New Year's Day
Tuesday, January 1, 2013

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS:

• Don Novello (Actor-Comedian, played Saturday Night Live's Father Guido Sarducci) (70)
• Verne Troyer (actor, played "Mini-Me" in the Austin Powers movies) (44)
• Grandmaster Flash (deejay and inventor of scratching) (55)
• Frank Langella (actor, Dracula, Dave, Superman Returns, Good Night And Good Luck, Starting Out in the Evening, Frost/Nixon, The Box) (75 disputed, 73)
• Country Joe McDonald (musician, of Country Joe & The Fish) (71)
• Elin Nordegren (ex-wife of Tiger Woods) (33)
• Brody Dalle (former singer, the Distillers; wife ofQueens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme) (34)
• Luis Guzman (Actor, Traffic, Magnolia, The Limey, Boogie Nights) (56)

ON THIS DAY:

• 1502, Portuguese navigators landed in present-dayBrazil and named the siteRio de Janeiro (River ofJanuary).
• 1752, Flagmaker Betsy Ross, who according to legend sewed the first stars-and-stripes American flag, was born. She died January 30, 1836, at 84.
• 1863, President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, freeing all slaves in territories held by the Confederacy.
• 1876, the Philadelphia Mummers' parade began in celebration of the American Centennial. The parade is a New Year's Day tradition to continues to this day.
• 1890, the first Tournament Of Roses Parade took place inPasadena,California.
• 1892, the Ellis Island Immigrant Station inNew York formally opened.
• 1895, J. Edgar Hoover, founder and head of the FBI from 1924-1972, was born. He died May 2, 1972 at 77.
• 1898, Brooklyn merged withManhattan and the boroughs of Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island to form the present-dayNew York City.
• 1902, the first postseason college football game took place -- the Tournament of Roses Association Game -- inPasadena,California. The game became known as the Rose Bowl in 1923.
• 1919 Author J.D. Salinger (The Catcher In The Rye) is born. He dies in January 2010.
• 1925 Actor Matthew "Stymie" Beard (The Little Rascals) is born.
• 1934,AlcatrazIsland inSan FranciscoBay became a federal prison.
• 1935, the first Orange Bowl game was played inMiami.
• 1935, the first Sugar Bowl game was played inNew Orleans.
• 1937, the first Cotton Bowl game was played inDallas.
• 1946, the first Gator Bowl game was held inJacksonville,Florida.
• 1953, country singer Hank Williams Sr. died from alcoholism. He was 29.
• 1956 "Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Perkins is released. It's the first song to hit on the pop, country, and R&B charts.
• 1959, Fidel Castro led Cuban revolutionaries to victory, seizing power over the island nation from Fulgencio Batista.
• 1962 The Beatles record some demos in the hopes of securing a contract at the Decca Records studios. The producer rejects the band, saying that guitar groups are not the "in" thing, and signs Brian Poole & the Tremeloes instead.
• 1964 The Rolling Stones, the Hollies, the Swinging Blue Jeans, Dusty Springfield, and the Dave Clark Five are among the acts appearing on the first edition of the BBC's weekly TV show Top Of The Pops.
• 1966 "It's My Life" by the Animals peaks at Number 23 on the pop chart.
• 1966 "Sounds Of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel hits Number One on the pop chart.
• 1966, allU.S. cigarette packages had to start carry the warning: "Caution: Cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health."
• 1971, TV ads for cigarettes were banned in theU.S.
• 1975, former Attorney General John Mitchell and former presidential aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman were found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct the Watergate investigation.
• 1980 The makeup designs worn by Kiss singer-guitarist Paul Stanley and singer-drummer Peter Criss are registered with the United States Patent And Trademark Office.
• 1984, AT&T was broken up, divested of its 22 Bell System companies, under terms of an antitrust agreement.
• 1994 Actor Cesar Romero (Ocean's Eleven, Batman's The Joker, Falcon Crest) dies at age 86.
• 1997, TV networks began using a new ratings system similar to the one used for movies.
• 1999, the euro, the new single currency of 11 European countries, officially came into existence.
• 2001 Actor Ray Walston (South Pacific, Damn Yankees!, My Favorite Martian, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Picket Fences) dies at age 86.
• 2002, the euro became legal tender for all members of the European Union.
• 2004 It is announced that Korn has contributed $20,000 to disaster relief efforts for victims of the tsunami that devastatedSoutheast Asia a week earlier.
• 2008 The physical version of Radiohead's seventh album, In Rainbows, arrives in stores nearly three months after it is released as a pay-what-you-want download.
• 2010 Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell posts a message online hinting that the band is reuniting after a 13-year hiatus.