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Edgar Allan Poe is born

Born on This Day

Edgar Allan Poe

1809 - 1849

Writer best known for his dark, Gothic tales like "The Raven," who pioneered the detective fiction genre.

Janis Joplin

1943 - 1970

Singer known for her raw, powerful voice on rock and blues hits "Piece of My Heart" and "Me and Bobby McGee."

Dolly Parton

1946 - 2026

Country music icon, singer-songwriter, actress and philanthropist whose hits include "9 to 5," "I Will Always Love You," and "Jolene."

Edgar Allan PoeBettmann Archive

Janis JoplinRedferns

Dolly PartonGetty Images

1977

JAN19

On her last day in the White House, First Lady and ERA supporter Betty Ford—on a whim—jumps on the Cabinet Room table and strikes a pose. At the time, only three women had ever sat at that table as presidential cabinet members.

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Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on January 19th

Robert E. Lee born

Confederate General Robert Edward Lee is born in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Lee commanded the Army of Northern Virginia during most of the Civil War and his battlefield leadership earned him a reputation as a renowned military leader. Lee was born at his family home of Stratford Hall in northeastern Virginia on January 19, 1807. A […]

Charles Wilkes claims portion of Antarctica for U.S.

During an exploring expedition, Captain Charles Wilkes sights the coast of eastern Antarctica and claims it for the United States. Wilkes’ group had set out in 1838, sailing around South America to the South Pacific and then to Antarctica, where they explored a 1,500-mile stretch of the eastern Antarctic coast that later became known as […]

First air raid on Britain

During World War I, Britain suffers its first casualties from an air attack when two German zeppelins drop bombs on Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn on the eastern coast of England. The zeppelin, a motor-driven rigid airship, was developed by German inventor Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin in 1900. Although a French inventor had built a […]

PGA approves participation of Black golfers

On January 19, 1952, Professional Golfers Association president Horton Smith announces that a seven-man committee “almost unanimously” votes to allow Black golfers to compete in PGA co-sponsored events. With the announcement, Smith hopes that Black golfers participate in the next two events, the Phoenix Open and Tucson Open. “I shall feel our efforts here will […]

Lucille Ball gives birth on TV—and in real life

On January 19, 1953, in one of the most widely publicized births in TV history, actress and comedienne Lucille Ball welcomes her second child at Los Angeles’ Cedars of Lebanon Hospital on the same night Lucy Ricardo, her character on the hit TV show “I Love Lucy,” also gives birth. The “Lucy Goes to the […]

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Indira Gandhi becomes Indian prime minister

Following the death of Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi becomes head of the Congress Party and thus prime minister of India. She was India’s first female head of government and by the time of her assassination in 1984 was one of its most controversial. Gandhi was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the […]

Sandy Koufax becomes youngest player elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

On January 19, 1972, 36-year-old Sandy Koufax, the former Los Angeles Dodgers star, becomes the youngest player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. “This is the only thing that’s made having to retire early a little easier,” says Koufax, who retired at age 30. “This is the biggest honor I’ve ever been given, not just […]

President Ford pardons Tokyo Rose

President Gerald R. Ford pardons Tokyo Rose. Although the nickname originally referred to several Japanese women who broadcast Axis propaganda over the radio to Allied troops during World War II, it eventually became synonymous with a Japanese-American woman named Iva Toguri. On the orders of the Japanese government, Toguri and other women broadcast sentimental American […]

Fleetwood Mac reunites to play “Don’t Stop” at Bill Clinton’s first inaugural ball

On January 19, 1993, the band Fleetwood Mac reunites to perform at the recently elected U.S. President Bill Clinton’s first inaugural gala. Fleetwood Mac had faced much intra-band squabbling since their 1970s heyday, why they released one of the biggest albums of all time—Rumours—and a string of decade-defining hits like “Landslide,” “Rhiannon,” “Say You Love […]

Production begins on “Toy Story”

On January 19, 1993, production begins on Toy Story, the first full-length feature film created by the pioneering Pixar Animation Studios. Originally a branch of the filmmaker George Lucas’s visual effects company, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), Pixar first put itself on the map with special effects produced for films such as Young Sherlock Holmes […]

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First BlackBerry device hits the market

On January 19, 1999, the first BlackBerry pager, BlackBerry 850, is released. BlackBerry devices go on to drive explosive growth for upstart Canadian producer Research in Motion (RIM), dominating the U.S. smartphone market for much of the 2000s. But they eventually lose their market share to Apple’s iPhone. RIM introduced the 850, its first BlackBerry […]

The Howard Dean scream

At an energetic rally on the evening of January 19, 2004, Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean emits a noise that many will claim ended his career in electoral politics. The “Dean Scream,” as it quickly came to be known, was a unique and revealing moment in early-21st century American politics. A former three-term governor of Vermont, […]

First McDonald’s drive-through in Beijing opens

On January 19, 2007, Beijing, China, the capital city of the planet’s most populous nation, gets its first drive-through McDonald’s restaurant. The opening ceremony for the new two-story fast-food eatery, located next to a gas station, included traditional Chinese lion dancers and a Chinese Ronald McDonald. Fast-food chains from foreign countries first came to China […]

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