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1909

1909

1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar).

Events

January – March

- January 16 - Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.
- January 28 - United States troops leave Cuba after being there since the Spanish-American War.
- February 12 - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.
- February 23 - The Silver Dart makes the first powered flight in Canada and the British Empire.
- February 24 - The Hudson Motor Car Company is founded.
- March 4 - End of term for Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States. He is succeeded by William Howard Taft.
- March 18 - Einar Dessau uses a short-wave radio transmitter becoming the first to broadcast as a ham radio operator.
- March 23 - Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip was sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
- March 31 - Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia-Herzegovina.

April – June

- April 6 - Robert Peary allegedly reaches the North Pole.
- April 27 - Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II is overthrown and succeeded by his brother, Muhammad V. He leaves the country the next day.
- May - Choosing a vocation by Frank Parsons (died 1908) is published.
- June 1 - The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition opens in Seattle.
- June 2 - Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
- June 9 – Alice Huyler Ramsey, a 22-year-old housewife and mother from Hackensack, New Jersey, became the first woman to drive across the United States. With three female companions, none of whom could drive a car, for fifty-nine days she drove a Maxwell automobile the 3,800 miles from Manhattan, New York to San Francisco, California.
- June 15 - Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lords and form the Imperial Cricket Conference.
- June 22 - Construction begins on the Cape Cod Canal, which would separate Cape Cod from mainland Massachusetts, United States.

July – September

- July 13 - Gold discovered near Cochrane, Ontario.
- July 16 - A revolution forces Mohammad Ali Shah, Persian Shah of the Qajar dynasty to abdicate in favor of his son Ahmad Shah Qajar. He proceeds in leaving Persia for Imperial Russia, reportedly seeking the assistance of Nicholas II of Russia in regaining the throne.
- July 25 - Louis Bleriot is the first man to fly across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air craft.
- August 8 - Launching of The Rosicrucian Fellowship at Seattle (Washington). Later, in October 28 1911, its international headquarters, till today, were physically launched at Mount Ecclesia, Oceanside (California, United States) and the Healing Temple "The Ecclesia" was lauched in December 25 1920.
- September 9 - Comet Halley first recorded on a photographic plate.
- September 10-21 – Hurricane sweeps over Louisiana and Mississippi - 350 dead
- September 25 – Auroras seen in Singapore.

October – December

- October 2 - The first rugby football match played in Twickenham
- November 11 - US Navy founds a navy base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
- November 13 - Ballinger-Pinchot scandal begins: Collier's magazine accuses US Secretary of the Interior Richard Ballinger of questionable dealings in Alaskan coal fields.
- November 18 - Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) are executed by order of dictator José Santos Zelaya.
- November - First edition of Max Heindel's magnum opus The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception.
- December 4 - The University of Bristol was founded and received its Royal Charter.
- December 17 - Léopold II of Belgium dies and is succeeded by his nephew Albert I of Belgium

Month/date unknown

- William Dickson Boyce, a United States businessman visiting London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is introduced to members of the Scouting movement. The following year Boyce becomes founder of the Boy Scouts of America.
- Karl Landsteiner develops system of blood groups.
- Leon's, a Canadian furniture chain is first opened.
- Britain introduces Minimum Wage Laws.
- Old age pensions in Britain
- The laboratory of Paul Ehrlich creates the Salvarsan treatment for syphilis
- Mohorovičić discontinuity discovered
- Centennial anniversary of Miami University (Ohio)
- American Issue Publishing House of Anti-Saloon League incorporated.

Births

January

- January 1 - Barry Goldwater, American politician (d. 1998)
- January 3 - Victor Borge, Danish entertainer (d. 2000)
- January 5 - Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician (d. 1994)
- January 8 - Willy Millowitsch, German actor (d. 1999)
- January 13 - Marinus van der Lubbe, Dutch communist accused of setting fire to the Reichstag (d. 1934)
- January 15 - Jean Bugatti, German-born automobile designer (d. 1939)
- January 15 - Gene Krupa, American drummer (d. 1973)
- January 16 - Clement Greenberg, American art critic (d. 1994)
- January 19 - Hans Hotter, German bass-baritone (d. 2003)
- January 22 - Ann Sothern, American actress (d. 2001)
- January 22 - U Thant, Burmese United Nations Secretary General (d. 1974)
- January 24 - Martin Lings, British Islamic scholar (d. 2005)

February

- February 3 - Simone Weil, French philosopher (d. 1943)
- February 9 - Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-born actress and singer (d. 1955)
- February 9 - Dean Rusk, United States Secretary of State (d. 1994)
- February 11 - Max Baer, American boxer and actor (d. 1959)
- February 11 - Joseph Mankiewicz, American filmmaker (d. 1993)
- February 15 - Guillermo Gorostiza Paredes, Spanish footballer (d. 1966)
- February 15 - Miep Gies, Dutch friend and biographer of Anne Frank
- February 18 - Wallace Stegner, American writer (d. 1993)
- February 24 - August Derleth, American writer (d. 1971)
- February 26 - King Talal of Jordan (d.1972)

March

- March 1 - David Niven, English actor (d. 1983)
- March 2 - Mel Ott, baseball player (d. 1958)
- March 4 - Harry Helmsley, American real estate entrepreneur (d. 1997)
- March 19 - Louis Hayward, South African-born actor (d. 1985)
- March 22 - Gabrielle Roy, Canadian author (d. 1983)
- March 24 - Clyde Barrow, American outlaw (d. 1934)
- March 27 - Golo Mann, German historian (d. 1994)

April

- April 13 - Stanislaw Marcin Ulam, Polish-born mathematician (d. 1984)
- April 22 - Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- April 30 - Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (d. 2004)

May

- May 7 - Edwin H. Land, American camera inventor (d. 1991)
- May 10 - Mother Maybelle Carter, American musician (d. 1978)
- May 15 - James Mason, British actor (d. 1984)
- May 18 - Fred Perry, English tennis player (d. 1995)
- May 30 - Benny Goodman, American musician (d. 1986)

June

- June 6 - Isaiah Berlin, Russian historian of ideas (d. 1997)
- June 7 - Jessica Tandy, English actress (d. 1994)
- June 14 - Burl Ives, American singer (d. 1995)
- June 17 - Elmer Lee Andersen, Governor of Minnesota (d. 2004)
- June 20 - Errol Flynn, Australian actor (d. 1959)
- June 26 - Colonel Tom Parker, Dutch-born celebrity manager (d. 1997)

July

- July 18 - Mohammed Daoud Khan, President of Afghanistan (d. 1978)
- July 28 - Malcolm Lowry, British novelist (d. 1957)
- July 30 - C. Northcote Parkinson, British historian and author (d. 1993)

August

- August 9 - Adam von Trott zu Solz, German lawyer and diplomat (d. 1944)
- August 25 - Ruby Keeler, Canadian singer and actress (d. 1993)
- August 25 - Michael Rennie, English actor (d. 1971)
- August 26 - Jim Davis, American actor (d. 1981)

September

- September 7 - Elia Kazan, Hungarian-born film director (d. 2003)
- September 14 - Peter Scott, British ornithologist and painter (d. 1989)
- September 21 - Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanian politician (d. 1972)
- September 24 - Carl Sigman, American songwriter (d. 2000)
- September 28 - Al Capp, American cartoonist (d. 1979)

October

- October 14 - Bernd Rosemeyer, German race car driver (d. 1938)
- October 24 - Bill Carr, American athlete (d. 1966)
- October 28 - Francis Bacon, British painter (d. 1992)

November

- November 4 - Skeeter Webb, baseball player (d. 1986)
- November 10 - Paweł Jasienica, Polish historian (d. 1970)
- November 18 - Johnny Mercer, American songwriter (d. 1976)
- November 23 - Nigel Tranter, Scottish historian and writer (d. 2000)
- November 24 - Gerhard Gentzen, German mathematician (d. 1945)
- November 27 - James Agee, American writer (d. 1955)

December

- December 14 - Edward Lawrie Tatum, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1975)
- December 20 - Vagn Holmboe, Danish composer (d. 1996)
- December 22 - Alan Carney, American actor (d. 1973)
- December 23 - Barney Ross, American boxer (d. 1967)
- December 23 - Donald Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 2000)
- December 23 - Giulio Racah, Israeli mathematician and physicist (d. 1965)

Deaths

- January 12 - Hermann Minkowski, German mathematician (b. 1864)
- January 14 - Arthur William a Beckett, British journalist (b. 1844)
- April 10 - Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet (b. 1837)
- May 19 - Isaac Albéniz, Spanish composer (b. 1860)
- June 24 - Sarah Orne Jewett, American writer (b. 1849)
- August 27 - Emil Christian Hansen, Danish fermentation physiologist (b. 1842)
- September 4 - Clyde Fitch, American dramatist (b. 1865)
- October 26 - Prince Hirobumi Ito, Japanese governor of Korea (assassinated) (b. 1841)
- December 17 - Léopold II of Belgium (b. 1835)

Date unknown

- Gideon T. Stewart, American educator and politician (b. 1824)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Guglielmo Marconi, Karl Ferdinand Braun for the development of wireless telegraphy (radio)
- Chemistry - Wilhelm Ostwald for his work on catalysis, chemical equilibria, and reaction velocities
- Medicine - Emil Theodor Kocher for his work on the physiology, pathology, and surgery of the thyroid gland
- Literature - Selma Lagerlöf
- Peace - Auguste Marie Francois Beernaert and Paul-Henri-Benjamin d'Estournelles de Constant Category:1909 ko:1909년 ms:1909 ja:1909年 simple:1909 th:พ.ศ. 2452

Common year starting on Friday

This is the calendar for any common year starting on Friday (dominical letter C), for example, 2010. (A common year is a year with 365 days—in other words, not a leap year.)

Millennium	Century	Year
2nd Millennium:	19th century:	1802	1813	1819	1830	1841	1847	1858	1869	1875	1886	1897
2nd Millennium:	20th century:	1909	1915	1926	1937	1943	1954	1965	1971	1982	1993	1999
3rd Millennium:	21st century:	2010	2021	2027	2038	2049	2055	2066	2077	2083	2094
3rd Millennium:	22nd century:	2100	2106	2117	2123	2134	2145	2151	2162	2173	2179	2190

Category:Friday Category:Weeks ko:금요일로 시작하는 평년 th:ปีปกติสุรทินที่วันแรกเป็นวันศุกร์

Ernest Shackleton

:For the aircraft, see Avro Shackleton

Avro Shackleton Avro Shackleton Avro Shackleton Avro Shackleton

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (February 15, 1874 – January 5, 1922) was an Anglo-Irish explorer, now chiefly remembered for his Antarctic expedition of 1914–1916 in the ship Endurance.

Biography

Shackleton was born in Kilkee, County Clare, Ireland in 1874, and served as a merchant marine officer. He went to school at Dulwich College from 1887 to 1890. In 1904 he married Emily Dorman. They had three children - Raymond, Cecily and Edward (Eddie), born in 1911. Their marriage was marred by numerous affairs on Ernest's part, most notably his relationship with the American born actress Rosalind Chetwynd (Rosa Lynd) which was begun in 1910 and continued on and off until his death in 1922.

Antarctic Expeditions

1901 National Antarctic Expedition

Shackleton participated in the National Antarctic Expedition, which was organized by the Royal Geographical Society in 1901, and led by Robert Falcon Scott. This expedition is also called the "Discovery Expedition," as its ship was called the RRS Discovery. The expedition was the first to penetrate the Ross Sea and reach the Ross Ice Shelf. He may have placed what has become one of the world's most famous advertisements in the Times of London in December 1901: "Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success." (Some historians have claimed that this ad was placed, although they do not all agree on when or which newspaper, but no one has yet been able to locate the original newspaper clipping; see [http://www.antarctic-circle.org/advert.htm] for a full discussion.)

1902 attempt on the south pole

Shackleton with Scott and Dr. Edward Wilson trekked south towards the South Pole in 1902. The journey proceeded under difficult conditions, partially the result of their own inexperience with the Antarctic environment, poor choices and preparation and the pervading assumption that all obstacles could be overcome with personal fortitude. They used dogs, but failed to understand how to handle them. As with most of the early British expeditions, food was foolishly in short supply; the personnel on long treks were usually underfed by any sensible measure and were essentially starving. Scott, Wilson and Shackleton made their "furthest south" of 82°17'S on December 31, 1902. They were 463 nautical miles (857 km) from the Pole. Shackleton developed scurvy on the return trip and Dr. Wilson suffered from snow blindness at intervals. When the Morning relieved the expedition in early 1903, Scott had Shackleton returned to England, though he had nearly fully recovered. There is some suggestion that Scott disliked Shackleton's popularity in the expedition and used his health as an excuse to remove him; he was Merchant Marine and Scott was Royal Navy—which was also part of the contention with whether Armitage was to remain for the second winter. In part, Scott exhibited unusual stamina and may not have recognized differing abilities of others.

1907–1909 British Antarctic Expedition

Shackleton organized and led the "British Antarctic Expedition" (1907–1909) to Antarctica. The primary and stated goal was to reach the South Pole. The expedition is also called the Nimrod Expedition after its ship, and the "Farthest South" expedition. Shackleton's base camp was built on Ross Island at Cape Royds, approximately 20 miles (40 km) north of the Scott's Hut of the 1901–1904 expedition; the hut built at this camp in 1908 is on the list of the World Monuments Watch's 100_most_endangered_sites [http://wmf.org/html/programs/resources/sitepages/antarctica_sir_ernest_shackletons_hut.html ]. Because of poor success with dogs during Scott's 1901–1904 expedition, Shackleton used Manchurian ponies for transport, which did not prove successful. Accomplishments of the expedition included the first ascent of Mount Erebus, the active volcano of Ross Island; the location of the Magnetic South Pole by Douglas Mawson, Edgeworth David and MacKay (January 16, 1909); and locating the Beardmore Glacier passage. Shackleton, with Wild, Marshall, and Adams, reached 88°23'S: a point only 180 km (97 nautical miles) from the South Pole. Shackleton returned to the United Kingdom a hero and was immediately knighted. For three years he was able to bask in the glory of being "the man who reached furthest to the south." Of his failure to reach the South Pole, Shackleton remarked: "Better a live donkey than a dead lion."

1914–1916 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition

Main article: Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition set out from London on August 1, 1914 with the goal of crossing the Antarctic from a location near Vahsel Bay on the south side of the Weddell Sea, reach the South Pole and then continue to Ross Island on the opposite side of the continent. The expedition's goal had to be abandoned when the ship, Endurance, was beset by sea ice short of its goal of Vahsel Bay. It was later crushed by the pack ice. The ship's crew and the expedition personnel endured an epic journey by sledge across the Weddell Sea pack and then boat to Elephant Island. Upon arrival at Elephant Island off the Antarctic Peninsula, they rebuilt one of their small boats and Shackleton with five others set sail for South Georgia to seek help. This remarkable journey in a 6.7 meter boat (the James Caird) through the Drake Passage to South Georgia in the late Antarctic Fall (April and May) is perhaps without rival. They landed on the southern coast of South Georgia and then crossed the spine of the island in an equally remarkable 36-hour journey. The 22 men who remained on Elephant Island were rescued by the Chilean ship Yelcho after three other failed attempts on August 30, 1916 (22 months after departing from South Georgia). Everyone from Endurance survived.
1921 Final expedition
South Georgia In 1921, Shackleton set out on another Antarctic expedition, but died of a heart attack on board his ship, the Quest, while anchored off South Georgia Island on January 5, 1922. His body was being returned to England when his widow requested that the burial take place on Grytviken, South Georgia Island instead. Shackleton was buried there on March 5.
Legacy
In 1994, the James Caird Society was set up to preserve the memory of Shackleton's achievements. Its first Life President was Shackleton's younger son, Edward Shackleton. Sir Ernest Shackleton is the subject of Shackleton, a two-part Channel 4 drama directed by Charles Sturridge and starring Kenneth Branagh as the explorer. The same story is related in greater detail in the book Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing. Shackleton's grave, near the former whaling station at Grytviken on South Georgia is frequently visited by tourists from passing cruise ships. The British Antarctic Survey's logistics vessel RRS Ernest Shackleton (the replacement for RRS Bransfield) is named in his honour.
See also

- HMS Endurance.
- History of Antarctica
- 100 Greatest Britons
- Avro Shackleton
- Tom_Crean
Bibliography

- Works by Shackleton
- The Heart of the Antarctic: The Story of the British Antarctic Expedition 1907 -1909 by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Collins) ISBN 1903464285
- Shackleton: The Polar Journeys: Incorporating the "Heart of the Antarctic" and "South" by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Collins, 2002) ISBN 1903464269
- South: Journals of His Last Expedition to Antarctica by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Robson Books, 1999) ISBN 1861052790
- South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition, 1914-17 by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Ebury Press, 1991) ISBN 0712639276
- Endurance: Shackletons Incredible Voyage by Ernest Henry, Sir Shackleton, Christopher Ralling (Peter Bedrick Books, 1986) ISBN 0872260828
- Aurora Australis by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Paradigm Press, 1986) ISBN 0948285079
- South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition, 1914-17 by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Heinemann, 1970) ISBN 0434695009
- Biographies and histories
- Polar Castaways: The Ross Sea Party Of Sir Ernest Shackleton, 1914-17 by Richard McElrea (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2004) ISBN 0773528253
- Shackleton by Roland Huntford. 2nd edition 1996, Abacus History, London. 774pp ISBN 0349107440
- Shackleton's Forgotten Expedition: The Voyage of the Nimrod by Beau Riffenburgh (Bloomsbury USA, 2004) ISBN 1582344884
- South with Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1917 by Frank Hurley (Simon & Schuster, 2001) ISBN 074322292X
- Shackleton's Forgotten Men: The Untold Tale of an Antarctic Tragedy by Lennard Bickel, Rt. Hon. Lord Shackleton (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2000) ISBN 1560252561
- Leading at the Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition by Dennis N. T. Perkins, Margaret P. Holtman, Paul R. Kessler, Catherine McCarthy (American Management Association, 2000) ISBN 0814405436
- The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander (Knopf, 1998) ISBN 0375404031
- DVDs
- Shackleton - The Greatest Survival Story of All Time Kenneth Branagh (A&E Home Video, 2002) ISBN B000063TON
- The Endurance - Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition Liam Neeson (Columbia Tristar, 2000) ISBN B0000A7W16
External links

- [http://www.south-pole.com/p0000097.htm Detailed biography]
- [http://www.dulwich.org.uk/history/eminentoas/shack.htm Shackleton page at Dulwich College]
- [http://www.jamescairdsociety.com/ The James Caird Society]
- [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackleton/ PBS:Nova - Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance]
- [http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/s/s52s/ e-text of Shackleton's book South, recounting the expedition of 1914-1916]
- [http://www.antarctic-circle.org/advert.htm Did Shackleton ever place the famous ad?]
- [http://search.looksmart.com/p/browse/us1/us317836/us317911/us53828/us10156149/us524492/ LookSmart - Ernest Shackleton] directory category
- [http://dmoz.org/Society/History/By_Topic/Exploration/Explorers/Shackleton,_Sir_Ernest/ Open Directory Project - Sir Ernest Shackleton] directory category
- [http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/History/By_Subject/Exploration/Explorers/Shackleton__Sir_Ernest__1874_1922_/ Yahoo - Ernest Shackleton] directory category
- [http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?query=Shackleton&queryType=%40attr+1%3D1 Ernest Shackleton's cylinder recording], from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
Project Gutenberg eBooks

- by Sir Ernest Shackleton
- by Sir Ernest Shackleton Shackleton, Ernest Shackleton, Ernest Shackleton, Ernest Shackleton, Ernest Shackleton, Ernest ja:アーネスト・シャクルトン

January 28

January 28 is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 337 days remaining (338 in leap years).

Events

- 1521 - Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.
- 1547 - Edward VI becomes King, and the first Protestant ruler of England.
- 1573 - Articles of Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning religious freedom in Poland
- 1788 - The first penal colony is founded at Botany Bay, Australia.
- 1820 - Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev approaches the Antarctic coast.
- 1846 - Battle of Aliwal, India won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.
- 1855 - The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific on the Panama Railway.
- 1871 - Franco-Prussian War: France surrenders, ending the war.
- 1878 - The Yale News becomes the first daily, college newspaper in the United States.
- 1887 - In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, USA, the world's largest snowflakes are reported, being 15 inches (38cm) wide and 8 inches (20cm) thick.
- 1902 - The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, DC with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.
- 1909 - United States troops leave Cuba after being there since the Spanish-American War.
- 1915 - An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard.
- 1916 - Louis D. Brandeis becomes the first Jew appointed to the United States Supreme Court.
- 1917 - United States ends search for Pancho Villa.
- 1918 - Finnish Civil War: Rebels seized control of the capital, Helsinki, and members of the Senate of Finland go underground.
- 1921 - A symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is installed beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to honour the unknown dead of World War I.
- 1932 - World War II: Japan occupies Shanghai.
- 1935 - Iceland becomes the first country to legalize abortion.
- 1938 - The first ski tow in America begins operation in Vermont.
- 1938 - The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by driver Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195
- 1945 - World War II: Supplies begin to reach China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
- 1946 - Bluenose, Canada's greatest sailing ship, founders on a Haitian reef.
- 1958 - Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate begin their murder spree with the killings of her parents and infant sister.
- 1973 - Barnaby Jones premieres on CBS.
- 1982 - US Army general James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces after 42 days of captivity under the Red Brigades.
- 1986 - Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart 73 seconds after liftoff killing all seven astronauts onboard. Failure blamed on leaking Solid Rocket Booster.
- 1990 - Super Bowl XXIV: The San Francisco 49ers are crowned "Team of the 1980s" by defeating the Denver Broncos, 55-10.
- 1994 - The first trial of accused murderer Lyle Menendez ends in a mistrial. He and his brother Erik are later found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
- 1996 - Super Bowl XXX: The Dallas Cowboys win their fifth Super Bowl title by defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-17.
- 1997 - Arista Records founder Clive Davis receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- 1998 - Ford Motor Company announces the buyout of Volvo for $6.45 billion.
- 1998 - Gunmen hold at least 400 children and teachers hostage for several hours at an elementary school in Manila, Philippines.
- 2001 - Super Bowl XXXV: The Baltimore Ravens defeat the New York Giants, 34-7.
- 2002 - An Ecuadoran airline Boeing 727-100 crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia killing 92.
- 2004 - September Dossier: Lord Hutton publishes his report into the death of UN weapons inspector Dr. David Kelly.

Births

- 1457 - King Henry VII of England (d. 1509)
- 1540 - Ludolph van Ceulen, German mathematician (d. 1610)
- 1582 - John Barclay, Scottish writer (d. 1621)
- 1600 - Pope Clement IX (d. 1669)
- 1608 - Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (d. 1679)
- 1611 - Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer (d. 1687)
- 1622 - Adrien Auzout, French astronomer (d. 1691)
- 1701 - Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (d. 1774)
- 1706 - John Baskerville, English printer (d. 1775)
- 1712 - Tokugawa Ieshige, Japanese shogun (d. 1761)
- 1717 - Mustafa III, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1774)
- 1719 - Johann Elias Schlegel, German critic and poet (d. 1749)
- 1755 - Samuel Thomas von Sömmering, German physician (d. 1830)
- 1784 - George Hamilton Gordon Aberdeen, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1860)
- 1822 - Alexander Mackenzie, second Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1892)
- 1833 - Charles George 'Chinese' Gordon, British soldier and administrator (d. 1885)
- 1841 - Henry Morton Stanley, Welsh-born explorer and journalist (d. 1904)
- 1853 - José Martí, Cuban revolutionary (d. 1895)
- 1857 - William Seward Burroughs, American inventor (d. 1898)
- 1873 - Colette, French writer (d. 1954)
- 1874 - Vsevolod Meyerhold, Russian theatre director (d. 1940)
- 1879 - Francis Picabia, French-born painter and poet (d. 1953)
- 1880 - Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer (d. 1970)
- 1884 - Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist (d. 1962)
- 1886 - Marthe Bibesco, Romanian writer (d. 1973)
- 1887 - Arthur Rubinstein, Polish pianist and conductor (d. 1982)
- 1890 - Robert Stroud, American convict, the Birdman of Alcatraz (d. 1963)
- 1892 - Ernst Lubitsch, German-born film director (d. 1947)
- 1897 - Valentin Kataev, Russian writer (d. 1986)
- 1910 - John Banner, Austrian actor (d. 1973)
- 1910 - Arnold Moss, American character actor (d. 1989)
- 1912 - Jackson Pollock, American painter (d. 1956)
- 1922 - Robert W. Holley, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1993)
- 1923 - Ivo Robić, Croatian singer (d. 2001)
- 1927 - Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director (d. 2001)
- 1929 - Acker Bilk, English jazz clarinetist
- 1929 - Claes Oldenburg, Swedish-American artist
- 1933 - Susan Sontag, American writer and activist (d. 2004)
- 1935 - David Lodge, English author
- 1936 - Alan Alda, American actor, writer, and director
- 1936 - Ismail Kadare, Albanian writer
- 1941 - Joel Crothers, American actor (d. 1985)
- 1944 - John Tavener, English composer
- 1945 - Robert Wyatt, English musician
- 1948 - Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian dancer
- 1948 - Charles Taylor, leader of Liberia
- 1950 - Barbi Benton, American actress
- 1951 - Leonid Kadeniuk, Ukrainian cosmonaut
- 1954 - Rick Warren. Pastor, Author of The Purpose Driven Life
- 1960 - Robert von Dassanowsky, American cultural historian, writer, and producer
- 1962 - Sam Phillips, American singer
- 1968 - Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer and songwriter
- 1968 - DJ Muggs, American musician (Cypress Hill)
- 1968 - Rakim, American rapper
- 1969 - Kathryn Morris, American actress
- 1974 - Tony Delk, American basketball player
- 1976 - Mark Madsen, American basketball player
- 1976 - Jarrod Montague, American drummer (Taproot)
- 1977 - Daunte Culpepper, American football player
- 1977 - Joey Fatone, American singer (
- NSYNC)
- 1978 - Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer
- 1978 - Jamie Carragher, English footballer
- 1978 - Papa Bouba Diop, Senegalese footballer
- 1979 - Pixie, English model
- 1980 - Nick Carter, American singer (Backstreet Boys)
- 1981 - Rick Razzano, American football player
- 1981 - Elijah Wood, American actor

Deaths

- 814 - Charlemagne (b. 742)
- 1061 - Duke Spytihněv II of Bohemia (b. 1031)
- 1271 - Isabella of Aragon, queen of Philip III of France (b. 1247)
- 1443 - Robert le Maçon, Chancellor of France
- 1547 - King Henry VIII of England (b. 1491)
- 1596 - Sir Francis Drake, English explorer and soldier (b. ca. 1540)
- 1599 - Cristofano Malvezzi, Italian composer (b. 1547)
- 1613 - Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and library founder (b. 1545)
- 1621 - Pope Paul V (b. 1550)
- 1681 - Richard Allestree, English royalist churchman (b. 1619)
- 1672 - Pierre Séguier, Chancellor of France (b. 1588)
- 1687 - Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer (b. 1611)
- 1697 - John Fenwick, English conspirator
- 1725 (O.S.) - Tsar Peter I of Russia, (b. 1672)
- 1754 - Ludvig Holberg, Norwegian historian and writer (b. 1684)
- 1903 - Augusta Holmès, French composer (b. 1847)
- 1912 - Gustave de Molinari, Belgian economist (b. 1819)
- 1935 - Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russian composer (b. 1859)
- 1939 - William Butler Yeats, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
- 1949 - Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (b. 1908)
- 1953 - James Scullin, ninth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876)
- 1960 - Zora Neale Hurston, American author (b. 1891)
- 1965 - Tich Freeman, English cricketer (b. 1888)
- 1965 - Maxime Weygand, French soldier (b. 1867)
- 1971 - Donald Winnicott, British psychoanalyst (b. 1896)
- 1973 - John Banner, Austrian actor (b. 1910)
- 1977 - Freddie Prinze, American actor (b. 1954)
- 1983 - Frank Forde, fifteenth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1890)
- 1986 - Crew of Space Shuttle Challenger:
- Greg Jarvis (b. 1944)
- Christa McAuliffe (b. 1948)
- Ronald McNair (b. 1950)
- Ellison Onizuka (b. 1946)
- Judith Resnik (b. 1949)
- Francis R. Scobee (b. 1939)
- Michael J. Smith (b. 1945)
- 1988 - Klaus Fuchs, German physicist (b. 1911)
- 1991 - Red Grange, American football player (b. 1903)
- 1994 - Hal Smith, American actor (b. 1916)
- 1996 - Joseph Brodsky, Russian-born poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1940)
- 1996 - Jerry Siegel, American cartoonist (b. 1914)
- 1999 - Torgny T:son Segerstedt, Swedish sociologist and philosopher (b. 1908)
- 2001 - Curt Blefary, baseball player (b. 1943)
- 2002 - Astrid Lindgren, Swedish author (b. 1907)
- 2004 - Lloyd M. Bucher, US Navy officer (b. 1927)
- 2004 - Don Cholito, Puerto Rican radio host (b. 1923)
- 2004 - Elroy Hirsch, American football player (b. 1923)
- 2005 - Jim Capaldi, English singer and songwriter (b. 1944)
- 2005 - Karen Lancaume, French actress (suicide) (b. 1973)

Holidays and observances

- Catholicism - Feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/28 BBC: On This Day] ---- January 27 - January 29 - December 28 - February 28 — listing of all days ko:1월 28일 ms:28 Januari ja:1月28日 simple:January 28 th:28 มกราคม

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page forUS, USA, United States, orAmerican. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguousUnited States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded¹ from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946. During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics. In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government

Iraq of the United States.]]

Republic and suffrage

The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.

Federal government

The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.

The Congress

necessary and proper The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."

The President

necessary-and-proper clause At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senateex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.

The Courts

George W. Bush The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law. Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.

State and local governments

supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]] The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system. The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Political divisions

With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole. In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships. The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The U.S. is divided into three distinct sections:
- the "continental United States," also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous or contiguous United States
- Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean. The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands,