January 5
Ford Motor Company, led by Henry Ford, raises wages from $2.40 for a nine-hour day to $5 for an eight-hour day in effort to keep the unions out and give workers money to buy Ford products. – 1914.
U.S. president Richard Nixon signs a bill authorizing $5.5 million in funding to develop a space shuttle. – 1972.
January 6
Samuel Morse’s telegraph system is demonstrated for the first time at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, N.J.. The telegraph, a device which used electric impulses to transmit encoded messages over a wire, eventually would revolutionize long-distance communication, and reach the height of its popularity in the 1920s and 1930s. – 1838.
New Mexico is admitted into the United States as the 47th state. – 1912.
Approximately 8,000 workers strike at Youngstown Sheet & Tube. The following day the strikers’ wives and other family members join in the protest. Company guards use tear gas bombs and fire into the crowd; three strikers are killed, 25 wounded. – 1916.
Snow begins to fall in Washington, D.C., and up the Eastern seaboard to begin a blizzard that kills 154 persons and causes more than $1 billion in damages before it ends. – 1996.
A group of president Donald Trump supporters formed outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.. The group entered the Capitol Complex and sought to halt and potentially overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election by disrupting the joint session of Congress assembled to count electoral votes that would formalize then president-elect Joe Biden’s victory. The Capitol Complex was locked down and lawmakers and staff members were evacuated, while rioters assaulted law enforcement officers, vandalized property, and occupied the building for several hours. Many were injured, including 138 police officers. – 2021
January 7
America’s first presidential election is held. Voters cast ballots to choose state electors; only white men who own property were allowed to vote. As expected, George Washington won the election and was sworn into office April 30, 1789. – 1789.
Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked and struck on the right knee just one day before the U.S. National Championships and one month before the Winter Olympics. Kerrigan recovered in time for the Olympics and won the Silver Medal. – 1994.
January 8
Crazy Horse and his warriors, outnumbered, low on ammunition, and forced to use outdated weapons to defend themselves, fight their final losing battle against the U.S. Cavalry in Montana. – 1877.
The AFL Iron and Steel Organizing Committee ends the “Great Steel Strike.” Some 350,000 to 400,000 steelworkers had been striking for more than three months to demand union recognition. The strike failed. – 1920.
January 9
Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union leads Missouri Highway sit-down of 1,700 families. They were evicted from their homes so landowners wouldn’t have to share government crop subsidy payments with them. – 1939.
Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone, a touchscreen mobile phone with an iPod, camera, and Web-browsing capabilities, among other features, at the Macworld convention in San Francisco. It went on sale in the United States six months later amidst huge hype. Thousands of customers lined up to purchase the device. – 2007.
January 10
In what is described as the worst industrial disaster in Massachusetts history, the Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Mass., collapses and traps 900 workers, mostly Irish women. More than 100 die, scores more are injured in the collapse and ensuing fire. Too much machinery had been crammed into the building. – 1860.
A drilling derrick at Spindletop Hill near Beaumont, Texas, produces an enormous gusher of crude oil to coat the landscape for hundreds of feet to signal the advent of the American oil industry. The geyser was discovered at a depth of more than 1,000 feet, flowed at an initial rate of approximately 100,000 barrels a day and took nine days to cap. Following the discovery, petroleum had been used in the U.S. primarily as a lubricant and in kerosene for lamps. – 1901.
The League of Nations formally comes into being when the Covenant of the League of Nations, ratified by 42 nations in 1919, takes effect. – 1920.
January 11
U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt declares the massive Grand Canyon in northwestern Arizona a national monument. – 1908.
The IWW-organized “Bread & Roses” textile strike of 32,000 women and children begins in Lawrence, Mass.. It lasts 10 weeks and ends in victory. – 1912.