This Week in History: January 3rd – 9th

Welcome to this week’s edition of the staff blog’s ‘This Week in History!’ You will find historical facts, happenings, and associated books; #1 box office movies; and #1 NY Times best sellers from years gone by, all with book recommendations included based on each topic. This will be a weekly feature, so make sure to check out each week’s posting! NOTE: Click on any of the below book/movie titles to be taken to them in our online Café catalog!

 

NY Times Fiction Bestsellers

 

#1 Box Office Movies

 

This Week in History

  • January 3rd
    • 1959- Alaska becomes the 49th U.S. state. (United States)
    • 1977- Apple is incorporated by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. (United States/World)
    • 1994- State Senator Gary George proposes building a downtown retractable roof stadium for the Milwaukee Brewers, financed primarily with proceeds from a sports lottery. This stadium would eventually become Miller Park (and never will it be known as American Family [Insurance] Field, I don’t care what the Brewers and their corporate sponsors say!). (Wisconsin)
  • January 4th
    • 1965- U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson envisions a ‘Great Society’ in his State of the Union address. (United States)
    • 1974- U.S. President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over tape recordings and documents that had been subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee. (United States)
    • 2007- Nancy Pelosi becomes the first woman Speaker of the House in the U.S. House of Representatives. (United States)
  • January 5th
    • 1855- King Camp Gillette is born in Fond du Lac. Working first as a traveling salesman, he eventually developed a disposable steel blade and razor before founding the Gillette Safety Razor Company, known today simply as Gillette. (Wisconsin/United States/World)
    • 1920- The New York Yankees acquire Babe Ruth from the Red Sox in exchange for $125,000. (United States)
    • 1933- Construction on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco Bay begins. (United States)
  • January 6th
    • 1975- Wheel of Fortune premieres on NBC. (United States)
    • 1994- Nancy Kerrigan is attacked at a Detroit ice rink following a practice session two days before the Olympic trials. (United States)
    • 2008- Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World becomes Disney’s Hollywood Studios. (United States)
  • January 7th
    • 1789- The first U.S. presidential election is held. (United States)
    • 1953- U.S. President Harry Truman announces the U.S. has developed the hydrogen bomb. (United States/World)
    • 1979- Pol Pot, the dictator and leader of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, is overthrown by Vietnamese forces. (World)
  • January 8th
    • 1790- U.S. President George Washington delivers the first State of the Union address to Congress. (United States)
    • 1815- U.S. General (and future President) Andrew Jackson defeats Great Britain in the Battle of New Orleans, the final engagement in the War of 1812. (United States)
    • 2011- U.S. representative Gabby Giffords is shot during an assassination attempt; she survives, but six others are killed. (United States)
  • January 9th
    • 1861- Mississippi becomes the second U.S. state to secede from the Union in the run-up to the American Civil War. (United States)
    • 2001- Apple introduces iTunes, a digital media player application that, with the year’s later debut of the iPod, revolutionizes digital music and the music industry at large. (World)
    • 2007- Steve Jobs debuts the iPhone for the very first time. (World)

Recommended Reading Related to Movies/Historical Happenings: