🗞️Today’s Headlines

Everything important that’s ever happened on January 18:

2002 — After more than ten years of fighting, the civil war in Sierra Leone officially ended, with more than 50,000 casualties, the displacement of millions, and atrocities that shocked the world. 

1983 — Thirty years after his death, Jim Thorpe’s gold medals were officially reinstated by the International Olympic Committee. The Native American athlete was supposedly stripped of his medals for playing semi-pro baseball, which violated his status as an amateur. 

1958 — Willie O'Ree broke the color barrier in the National Hockey League when he debuted with the Boston Bruins. He played only two seasons and was subjected to many racial taunts. It was not until 1974 that the second Black athlete would compete in the NHL.  

1912 — British explorer Robert Falcon Scott, along with four others, reached the South Pole, becoming the second expedition to do so. Scott and his companions perished on their return trip to base camp.

1911 — In the first shipboard landing in aviation history, American pilot Eugene Ely successfully landed his biplane aboard the battleship Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay. 

1871 — The German Empire, otherwise known as the Second German Reich was established as a constitutional monarchy. It lasted until the November Revolution in 1918. 

🎂 Today’s Birthdays

On January 18, we’re singing to:

Montesquieu (1689) — French political philosopher who heavily influenced the US founding fathers with his work “The Spirit of the Laws” and promoted separation of powers as a political ideal. 

A. A. Milne (1882) — British author, meddling novelist, journalist, and playwright who broke through with the world-famous children’s book Winnie the Pooh in 1926.

Cary Grant (1904) — British-born American actor among the most famous actors of Hollywood’s Golden Age and a leading man through the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s. 

Kevin Costner (1955) — American actor and director best known for Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, and Dances with Wolves, for which he won the Oscar for best picture and best director and was nominated for best actor.

Mark Rylance (1960) — British actor on stage and screen who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his work as a Shakespearean actor.

 🪦Who Died Today?

On January 18, we’re saying goodbye to:

John Tyler (1862) — The 10th president of the United States, who ascended to the presidency after serving as vice president for William Henry Harrison, who died a month after taking office. 

Rudyard Kipling (1936) — British journalist, poet, and novelist, and the first English-language writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1907). Most famous for his works The Jungle Book and Just So Stories.

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