Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

January 23

1983
The A-Team, starring Mr. T., debuts on NBC.

1977
Roots begins airing on ABC for eight consecutive nights. The story of Kunta Kinte and his descendants was the highest-rated series ever 130,000,000 people watching the conclusion.

1975
Barney Miller debuts on ABC.

1971
Lowest recorded temperature in the U.S., -79.8º in Prospect Creek, Alaska.

1968
USS Pueblo is captured by North Korea, the captain and crew are held captive for 11 months.

1964
24th Amendment ratified, a person could not be required to pay a tax to vote in federal elections.

1960
Deepest manned ocean descent: The U.S. Navy bathyscaphe Trieste, descends 35,800 feet into the Marianas Trench in the Pacific Ocean.

1933
20th Amendment: It is ratified. Called the "Lame Duck Amendment," it specified that the President's and Vice-President's terms were to begin on January 20.

1930
First Nazi to take office: Wilhelm Frick becomes Minister of the Interior for Thuringia.

1845
First Tuesday after the first Monday in November is declared by Congress to be the day for presidential elections.

1789
First Roman Catholic College in the U.S.: Georgetown College in Washington D.C. is founded by Father John Carroll. (Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church)

1950
Richard Dean Anderson, American actor. TV: General Hospital (Dr. Jeff Weber) and MacGyver (Stace MacGyver).

1944
Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor. Film: Blade Runner (1982) and The Hitcher (1986).

1943
Gil Gerard, American actor. TV: The Doctors (Dr. Alan Stewart) and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (title role).

1934
Lou Antonio, American actor, director. TV: The Snoop Sisters (Barney the chauffeur) and Rich Man, Poor Man (director).

1933
Chita Rivera (Dolores Conchita del Rivero), American Tony-winning actress. Stage: Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993, Tony).

1928
Jeanne Moreau, French actress. Film: Jules and Jim (1961) and Going Places (1974).

1919     d. 1962
Ernie Kovacs, American comedian. TV: The Tonight Show (1956-57, host).

1906
Bob Steele (Robert North Bradbury Jr.), American actor. TV: F Troop (Trooper Duffy).

1904     d. 1990
Anya Seton (Ann Seton), American author of historical romances. Writings: Dragonwyck and Foxfire. Her father, Ernest Thompson Seton was a founding pioneer of the Boy Scouts of America.

1899     d. 1957
Humphrey Bogart (Humphrey DeForest Bogart), Oscar-winning actor. Film: The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1943), and The African Queen (1952). His upper lip was scarred and partially paralyzed while serving in the Navy during World War I.

1898     d. 1948
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein, Russian film director, one of the greatest directors of his time. He developed the montage style of editing.

1898     d. 1987
Randolph Scott (Randolph Crane), American actor. Film: Seven Men from Now (1956), The Tall T (1957), and Ride the High Country (1962).

1737     d. 1793
John Hancock, 4th and 13th president of the Continental Congress (1775-77, 1785-86), signer of the Declaration of Independence, and first governor of Massachusetts (1780-85).

2005     b. 1925
Johnny Carson, American Emmy-winning TV late-night host of the Tonight Show for nearly 30 years.

2004     b. 1927
Bob Keeshan, American Emmy-winning actor. TV: Howdy Doody (Clarabell the Clown) and Captain Kangaroo (title role). Quote: If you want more time in your life, don't watch TV.

1989     b. 1904
Salvador Dali, Spanish artist, The Persistence of Memory (1931).

1989     b. 1915
George Case, American baseball player, led the American League in stolen bases six times.

1893     b. 1835
Phillips Brooks, American clergyman. He wrote the carol O Little Town of Bethlehem (1868). (Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church)

1875     b. 1819
Charles Kingsley, English clergyman, author. Writings: Westward Ho! (1855).

1858     b. 1794
Luigi Lablache, Italian opera singer. He sang at the funerals of Franz Joseph Haydn (1809), Ludwig van Beethoven (1827) and Frederic Chopin (1849).

1800     b. 1749
Edward Rutledge, American politician, member of the first Continental Congress (1774) and signer of the Declaration of Independence.

1789     b. 1709
John Cleland, English author, Fanny Hill, or the Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1749).

1002     b. ????
Otto III, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (983-1002), because of his great intellect he was called the "Wonder of the World."

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