January 1, 2024
QUOTE
Aloneness is a state of being, whereas loneliness is a state of feeling. It’s like the difference between being broke and being poor.
--Townes Van Zandt
BIRTHDAYS
1735 – Paul Revere, American silversmith and engraver
1752 – Betsy Ross, American seamstress, sewed flags for the Pennsylvania Navy during the Revolutionary War
1888 – John Garand, Canadian-American engineer, designed the M1 Garand rifle
1919 – J. D. Salinger, American soldier and author
IN MEMORY
1996 – Arleigh Burke, American admiral
1997 – Townes Van Zandt, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
2003 – Joe Foss, American soldier, pilot, and politician, 20th Governor of South Dakota
2015 – Mario Cuomo, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of New York
2015 – Donna Douglas, American actress
IN ON THIS DAY
45 BC – The Julian calendar takes effect as the civil calendar of the Roman Empire, establishing January 1 as the new date of the new year.
1776 – General George Washington hoists the first United States flag, the Grand Union Flag, at Prospect Hill.
1808 – The United States bans the importation of slaves
1902 – The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl between Michigan and Stanford, is held in Pasadena, California.
1912 – The Republic of China is established.
1914 – The SPT Airboat Line becomes the world’s first scheduled airline to use a winged aircraft.
1971 – Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television.