January 18th

Nika uprising at Constantinople fails, 30-40,000 die.

The first director of the Peace Corps, R. Sargent Shriver, died at age 95.

The world's largest commercial jet, an Airbus A380 that can carry 800 passengers, was unveiled in Toulouse, France.

The Sierra Leone Civil War ends. The conflict had lasted 11 years and left over 50,000 dead.

Børge Ousland becomes the first person to cross Antarctica alone and unaided. The Norwegian polar explorer walked 3000 km (1864 miles) across the Earth's southernmost continent.

The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was observed in all 50 states for the first time.

Financially strapped Eastern Airlines shut down after more than six decades in business.

Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was arrested for drug possession in an FBI sting.

Soviets announce they have broken the long siege of Leningrad by Nazi Germany.

The Paris Peace Conference opens. The aim of the conference was to set the peace terms after World War I, resulting in the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

The ill-fated Scott expedition reached the South Pole, only to discover Amundsen had been there first.

The first landing of an aircraft on a ship took place as pilot Eugene B. Ely flew onto the deck of the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco harbor.

Actor Cary Grant was born Archibald Leach in Bristol, England.

Oliver Hardy of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy was born Norvell Hardy in Harlem, Ga.

Modern hockey is born. The foundation of The Hockey Association in England formalized a modern version of the game that had already been played in ancient times.

Second German Empire proclaimed by Kaiser Wilhelm I and Otto von Bismarck.

John Tyler, the 10th president of the United States, died in Richmond, Va., at age 71.

José de San Martín leads a revolutionary army over the Andes to attack Spanish royalists in Chile.

The first elements of the First Fleet carrying 736 convicts from England to Australia arrives at Botany Bay to set up a penal colony.

Lawyer and statesman Daniel Webster was born in Salisbury, N.H.

English navigator Captain James Cook became the first European to reach the Hawaiian Islands.

The first polar bear was exhibited in America, in Boston.

King Naresuan of Siam kills Crown Prince Minchit Sra of Burma in single combat, date is now observed as Royal Thai Armed Forces day.