This Date in History - January 6

 

This is a good date if you ever want to become the leader of your own country. Watch.

1066:  HAROLD II IS CROWNED KING OF ENGLAND.

That was my father's name.  He was not a king.  Even in his own home.

1118:  ALFONSO THE BATTLER CONQUERS ZARAGOSA.

That sounds like a wrestler's name.

1205:  PHILIP OF SWABIA BECOMES KING OF THE ROMANS.

And here we go again.

1322:  STEPHEN II IS CROWNED KING OF SERBIA.

And so they come.

1355:  CHARLES I OF BOHEMIA IS CROWNED KING OF ITALY.

Well, those are two countries that you don't picture together.

1412:  JOAN OF ARC IS BORN.

She wasn't crowned.  Only burned.

1449:  CONSTANTINE XI IS CROWNED BYZANTINE EMPEROR.

Emperor, king.  Tomato, tomatoe.

1540:  KING HENRY VIII OF ENGLAND MARRIES ANNE OF CLEVES.

Probably wearing the crown at the ceremony.

1690:  JOSEPH BECOMES KING OF THE ROMANS.

You can come back now.  This is the last one.

1781:  IN THE BATTLE OF JERSEY, THE BRITISH DEFEAT THE LAST ATTEMPT BY FRANCE TO INVADE JERSEY.

Does Chris Christie know about this?

1838:  ALFRED VAIL DEMONSTRATES A TELEGRAPH SYSTEM USING DOTS AND DASHES AND THIS IS THE FORERUNNER OF THE MORSE CODE.

.----...-.....--....-.--.

1852:  EDUCATOR LOUIS BRAILLE DIES.

.----...-.....--....-.--.

1853:  PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE US FRANKLIN PIERCE AND HIS FAMILY ARE INVOLVED IN A TRAIN WRECK.   HIS 11-YEAR-OLD SON IS KILLED.

Well, that sucks.  The kid never got to the White House.

1893:  THE WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL IS CHARTERED BY CONGRESS.  THE CHARTER IS SIGNED BY PRESIDENT BENJAMIN HARRISON.

I suppose this was a big deal back in the day.

1907:  MARIA MONTESSORI OPENS HER FIRST SCHOOL AND DAYCARE CENTER IN ROME.

I knew a kid who went to one of these schools.  He was weird.

1912:  NEW MEXICO IS ADMITTED TO THE UNION AS THE 47TH US STATE.

Counting down to Hawaii as Number 50.

1912:  ACTOR DANNY THOMAS IS BORN.

Make Womb for Daddy.

1913:  ACTRESS LORETTA YOUNG IS BORN.

And so another door opens.

1919:  THEODORE ROOSEVELT DIES.

Bully for him.

1926:  BASEBALL PITCHER RALPH BRANCA IS BORN.

From my hometown of Mount Vernon, New York.

1929:  MOTHER TERESA ARRIVES IN CALCUTTA, INDIA TO BEGIN HER WORK AMONGST THE POOR AND SICK.

She picked a good country to start with.

1941:  US PRESIDENT FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT DELIVERS HIS FOUR FREEDOMS SPEECH.

The Four Freedoms?  I think they also sang at the Apollo Theater.

1944:  ACTRESS BONNIE FRANKLIN IS BORN.

Her first day at a time.

1947:  PAN AMERICAN AIRLINES BECOMES THE FIRST AIRLINE TO SCHEDULE A FLIGHT AROUND THE WORLD.

Back when they didn't charge for food.

1960:  NATIONAL AIRLINES FLIGHT 2511 IS DESTROYED IN MID-AIR BY A BOMB, WHILE EN ROUTE FROM NEW YORK CITY TO MIAMI.

Wow.  Just like the movie with Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin.

1974:  IN RESPONSE TO THE 1973 OIL CRISIS, DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME COMMENCES NEARLY FOUR MONTHS EARLY IN THE US.

Spring ahead, winter behind.

1994:  SKATER NANCY KERRIGAN IS CLUBBED ON THE KNEE BY TANYA HARDING.

What a ruthless sport.

2005:  EDGAR RAY KILLEN IS ARRESTED AS A SUSPECT IN THE 1964 MURDERS OF THREE CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS.

He got away with this for a long, long time.

2006:  SINGER LOU RAWLS DIES.

"You'll never find...."

2016:  ACTOR PAT HARRINGTON JR. DIES.

Fellow Fordham alumnus who I met at a function out here.  Nice guy.

Dinner last night:  Prosciutto, mozzarella, and roasted pepper omelet.