On this day...

1493 France cedes Roussillon & Cerdagne to Spain by treaty of Barcelona
1825 Ezra Daggett & nephew Thomas Kensett patent food storage in tin cans
1840 Antarctica discovered, Charles Wilkes expedition (US claim)
1853 Verdi's opera "Il Trovatore" premiers, in Rome
1861 Georgia becomes 5th state to secede
1871 First Negro lodge of US Masons approved, New Jersey
1884 The opera "Manon" is produced (Paris)
1886 Aurora Ski Club, first in US, founded in Minnesota
1898 Brown defeats Harvard 6-0 in first intercollegiate hockey game
1899 Anglo-Egyptian Sudan forms
1903 First regular transatlantic radio broadcast between US & England
1915 Electric neon sign patented
1937 Cy Young, Tris Speaker & Nap Lajorie elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1939 Ernest Hausen of Wisconsin sets chicken-plucking record-4.4 sec
1942 Japanese forces invade Burma
1952 PGA approves allowing black participants
1953 Jesse Owens named Illinois Athletic Commission secretary
1955 "The Millionaire" TV program premiers on CBS
1955 First Presidential news conference filmed for TV (Eisenhower)
1961 First episode for "The Dick Van Dyke Show" is filmed
1966 Indira Gandhi elected India's 3rd prime minister
1970 Nixon nominates G. Harold Carswell to the Supreme Court
1970 UCLA fires Angela Davis for being a communist
1972 Sandy Koufax, Yogi Berra, & Early Wynn elected to Hall of Fame
1974 Notre Dame beats UCLA, ends NCAA-record 88-game basketball win streak
1977 President Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino (Tokyo Rose)
1977 World's largest crowd: 12.7 million-for Indian religious festival
1979 John N. Mitchell (former attorney general) released on parole from federal prison
1981 US & Iran sign agreement to release 52 American hostages
1982 Heater explodes at Star Elementary School-Oklahoma, kills 6 kids & teacher
1987 Guy Hunt becomes Alabama's first Republican governor since 1874
1989 President Reagan pardons George Steinbrenner for illegal funds for Nixon
1991 Sgt. Slaughter defeats Ultimate Warrior for WWF championship belt

Birthdays which occurred on January 19th:

570 Mohammed, Islamic prophet (Koran)
1544 Francis II, King of France (1559-60)
1736 James Watt, Scotland, inventor (steam engine)
1749 Isaiah Thomas, US, printer/editor/publisher/historian
1807 Robert Edward Lee, Stratford VA, Confederate General
1809 Edgar Allan Poe, Boston, author (Pit & the Pendulum)
1813 Sir Henry Bessemer, engineer/inventor (Bessemer engine)
1859 Alice Eastwood, Toronto, botanist (Handbook of Trees of California)
1903 Erwin Nyiregyhazi, Budapest Hungary, pianist
1906 Ish Kabbible [Merwyn Bogue], Pennsylvania, comedian (Kay Kyser's Kollege)
1906 Lanny Ross, Seattle, radio singer (Show Boat, The Swift Show)
1912 Leonid V. Kantorovich, St Petersburg Russia, economist (Nobel)
1915 Alvy West, Brooklyn NY, orchestra leader (Andy Williams Show)
1917 John Raitt, singer/actor (Pajama Game)
1920 Javier Perez de Cuellar, Lima Peru, 5th Secretary-General of UN
1922 Guy Madison, Bakersfield CA, actor (Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok)
1923 Jean Stapleton, New York NY, actress (All in the Family)
1924 Nicholas Colasanto, Providence RI, actor (Coach Ernie-Cheers)
1926 Fritz Weaver, Pittsburgh PA, actor (Josef-Holocaust, Day of the Dolphin)
1931 Robert MacNeil, Montreal, news anchor (NBC Weekend News 1965-67)
1935 Tippi Hedren, Minnesota, actress (The Birds, Marnie, Bold & Beautiful)
1938 Phil Everly, Brownie KY, singer (Everly Brothers)
1942 Michael Crawford, England, Broadway star (Phantom of the Opera)
1942 Shelly Fabares, Santa Monica CA, actress (Donna Reed Show, Coach)
1943 Janis Joplin, Port Arthur TX, blues singer (Down on Me)
1945 Rod Evans, rocker (Deep Purple-Come Taste the Band)
1946 Dolly Parton, Sevierville TN, country singer/actress (Dolly, 9 to 5)
1946 Julian Barnes, England, writer (Before She Met Me)
1947 Ann Compton, news reporter (ABC TV)
1949 Robert Palmer, rocker (Addicted to Love)
1951 Dewey Bunnell, rock vocalist (America-Daisy Jane, Sister Golden Hair)
1951 Martha Davis, vocals/guitar (Motels-Only the Lonely)
1952 Dewey Bunell, Yorkshire England, rock guitarist (America-Daisy Jane)
1953 Desi Arnaz, Jr., Los Angeles CA, actor (Craig-Here's Lucy, Fakeout, Joyride)
1954 Steve DeBerg, NFL quarterback (too many teams to list!)
1966 Stefan Edberg, Sweden, tennis player (Wimbeldon 1988)

Deaths which occurred on January 19th:

1629 Abbas I, Shah of Persia (1588-1629), dies at 57
1954 Sydney Greenstreet, actor (Maltese Falcon), dies at 74
1976 Kevin Coughlin, actor (T.R. Ryan-Mama), dies at 30
1977 Geraldine Brooks, actress (Faraday & Co, Dumplings), dies at 51
1990 Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Indian guru, dies at 58