Browsing: January 18

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on January 18th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On January 18, 1884, Welsh physician Dr. William Price attempted to cremate the remains of his infant son, Jesus Christ Price, who had died of natural causes at the age of 5 months. On January 18, 1911, Eugene Ely, a pilot who worked for Glenn Curtiss, a pioneer in the U.S. aviation industry, became the first person to successfully land an airplane on…

A Brief History On January 18, 2023, Americans celebrate another National Thesaurus Day, a day to be thankful for that reference book that helps us find other ways to say the same thing.  Oddly enough, there is no other word for “thesaurus!” Digging Deeper Why do we choose to celebrate National Thesaurus Day on January 18th?  Because that is the day of birth for Peter Mark Roget, back in 1779, the man that gave us Roget’s Thesaurus, a staple in every student’s desk. At the age of 61, Roget retired from his career as a physician, and embarked on his…

A Brief History On January 18, 2021, the United States celebrates the birthday of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., an icon in the Civil Rights Movement and an African American man of historic importance.  In honor of Reverend King, we take a look at some notable African American “firsts” in American History, although some of the entries may cause the reader to wonder at the dates involved.  Was the United States really that far behind in racial equality at such late dates?  Judge for yourself.  (See our many other articles concerning African American accomplishments.)  Please do not fret if you…

A Brief History On January 18, 1884, Welsh physician Dr. William Price attempted to cremate the remains of his infant son, Jesus Christ Price, who had died of natural causes at the age of 5 months.  A believer and proponent of the ancient Druid religion, Price believed burying dead people would somehow “pollute” the earth, and therefore dead people should be cremated.  In Britain at the time, there were strong mores against cremation and as such an angry mob developed when Price was conducting the open-air cremation on a hilltop.  The mob swarmed the doctor and prevented the cremation, starting…

A Brief History On January 18, 2018, we are one day away from the national release of the new heist movie, Den of Thieves, starring Gerard Butler as the unconventional detective matching wits with the diabolically sophisticated gang of thieves out to pull off the heist of the century. Digging Deeper In the finest tradition of classic heist films such as The Italian Job, Ocean’s 11, Heat, Heist, The Score, Inside Man and Tower Heist, Den of Thieves earns a place amongst all these great heist movies with all the main ingredients: twists and turns, characters dripping with personality, plenty…