Ayub Khan elected president of Pakistan

January 3rd 2009

Israel launches an invasion of the Gaza strip

January 4th 1981

British police arrest Peter Sutcliffe, the “Yorkshire Ripper”

January 5th 1998

Vandals decapitate Copenhagen’s Little Mermaid statue

January 6th 1958

Gibson patents Flying V Guitar

January 7th 1610

Galileo Galilei discovers 1st 3 Jupiter satellites, Io, Europa and Ganymede

January 8th 1800

Victor the Wild Boy of Aveyron discovered in southern France

January 9th 2007

Apple Computer unveils the iPhone

January 10th 1966

India and Pakistan sign peace accord

January 11th 1991

US Congress empowers President George W Bush to order attack on Iraq

January 12th 1989

Idi Amin expelled from Zaire

January 13th 1981

Barbara Sonntag, Colorado, crochets record 147 stitches/minute for 1/2 hour

January 14th 1989

29 year old French woman gives birth to sextuplets in Paris

January 15th 1994

Queen Elizabeth falls off her horse and breaks her left wrist

January 16th 2005

Adriana Iliescu becomes the oldest woman in the world to give birth at 66

January 17th 2010

Former Iraqi minister Chemical Ali, is sentenced to death for the poison gas attack at Halabja

January 18th 1991

Iraq launches SCUD missiles against Israel

January 19th 1955

“Scrabble” debuts on board game market January 20th 1841

China cedes Hong Kong to British

January 21st 1990

John McEnroe becomes 1st ever expelled from Australian Open

January 22nd 1969

Billy Preston becomes the 5th Beatle

January 23rd 1977

$1.5-million Serge Lepage dress exhibited, Paris

January 24th 1958

1st man-made nuclear fusion

January 25th 1998

Victoria Adams and David Beckham get engaged

January 26th 1929

Indian National Congress proclaims goal for India’s independence

January 27th 1969

Noordiers vicar Ian Paisley sentenced to 3 years

January 28th  2003

President George W. Bush stated that Saddam Hussein had tried to acquire ‘significant quantities of uranium from Africa’ (a claim substantiated only by forged documents)

January 29th 1886

1st successful gasoline-driven car patented, Karl Benz, Karlsruhe

January 30th 1994

Kapil Dev equals Richard Hadlee’s world record of 431 Test wkts

January 31st 1961

Ham is 1st primate in space (158 miles) aboard Mercury/Redstone 2