime Minister of Greece in June 1925 after orchestrating a coup d’état.
• Great War cemeteries in France are submerged on Jan. 7 due to ongoing downpours affecting various areas throughout Europe. The same rains flood the London subway system as well.
• Gracie Allen and George Burns are married by a justice of the peace in Cleveland on Jan. 7. The newlyweds ultimately gain renown as the comedy duo Burns and Allen.
• Twelve-year-old Prince Nguyen Phœc Thuy is crowned Emperor of Vietnam on Jan. 8. The prince’s father, Emperor Khai Dinh, died two months earlier on Nov. 6.
• Herman, Henry and Hillel Hassenfeld incorporate the Hassenfeld Brothers company on Jan. 8. The company initially manufactures school supplies but eventually begins to make toys under the name Hasbro.
• Twenty Mexican rebels open fire aboard a train traveling from Guadalajara to Mexico City on Jan. 9. The bandits escape with the equivalent of $150,000 USD.
• The four-masted schooner Prinz Valdemar capsizes on Jan. 10, blocking all ship traffic in and out of Biscayne Bay and the harbor of Miami. All aboard are rescued unharmed but two ocean liners are prevented from leaving the harbor.
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  John Wesley Langley [Photo courtesy history.house.gov]

  United States Representative John W. Langley of Kentucky resigns from Congress on Jan. 11. Langley’s resignation comes after the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed his jail sentence for violating prohibition laws by illegally selling alcohol to New York-based bootleggers with ties to organized crime.
• Michael Bond is born in Newbury, Berkshire, England, on Jan. 13. Bond would survive a 1943 air raid in Reading during World War II before authoring his first book, “A Bear Called Paddington,” in 1958.
• Twenty-year-old Ayn Rand departs Russia by train on Jan. 17. Rand’s early life in Communist Russia heavily influenced the philosophy reflected in many of her more notable works.
• Voting rights activist Indiana Little leads several hundred Black men and women on a march to the Jefferson County registrar’s office in Birmingham on Jan. 18. Little is arrested for disturbing the peace and would not be registered to vote for another 30 years.
• Multiple ships near New York City are threatened by a gale on Jan. 20. The U.S. luxury liner SS President Roosevelt completes a rescue of the British freighter SS Antinoe on Jan. 28 after initial reports indicated the latter ship sank in the storm.
• Chaplin Court Treatt and Stella Court Treatt complete the first successful journey across Africa by motorcar on Jan. 24. The duo began their journey one year, four months and 11 days before completing the trip in Cairo, Egypt.
• Speaking on behalf of the British Empire Cancer Campaign during a luncheon on Jan. 25, British surgeon Sir Berkeley Moynihan says that cancer of the tongue is traceable to two things, including smoking.
• Thousands of mourners line the streets of Brussels to watch the funeral procession of Belgian national hero and cleric Désiré-Joseph Mercier on Jan. 28. Mercier was known for his staunch opposition to the German occupation of Belgium during World War I.
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  Violet Neatley Anderson [Photo courtesy aaregistry.org]

  Violette Neatley Anderson becomes the first African American woman to be admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 29.
• The Chamber of Deputies passes “Law Number 100” on Jan. 31. The law grants Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini the right to issue judicial norms without prior consultation with the Italian parliament.