- 26th Day of 2015 Days 339 Remaining
- Spring Begins in 53 Days
- Sunrise:7:17
- Sunset:5:27
- 10 Hours 10 Minutes
- Moon Rise:11:14am
- Moon Set:12:52am (Tuesday)
- Phase: First Quarter
- Full Moon February 3 @ 3:10pm
- Tides
- High:3:21am/4:01pm
- Low:9:59am/9:38pm
- Rainfall:
- This Year to Date:15.14
- Last Year:2.12
- Avg YTD:12.87
- Annual Avg:23.80
- Holidays
- Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day
- National Peanut Brittle Day
- Spouses Day
- Toad Hollow Day Of Encouragement
- Lotus 1-2-3 Day
- Australia Day-Australia
- Foundation Day-Brazil
- Republic Day-India
- Duarte Day-Dominican Republic
- National Potato Day-United Kingdom
- On This Day
- 1500 --- Spanish explorer Vicente Yanez Pinzon reaches the northeastern coast of Brazil during a voyage under his command. Pinzon's journey produced the first recorded account of a European explorer sighting the Brazilian coast; though whether or not Brazil was previously known to Portuguese navigators is still in dispute.
- 1838 --- The first Prohibition law in the history of the United States is passed in Tennessee, making it a misdemeanor to sell alcoholic beverages in taverns and stores. The bill stated that all persons convicted of retailing "spirituous liquors" would be fined at the "discretion of the court" and that the fines would be used in support of public schools.
- 1774 --- In a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin expressed unhappiness over the eagle as the symbol of America. He wanted the symbol to be the turkey.
- 1788 --- Captain Arthur Phillip guides a fleet of 11 British ships carrying convicts to the colony of New South Wales, effectively founding Australia. After overcoming a period of hardship, the fledgling colony began to celebrate the anniversary of this date with great fanfare.
- 1802 --- Congress passed an act calling for a library to be established within the U.S. Capitol.
- 1875 --- The first battery-powered dentist’s drill was patented by George F Green of Kalamazoo, Michigan.
- 1905 --- The Cullinan diamond, at 3,106.75 carats, was found by Captain Wells at the Premier Mine, near Pretoria, South Africa.
- 1911 --- The Richard Strauss opera "Der Rosenkavalier" premiered in Dresden, Germany.
- 1911 --- Inventor Glenn H. Curtiss flew the first successful seaplane.
- 1918 --- Soon after the Bolsheviks seized control in immense, troubled Russia in November 1917 and moved towards negotiating peace with the Central Powers, the former Russian state of Ukraine declares its total independence.
- 1934 --- The Apollo Theatre opened in New York City.
- 1934 --- Samuel Goldwyn buys the film rights to the children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.
- 1945 --- Soviet troops enter Auschwitz, Poland, freeing the survivors of the network of concentration camps—and finally revealing to the world the depth of the horrors perpetrated there.
- 1950 --- India officially proclaimed itself a republic as Rajendra Prasad took the oath of office as president.
- 1956 --- At Decca Records' Nashville studios, Buddy Holly's first official recording session took place. "Blue Days, Black Nights" was recorded and became his debut single.
- 1961 --- President John F. Kennedy appoints Janet Travell, 59, as his personal physician, making her the first woman in history to hold the post.
- 1977 --- Peter Green, Fleetwood Mac's first lead guitar player, was committed to a mental hospital in England. He had fired a pistol in the general direction of a delivery boy. Green left the band in May of 1970.
- 1980 --- At the request of President Jimmy Carter, the U.S. Olympic Committee votes to ask the International Olympic Committee to cancel or move the upcoming Moscow Olympics. The action was in response to the Soviet military invasion of Afghanistan the previous month.
- 1988 --- The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Phantom of the Opera," the longest-running show in Broadway history, opened at the Majestic Theater in New York.
- 1993 --- Former Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel was elected president of the new Czech Republic.
- 2005 --- President George W. Bush appoints Condoleezza Rice to the post of secretary of state, making her the highest ranking African-American woman ever to serve in a presidential cabinet.
- 2009 --- The first trial at the International Criminal Court was held. Former Union of Congolese Patriots leader Thomas Lubanga was accused of training child soldiers to kill, pillage, and rape.
- Birthdays
- Stephane Grapelli
- Lucinda Williams
- Paul Newman
- Anita Baker
- Douglas MacArthur
- Julia Morgan
- Bessie Coleman
- Nicolae Ceausescu
- Bob Uecker
- Gene Siskel
- Eddie Van Halen
- Ellen DeGeneres
- Wayne Gretzgy
- Andrew Ridgeley
- Jazzie B
Monday January 26, 2015
