Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

January 2

2002
Buddy: Pres. Clinton's chocolate Labrador retriever is hit by a car and killed while running loose near their Chappaqua, New York home.

1971
Sixty-six people are killed at a soccer game in Glasgow, Scotland. Metal barriers collapsed causing a stampede crushing more than 200 fans.

1960
16-year-old Bobby Fischer wins the U.S. Chess championship.

1959
First moon shot: The USSR Lunik I is launched. It missed, becoming the first man-made object to pass near the moon and the first man-made object to orbit the Sun.

1959
Fidel Castro becomes prime minister of Cuba.

1953
Sen. Joseph McCarthy is condemned by the U.S. Senate for his actions during his investigations into Communist activity.

1953
The Life of Riley debuts on NBC for the second time, starring William Bendix as Chester A. Riley.

1952
Pope Pius XII declares TV as a threat to family life.

1921
First religious radio broadcast in the U.S., by the Calvary Episcopal Church over KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1903
Pres. Roosevelt closes a Missouri post office for refusing to employ Minnie Cox, a black female, as postmaster.

1888
Drinking straw: Marvin Chester Stone of Washington D.C. patents his invention.

1788
Georgia becomes the 4th state.

1776
Flag of the United Colonies is first raised by General George Washington.

1762
England declares war on Spain.

1965
Diane Lane, American actress. Film: The Cotton Club (1984) and Chaplin (1992).

1939
Jim Bakker (James Orsen), American televangelist. He served 4½ years in prison (1989-94) for defrauding his followers of $158,000,000.

1936     d. 1992
Roger Miller, American Grammy (11 from 1964-65) and Tony-winning composer. He wrote King of the Road (1965, #1), which became the hobo anthem.

1928
Howard Caine, American actor. TV: Hogan's Heroes (Major Hochstedder).

1920     d. 1992
Isaac Asimov, Russian-born American science-fiction author and giver of the "three laws of robotics." Writings: I Robot (1950)

1913
Anna Lee, English actress. TV: General Hospital (Lila Quartermaine).

1857     d. 1937
Frederick Burr Opper, American cartoonist. He created Happy Hooligan (1902) and illustrated works for Mark Twain.

1647     d. 1676
Nathaniel Bacon, American colonial leader. He led Bacon's Rebellion (1676), overthrowing the governor of Virginia. The settlers were upset due to excessive taxes, loss of self rule, and the governor's refusal to protect them against Indians.

1990     b. 1918
Alan Hale Jr., American actor. TV: Gilligan's Island (Skipper Jonas Grumby).

1989     b. 1915
Eddie Heywood, American jazz pianist, composed Canadian Sunset.

1963     b. 1904
Dick Powell, American actor, singer. His death was attributed to radiation exposure received from an A-bomb test near the filming of a movie in 1953.

1924     b. 1834
Sabine Baring-Gould, English clergyman, author of the hymn Onward Christian Soldiers. (Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church)

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