Random News: January 26, 2024

DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.

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Good morning. It’s January 26, 2024, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! I am not able to do my news today since I am being a business drone. Here are some historical things nonetheless.

• Today in history… The Council of Trent establishes an official distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism (1564). The British First Fleet sails into Port Jackson to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on Australia, which is commemorated as Australia Day (1788). Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state (1837). The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union (1861). Virginia is readmitted to the Union (1870). The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the U.S. Congress (1915). The first demonstration of the television by John Logie Baird (1926). The first United States forces in WWII arrive in Europe, landing in Northern Ireland (1942). The Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory sees first light under the direction of Edwin Hubble, becoming the largest aperture optical telescope until BTA-6 is built in 1976 (1949). On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky (1998).
• January 26 is the birthday of the 12th Dalai Lama (1857), general Douglas MacArthur (1880), mafia boss Frank Costello (1891), pilot Bessie Coleman (1892), singer Maria von Trapp (1905), violinist Stéphane Grappelli (1908), pianist/composer Jimmy Van Heusen (1913), philanthropist/politician Annette Strauss (1924), actor Paul Newman (1925), director Roger Vadim (1928), cartoonist Jules Feiffer (1929), MLB p[layer/actor Bob Uecker (1934), activist Angela Davis (1944), football coach/child molester Jerry Sandusky (1944), film critic Gene Siskel (1946), singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams (1953), guitarist Eddie Van Halen (1955), singer Anita Baker (1958), comedian/TV host Ellen DeGeneres (1958), NHL legend Wayne Gretzky (1961), singer Andrew Ridgeley (1963), speaker of the house Kevin McCarthy (1965), NBA player Vince Carter (1977), and the Suleman octuplets (2009).

I'll be back. Enjoy your day.