On this day...

1598 Pope Clement VIII seizes the duchy of Ferrara on death of Alfonso
1773 First US public museum established (Charlestown SC)
1812 First cargo arrives in New Orleans by steam, from Natchez
1820 Royal Astronomical Society founded in England
1839 Anthracite coal first used to smelt iron, Mauch Chunk PA
1863 President Davis delivers his "State of the Confederacy" address
1879 British Zulu war begins
1896 First x-ray photo in US, Dr. Henry Smith, Davidson, NC
1903 Rhodes Opera House burns in Boyertown PA, killing 170
1906 Football rules committee legalizes the forward pass
1915 House of Representatives rejects proposal to give women the right to vote
1921 Kenesaw Mountain Landis becomes first commissioner of baseball
1924 History of Science Society organized at Boston
1929 Seatrain (RR cars on ships) service begins, New Orleans-Havana
1932 Hattie Caraway elected first woman senator (Ark)
1937 Plow for laying submarine cable patented
1942 National War Labor Board created
1944 Churchill & de Gaulle begin a 2-day wartime conference in Marrakesh
1945 German forces in Belgium retreat in Battle of the Bulge
1945 US Task Force 38 destroys 41 Japanese ships in Battle of South China Sea
1946 NFL champs Cleveland Rams given permission to move to LA
1948 Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi begins his final fast
1949 "Arthur Godfrey & His Friends" premiers on CBS TV
1951 Ezzard Charles KOs Lee Oma to retain heavyweight boxing crown
1952 University of Tennessee admits it's first black student
1954 Austria's worst avalanche-kills 200; 9hrs later 2nd one-kills 115
1958 NCAA adds 2 point conversion to football scoring
1965 "Hullabaloo" premiers on NBC-TV
1966 "Batman" with Adam West & Burt Ward premiers on ABC TV
1966 Red Auerbach wins his 1,000th game as coach of NBA Boston Celtics
1968 Nighttime version of "Hollywood Squares" premiers on NBC TV
1969 AFL/AFC wins its first Super Bowl (III-NY Jets 16, Baltimore Colts 7)
1975 Super Bowl IX-Pittsburgh Steelers-16, Minnesota Vikings-6
1976 UN Security Council votes 11-1 to seat Palestine Liberation Organization
1979 LA's Hillside Strangler, Kenneth Bianchi, arrested in Bellingham
1979 Record blizzard struck midwest killing over 100
1980 Mike Bratz (Phoenix) begins NBA free throw streak of 57 games
1981 "Dynasty" with Joan Collins premiers on ABC-TV
1988 Willie Stargell elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
1990 Civil Rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton is stabbed in Bensonhurst Brooklyn
1990 Romania bans the Communist party

Birthdays which occurred on January 12th:

1588 John Winthrop, First governor - Massachusetts Bay Colony
1729 Lazzaro Spallanzani, Modena Italy, physiologist
1737 John Hancock, patriot (first to sign Declaration of Independence)
1746 Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Switzerland, educator
1853 Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro, Italian mathematician (tensor analysis)
1856 John Singer Sargent, US, painter (Wyndham Sisters)
1863 Vivekananda, Calcutta, Hindu religious leader/reformer
1876 Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Venice Italy, composer
1876 Jack London, writer/socialist (Call of the Wild)
1893 Hermann Goering, Reichsmarshall (Nazi Germany)
1902 Ibn Abdul-Aziz Saud, Kuwait, king (Saudi Arabia)
1902 Ray Teal, Grand Rapids MI, actor (Sheriff Roy Coffee-Bonanza)
1906 Henny Youngman, England, comedian (Take My Wife, Please...)
1906 Tex Ritter, Texas, country singer (5 Star Jubilee, The Wayward Wind)
1910 Luise Rainer, actress (Escapade, Good Earth, Big City, Hostages)
1910 Patsy Kelly, Brooklyn NY, actress (Rosemary's Baby, North Ave. Irregulars)
1916 A. P(ieter) W. Botha, Orange Free State, President of South Africa
1917 Walter Hendl, West New York NJ, conductor
1920 James Farmer, black activist
1925 Bill Burrud, Hollywood CA, host (Safari to Adventure, Animal World)
1926 Ray Price, country singer (For the Good Times)
1928 Lew Gallo, Mt. Kisko, actor (12 O'Clock High)
1935 "The Amazing" Kreskin, Montclair NJ, mentalist/telepath
1935 Ron Harper, Turtle Creek PA, actor (Wendy & Me, Planet of the Apes)
1939 William Lee Gloden, singer (Oak Ridge Boys)
1943 Ray Manzarek, rock pianist (Doors-Light my Fire)
1944 Joe Frazier, SC, heavyweight champion boxer (1968-73)
1945 Maggie Bell, Glasgow Scotland, rocker
1946 Cindy Robinson, rock trumpeteer (Sly & Family Stone-Everyday People)
1951 Kirstie Alley, Wichita Ks, actress (Veronica's Closet, Cheers-Rebecca)
1951 Larry Hoppens, rocker (Orleans-Still the One, Dance With Me)
1951 Rush Limbaugh, Cape Girardeau MO, conservative radio & television host
1952 Ricky Van Shelton, Danville VA, country musician (Somebody Lied)
1954 Howard Stern, radio personality
1959 Per Gessle, Halmstad Sweden, singer (Roxette-Must Have Been Love)
1960 Dominique Wilkins, NBA forward

Deaths which occurred on January 12th:

1928 Ruth Snyder, first woman to die in electric chair
1965 Porcupine, in Washington DC zoo, dies at 27; oldest known rodent
1975 Caryn Campbell, Ted Bundy victim, disappears from Snowmass CO
1976 Agatha Christie, mystery writer, dies at 85
1982 Beulah Bondi, Chicago, actress (It's a Wonderful Life), dies at 89
1990 Laurence J. Peter, author (Peter Principle), dies from a stroke at 70