Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

January 3

2000
USS The Sullivans Attack: Members of the Al Qaeda attempt bomb the USS The Sullivans with a boat laden with explosives. But the boat was overloaded and sank before detonating.

1989
The Arsenio Hall Show debuts.

1970
The Beatles: The mop-top musicians record their last song together: I Me Mine.

1964
First Beatles' performance on U.S. TV: Jack Paar airs a film clip of the group singing She Loves You.

1961
Cuban Crisis: The U.S. severs diplomatic relations with Cuba.

1959
Alaska becomes the 49th state.

1952
Dragnet: The TV series debuts on NBC. It starred Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday - he carries a badge.

1913
Thomas Edison demonstrates "talkies."

1776
Battle of Princeton, New Jersey.

1521
German religious reformer Martin Luther is excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Leo X for challenging the church's doctrines. He went into hiding and began his translation of the Bible into German.

1956
Mel Gibson, American-born Australian actor. Film: Mad Max (1980), Lethal Weapon (1987), Braveheart (1995), and The Passion of the Christ (2004, Director)

1951
Robert L. Crabb, American underground cartoonist, creator of Tales of the Jackalope and Rockers.

1945
Victoria Principal, American actress. TV: Dallas (Pamela Ewing).

1945
Stephen Stills, American singer, with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

1932
Dabney Coleman, American actor. TV: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.

1916     d. 1995
Maxene Andrews, American singer, with the Andrews Sisters.

1916     d. 1994
Betty Furness, American actress, pioneer in TV consumer reporting. TV: Today.

1909
Victor Borge (Borge Rosenbaum), Danish pianist, satirist, entertainer.

1892     d. 1973
J.R.R. Tolkien (John Ronald Reuel Tolkien), British author. Writings: The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954).

1840     d. 1888
Father Damien (Joseph Damien de Veuster), Belgian-born Roman Catholic missionary. He dedicated his life to the lepers of Hawaii.

2005     b. 1917
Will Eisner, American cartoonist, creator of The Spirit (1940).

1980     b. 1910
Joy Adamson, Austrian environmentalist, author. Writings: Born Free (1960). His work was featured in the 1966 movie of the same title.

1979     b. 1887
Conrad Hilton, American hotel executive. He bought his first hotel in Texas in 1919.

1967     b. 1911
Jack Ruby, American night club owner. He died while awaiting a retrial for the murder of Pres. Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.

1927     b. 1869
Georg Clemens Perthes, German surgeon. He discovered that X-rays inhibit the growth of tumors (1903), and proposed the use of X-rays to treat cancer.

1895     b. 1824
James Merritt Ives, American lithographer, co-founder of Currier & Ives (1857). Their prints recorded the last half of 19th-century American history.

1543     b. ????
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Portuguese explorer. He was the first European to reach the Pacific coast (1542, San Diego Bay).

236     b. ????
Saint Anterus, Greek-born religious leader, 19th Pope (235-236).

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