On this day...

1496 Moorish fortress Alhambra, near Grenada, surrenders to the Christians
1540 King Henry VIII of England married his 4th wife, Anne of Cleves
1639 Virginia is first colony to order surplus crops (tobacco) destroyed
1663 Great earthquake in New England
1681 First recorded boxing match (Duke of Albemarle's butler vs. his butcher)
1759 George Washington & Martha Dandridge Custis are married
1773 Massachusetts slaves petition legislature for freedom
1781 Battle of Jersey (Island in the UK)
1832 New England Anti-Slavery Society organizes (Boston)
1838 Samuel Morse made first public demonstration of telegraph
1839 2 day storm off Irish & English coast immortalized as "The Big Wind"
1842 4,500 British & Indian troops leave Kabul, massacred before India
1857 Patent for reducing zinc ore granted to Samuel Wetherill, Pennsylvania
1861 NYC mayor proposes NY become a free city, trading with N & S
1893 Great Northern Railway connects Seattle with East Coast
1896 First US women's 6-day bicycle race starts, Madison Square Garden
1898 First telephone message from a submerged submarine, by Simon Lake
1912 New Mexico becomes 47th state
1914 Stock brokerage firm of Merrill Lynch founded
1925 Paavo Nurmi, sets indoor record, 4:13.6 mile & 14:44.6 5,000m
1927 US marines sent to Nicaragua
1929 Alexander I establishes a royal dictatorship in Yugoslavia
1936 Barbara Hanley became Canada's first woman mayor (Webbwood, Ontario)
1938 Bronze memorial statue of Henry Hudson erected in the Bronx
1942 First around world flight (Pan Am "Pacific Clipper")
1945 Future President George Bush marries Barbara Pierce in Rye, NY
1950 Britain recognizes Communist government of China
1951 Indianapolis beats Rochester 75-73 in NBA-record 6 overtimes
1958 Gibson patents the Flying V Guitar
1963 "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" with Marlin Perkins begins on NBC
1964 Charles Finley announces he wants to move Kansas City A's to Louisville
1964 Rolling Stones' first tour as headline act (with Ronettes)
1968 Dr. N..E.. Shumway performs first US adult cardiac transplant operation
1968 Surveyor 7 (last of series) launched by US for soft-landing on Moon
1969 Supremes release "I'm Livin' In Shame"
1975 AM America premiers on ABC-TV with Bill Beutel as host
1976 Ted Turner purchases Atlanta Braves for reported $12 million
1977 EMI records drop punk rock group Sex Pistols
1978 First postage stamp copyrighted by US (Carl Sandburg stamp)
1980 Phil Flyers set NHL record of 35 straight games without a defeat
1986 British Defense Secretary Michael Heseltine resigns
1987 100th US Congress convenes
1991 "Real Life With Jane Pauley" premiers on NBC-TV

Birthdays which occurred on January 6th:

1367 Richard I, Bordeaux, France, king of England (1377-99)
1412 Joan of Arc, Domremy, martyr
1587 Gaspar de Guzman, Count of Olivares, Spanish minister
1745 Jacques Montgolfier, France, aeronaut (first pioneer balloonist)
1799 Jedediah Smith, fur trader/explorer
1811 Charles Sumner, leading Reconstruction senator
1832 Gustave Dore, Strasbourg Fr, illustrator (Inferno, Ancient Mariner)
1838 Max Bruch, Koln (Cologne), Germany, composer
1864 Ban Johnson, Norwalk CT, baseball founder (American League)
1872 Alexander Scriabin, Moscow, hallucinogenic composer (Prometheus)
1878 Carl Sandburg, US, poet/biographer of Lincoln (The People, Yes)
1880 Tom Mix, silent screen cowboy actor (Dick Turpin)
1882 Samuel Rayburn, Tennessee, (Rep-D-TX), Speaker of the House (1940-57)
1883 Khalil Gibran, Lebanon, mystic poet (The Prophet, Broken Wings)
1896 Abram N. Pritzker, US businessman (Hyatt Hotels, McCall's magazine)
1897 Billy Greene, actor (Burton-One Man's Family)
1903 Maurice Abravanel, Saloniki Greece, conductor
1906 Benedict Vilakazi, South Africa, Zulu poet/novelist/educator
1911 Joey Adams, Brooklyn NY, comedian/actor/columnist (ABC's Back That Fact)
1913 Loretta Young, Salt Lake City UT, actress (Farmer's Daughter, Stranger)
1913 Tom Brown, New York NY, actor (Ed-Gunsmoke, Lt Rovacs-Mr. Lucky)
1914 Danny Thomas, Deerfield MI, comedian (Danny Thomas Show)
1914 David Bruce, Kankakee IL, actor (Harry-Beulah)
1915 Alan Watts, Kent England, writer (Book on the Taboo)
1920 Early Wynn, Hartford AL, baseball Hall of Fame (pitcher)
1920 Rev. Sun Myung Moon, evangelist (Unification Church-Moonies)
1921 Cary Middlecoff, golfer (1956 Vardon Trophy, 1955 Byron Nelson Award)
1921 Lou Harris, pollster (Lou Harris Poll)
1924 Earl Scruggs, bluegrass musician
1925 John Z. DeLorean, former automaker (DeLorean)
1929 Wilbert Harrison, R & B singer (Kansas City)
1933 Sylvia Syms, singer (You Go To My Head, Them There Eyes)
1934 Bobby Lord, Sanford FL, country singer (Ozark Jubilee)
1935 Capucine [Germaine Lefebvre], France, actress (Pink Panther)
1935 Nino Tempo, Niagara Falls NY, rock vocalist (Deep Purple)
1941 Sandy Denny, rock vocalist (Fairport Convention-If You Gotta Go)
1944 Bonnie Franklin, Santa Monica CA, TV actress (Ann-One Day at a Time)
1944 Henry Kravis, author (The Money Machine)
1946 Harold Jackson, Hattiesburg, MS, NFL wide receiver (Los Angeles, New England)
1946 Syd Barrett, England, rocker (Pink Floyd)
1949 Robert Englund, Glendale CA, actor (V, Nightmare on Elm Street)
1952 Armelia McQueen, NC (Brooklyn Conservatory), actress
1952 Grant Goodeve, New Haven CT, actor (David-8 is Enough, Dynasty)
1953 Malcolm Young, Glasgow Scotland, guitarist (AC/DC)
1956 Rowan Atkinson, England, comedian/actor (Never Say Never Again)
1957 Nancy Lopez Knight, Torrance CA, LPGA Hall of Fame
1959 Kathy Sledge, Philadelphia PA, vocalist (Sister Sledge-We Are Family)
1964 Mark O'Toole, bassist/drummer (Frankie Goes to Hollywood-Relax)
1976 Danny Pintauro, Milltown NJ, actor (Jonathan-Who's the Boss?)

Deaths which occurred on January 6th:

1884 Gregor Mendel, Augustine monk & heredity pioneer
1960 Edith Barstow, choreographer (Frankie Laine Time), dies at 52
1988 Brent Collins, actor, dies at 46 of a heart attack
1989 Hirohito, Japan`s emperor, dies at 87 after 62-year reign