Random News: January 28, 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.

---

Good morning. It’s January 28, 2024, and it’s a Sunday. 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… Edward VI, the nine-year-old son of Henry VIII, becomes King of England on his father's death (1547). Execution of Agnes Sampson, accused of witchcraft in Edinburgh (1591). Sir Horace Walpole coins the word “serendipity” in a letter to a friend (1754). Northwestern University becomes the first chartered university in Illinois (1851). An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard as a branch of the United States Armed Forces (1915). Elvis Presley makes his first national television appearance (1956). The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today (1958). The National Football League announces expansion teams for Dallas to start in the 1960 NFL season and Minneapolis-St. Paul for the 1961 NFL season (1960). Supergroup USA for Africa records the hit single “We Are the World” to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief (1985). Space Shuttle STS-51-L Challenger disintegrates after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts on board (1986).
• January 28 is the birthday of poet/critic Johann Elias Schlegel (1719), businessman William Seward Burroughs I (1855), businessman Charles W. Nash (1864), painter Jackson Pollock (1912), artist Claes Oldenburg (1929), actor Alan Alda (1936), businessman Carlos Slim (1940), NBA coach Gregg Popovich (1949), singer-songwriter Peter Schilling (1956), singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan (1968), SCOTUS justice Amy Coney Barrett (1972), NFL player Daunte Culpepper (1977), singer Nick Carter (1980), and NBA player Andre Iguodala (1984).

I'll be back. Enjoy your day.