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 17th
- 1893- A group of American sugar planters overthrows the Hawaiian monarchy and establishes a new provincial government. (United States)
- 1945- The Soviet Union liberates Warsaw, the capital of Poland, from Nazi rule. (World)
- 1961- Outgoing US President Dwight D. Eisenhower warns the United States of the military-industrial complex and its growing influence on American democracy. (United States)
- January 18th
- 1803- US President Thomas Jefferson requests funding for the Lewis and Clark expedition from Congress. (United States)
- 1958- The NHL is integrated for the first time. (United States)
- 1986- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is first celebrated as a national holiday. (United States)
- January 19th
- 1089- Edgar Allan Poe is born. (United States)
- 1955- US President Dwight D. Eisenhower holds the first-ever televised presidential press conference. (United States)
- 1976- A federal judge rules that Milwaukee Public Schools are illegally segregated in violation of the 14th Amendment rights of students and orders that the Milwaukee Board of School Directors take immediate steps to desegregate the public schools. (Wisconsin)
- January 20th
- 1942- Nazi officials discuss the ‘Final Solution’ at the Wannsee Conference. (World)
- 1981- Iran Hostage Crisis ends. (United States/World)
- 2009- Barack Obama, the first black person to be elected President of the United States, is inaugurated. (United States)
- January 21st
- 1977- US President Jimmy Carter pardons Vietnam War draft dodgers. (United States)
- 2017- Demonstrations, known collectively as the Women’s March, were held throughout the world to support gender equality, civil and reproductive rights, and other similar issues expected to come under fire from the new Trump Administration. In the US, it is widely believed to be the largest single-day demonstration in US history. (United States/World)
- 2020- First confirmed case of COVID-19 found in the United States. (United States/World)
- January 22nd
- 1964- The world’s biggest block of cheese is produced in Wisconsin. The block of cheddar was produced from 170,000 quarts of milk by the Wisconsin Cheese Foundation specifically for the 1964 New York World’s Fair, and weighed 34,591 pounds. (Wisconsin)
- 1968- The NBA awards a franchise to Milwaukee Professional Sports and Services, Inc. The team will become the Bucks. (Wisconsin/United States)
- 1973- Roe v. Wade is decided by the United States Supreme Court. (United States)
- 2008- Heath Ledger dies of accidental prescription drug overdose. (United States)
- January 23rd
- 1964- The 24th amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibits federal and state governments from imposing poll taxes before a citizen can participate in a federal election, is ratified. (United States)
- 1977- The TV miniseries Roots, an adaption of Alex Haley’s best-selling novel, debuts on American television. (United States)
- 1997- Madeleine Albright becomes first female Secretary of State. (United States)
Recommended Reading Related to Movies/Historical Happenings:
- Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq by Stephen Kinzer
- The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Novel by Diane Ackerman
- Eisenhower: In War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith
- Lewis and Clark Through Indian Eyes by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr. & Marc Jaffe
- The Down Goes Brown History of the NHL: The World’s Most Beautiful Sport, the World’s Most Ridiculous League by Sean McIndoe
- The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Evermore: Edgar Allan Poe and the Mystery of the Universe by Harry Lee Poe
- Educating Milwaukee: How One City’s History of Segregation and Struggle Shaped Its Schools by James K Nelsen
- The Final Solution: The Fate of the Jews, 1933-1949 by David Cesarani
- Guests of the Ayatollah: The First Battle in America’s War with Militant Islam by Mark Bowden
- Barack Obama: The Official Inaugural Book by Pete Souza and many others
- Sharing Good Times by Jimmy Carter
- Why We March: Signs of Protest and Hope, Voices From the Women’s March by Artisan Books
- Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19 by Jennifer Haupt
- Cheese: The Making of a Wisconsin Tradition by Jerry Apps
- Bucking the Odds: The Birth of the Milwaukee Bucks by Marv Fishman and Tracy Dodds
- January 1973: Watergate, Roe v. Wade, Vietnam, and the Month That Changed America Forever by James Robenalt
- A Tribute to Heath Ledger: The Illustrated Biography by Chris Roberts
- Poll Power: The Voter Education Project and the Movement for the Ballot in the American South by Evan Faulkenbury
- Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley
- Madam Secretary by Madeleine Albright
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 10th
- 1776- Common Sense is published in the American Colonies. (United States)
- 1941- FDR introduces the lend-lease program, intending to help Britain beat Hitler’s advances while keeping America only indirectly involved in World War II. (United States/World)
- 1946- The first meeting of the United Nations is held in London, England. (World)
- January 11th
- 1908- US President Theodore Roosevelt makes the Grand Canyon a national monument. (United States)
- 1964- US Surgeon General Luther L. Terry announces that cigarette smoking is linked to lung cancer. (United States/World)
- 1978- Song of Solomon wins the National Book Critics Circle Award. (United States)
- January 12th
- 1838- Mormon leader Joseph Smith abandons his settlement in Ohio after his bank fails and flees to Missouri to avoid arrest and create a new religious community. (United States)
- 1966- The live-action Batman TV series premieres on ABC, instantly becoming a huge hit. (United States)
- 2010- A massive earthquake strikes Haiti, leading to one of the worst humanitarian disasters in one hundred years. (World)
- January 13th
- 1968- Johnny Cash performs at Folsom Prison, reinvigorating his musical career, which had been on a sharp downturn in the months and years prior to the concert. (United States)
- 1999- Michael Jordan retires for a second time. (United States)
- 2012- The Costa Concordia, a cruise ship carrying about 4,200 people, runs aground and capsizes off Giglio Island, Italy, killing 32 passengers in the process.(World)
- January 14th
- 1639- The first colonial constitution is adopted in Hartford, CT by representatives of Wethersfield, Windsor, and Hartford. (United States)
- 1784- The Continental Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain, recognizing the independence of the United States of America. (United States/World)
- 2005- The Huygens entry probe lands on Saturn’s largest moon Titan. It is the first time a spacecraft has landed on a planetary surface in the outer solar system. (World)
- January 15th
- 1929- Martin Luther King, Jr. is born in Atlanta, GA. (United States)
- 1967- Green Bay Packers win their first Super Bowl (and the first Super Bowl overall). (Wisconsin/United States)
- 2009- Pilot ‘Sully’ Sullenberger performs the ‘Miracle on the Hudson.’ (United States)
- January 16th
- 1919- Prohibition, via the 18th Amendment, is ratified by the states, but it did not go into effect until January 17, 1920. (United States)
- 1945- Adolf Hitler descends into his bunker in Berlin, where he remained for 105 days before he died by suicide. (World)
- 1979- The Shah flees Iran. (World)
Recommended Reading Related to Movies/Historical Happenings:
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:
- Alaska’s History: The People, Land, and Events of the North Country by Harry Ritter
- Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
- Baseball in Beertown: America’s Pastime in Milwaukee by Todd Mishler
- Building the Great Society: Inside Lyndon Johnson’s White House by Joshua Zeitz
- Watergate: A Novel by Thomas Mallon
- Nancy Pelosi: The Life, Times, and Rise of Madam Speaker, aka the OG by Brenda Jones and Krishan Trotman
- Babe Ruth’s Called Shot: The Myth and Mystery of Baseball’s Greatest Home Run by Ed Sherman
- Golden Gate: The Life and Times of America’s Greatest Bridge by Kevin Starr
- Artistry on Ice: Figure Skating Skills and Style by Nancy Kerrigan
- The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World: Over 600 Secrets of the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom by Susan Veness
- You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis Coe
- The Day We Lost the H-Bomb: Cold War, Hot Nukes, and the Worst Nuclear Weapons Disaster in History by Barbara Moran
- How to Feed a Dictator: Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin, Enver Hoxha, Fidel Castro, and Pol Pot Through the Eyes of Their Cooks by Witold Szablowski
- Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans: The Battle that Shaped America’s Destiny by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger
- Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope by Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly
- 1861: A Novel by Robert Greenwalt
- The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone by Brian Merchant