THIS DAY IN HISTORY – JANUARY 7

HISTORICAL EVENTS



1601 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, leads revolt in London against Queen Elizabeth I. He was tried and found guilty of treason and was the last person beheaded in the Tower of London.

1822 – Liberia colonized by Americans.

1927 – The Harlem Globetrotters play their first game (Hinckley, Illinois).

1948 – President Harry Truman raises taxes for the Marshall Plan (European Recovery Program) to re-build Europe after WWII.

1953 – President Truman announces development of the Hyrdogen (Thermonuclear) Bomb, the Teller-Ulam design. NB: The Soviet Union did NOT develop the device independently as stated in Wikipedia. It was developed, as was the Soviet atomic bomb, using stolen U.S. secrets obtained through Soviet espionage.

1959 – The United States recognizes Fidel Castro's Cuban government.

FAMOUS BIRTHS

1502 –  Gregory XIII [Ugo Boncompagni], Bologna, Papal States, Italian pope (1572-85), introduced Gregorian Calendar in 1582.

1800 – Millard Fillmore, Locke NY, (Whig) 13th President (1850-53). The first U.S. President born in the 19th Century.

1996 – Abbey Speakman, England, born 19 days after her twin sister.

FAMOUS DEATHS

1451 – Amadeus VIII, last Antipope Felix V (1439-49), dies at 67.

1537 – Alessandro de' Medici, Italian monarch of Florence, assassinated.

1990 – Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski, pro football Hall of Famer, dies at 81.