History of the Week: Paine, Bloody Sunday, Jackie Robinson, Ali, 13th Amendment, Mexican War, Schubert, &More
Through studying both the tragedies and triumphs of the past, we understand human nature and our current situation better. Below are some of the key events, deaths, and births that occurred this past week in history.
January 28
814 - Charlemagne (“Charles the Great”), first Holy Roman Emperor, dies.
1813 - Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, one of the most popular and influential English novels, is published.
1871 - The Germans’ siege of Paris at the close of the Franco-Prussia War ends with a German victory over the French; “regular troops were taken prisoner, and the city suffered the humiliation of a triumphal German march through its streets. Such indignities would not be forgotten quickly [Britannica].”
1915 - “[U.S.] President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the ‘Act to Create the Coast Guard,’ an act passed by Congress on January 20, 1915 that combined the Life-Saving Service and Revenue Cutter Service to form the Coast Guard (38 Stat. L., 800) [From USCG.mil].”
1935 - Iceland becomes the first country to legalize baby murder—i.e. abortion—under certain conditions.
1986 - A mere 73 seconds after takeoff, the space shuttle Challenger explodes.
January 29
474 - Zeno is crowned Eastern Roman Emperor. He was emperor during the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
661 - Caliph Ali, adopted son of the Muslim “Prophet” Muhammad, is assassinated, marking the start of the Umayyad Caliphate and triggering the split of Sunni and Shia Islam.
1737 - Thomas Paine is born in England. Paine later immigrated to colonial America, where his writings—particularly Common Sense and American Crisis—had a major impact on the American Revolution. Paine inspired Patriots to continue the fight for liberty with such words as, “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.”
1850 - Kentucky’s Sen. Henry Clay drafts the resolutions for the Compromise of 1850 that aimed to diffuse tension between slave and free states.
1860 - Russian writer and playwright Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is born.
January 30
1649 - British King Charles I is executed under accusations of “treason” after the revolution of Oliver Cromwell. As dictator of Britain, Cromwell caused bloodshed in England, Scotland, and Ireland; in the latter alone, as much as 41% of the Irish population perished during anti-Catholic Cromwell’s reign.
1815 - “President James Madison approved an act of Congress appropriating $23,950 to purchase Thomas Jefferson’s library of 6,487 volumes.” This collection formed the basis of the new Library of Congress, the first iteration of which had been destroyed by the British during the War of 1812.
1882 - Future U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt is born. A fascistic and racist Democrat, Roosevelt is the only president elected to four terms. He led America throughout most of WWII. His unconstitutional government programs during the Great Depression fundamentally changed the American system of government for the worse, and encouraged the dangerous idea that government is the solution to every major societal problem.
1902 - The Anglo-Japanese Alliance is formed to secure the nations’ control in the Far East.
1933 - Nazi Adolf Hitler is named as Chancellor of Germany; he would go on to become the country’s dictatorial leader before and during WWII, and was guilty of infamous mass murder.
1948 - Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated in India.
1972 - Catholic protestors in Northern Ireland are massacred by British troops in what is now called “Bloody Sunday” during the Troubles as Catholics strove for more rights. “[NCR Online] What began as a spirited protest of some 15,000 people carrying banners and singing ‘We Shall Overcome,’ ended with 14 deaths, 13 on the day and another months later, and at least 14 injuries. The protesters were forced to change their route when soldiers barricaded roads. After some stone-throwing, paratroopers fired a water cannon, tear gas, rubber bullets and, finally, at least 108 rounds of live ammunition.” Teenaged Jackie Duddy was one of the victims, his dying moments famously caught on camera as Fr. Edward Daly tried to help him.
January 31
1543 - Tokugawa Ieyasu is born to a Japanese warrior family. As a military leader, he went on to reunify Japan after civil war. The government he established went on to control Japan into the 1800s.
1797 - Austrian composer Franz Schubert is born.
1865 - The U.S. House of Representatives passes the 13th Amendment, which would end slavery in America.
1865 - Traitor and Confederate war criminal Gen. Robert E. Lee becomes commander-in-chief of all Confederate forces during the U.S. Civil War.
1919 - Jackie Robinson is born in Georgia. He went on to become the first black Major League Baseball player, and overcame racism to become a beloved and highly successful athlete.
February 1
1894 - Famous Hollywood director John Ford is born.
1901 - Iconic actor Clark Gable, nicknamed the “King of Hollywood,” is born in Ohio.
1908 - King Carlos I of Portugal and his eldest son and heir are assassinated; the Portuguese monarchy was abolished soon after.
1931 - Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin is born. While serving as president of Soviet Russia, he helped democratize the country.
1960 - Four black students sit at a whites-only lunch counter in Woolworth’s in North Carolina in a staged protest against segregation that sparked a movement of “sit-ins.”
2021 - Military coup takes over Myanmar (formerly Burma), sparking protests.
February 2
2 AD - The traditional date celebrated by the Catholic Church as the day on which Baby Jesus was presented in the Temple in accordance with Jewish law (see Lk. 2 and my previous article). Known as Candlemas (Mass of Candles) in the English-speaking world.
1653 - The city of New Amsterdam is chartered by the Dutch in the New World; the city is now famously known as New York.
1754 - Birth of cleric and statesman Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, prince de Bénévent. He famously served under and survived the French governments of the French Revolution, Napoleon, and the restored Bourbon monarchy.
1848 - War between Mexico and the United States ends with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Mexico ceded 55% of its territory and renounced claims to Texas; the ceded territory comprised the current American states of California, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming.
1882 - Irish writer James Joyce is born in Dublin.
Did I miss any important events? Let me know in the comments.