#Middlebury
On Jan. 4, 1785, the older of the two Grimm brothers, Jacob, is born in Hanau, Germany. His brother Wilhelm is born the following year. As young men, the brothers published “Children’s and Household Tales,” later known as “Grimm’s Fairy Tales,” in several volumes between 1812 and 1822.- On Dec. 31, 1879, in the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb, American inventor Thomas Alva Edison lights up a street in Menlo Park, New Jersey. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company ran special trains to Menlo Park in response to public enthusiasm over the event.
- On Jan. 5, 1933, construction begins on the Golden Gate Bridge, as workers began excavating 3.25 million cubic feet of dirt for the structure’s huge anchorages. The bridge officially opened on May 27, 1937, the longest bridge span in the world at the time.
- On Jan. 1, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill issue a declaration, signed by representatives of 26 countries, called the “United Nations.” The signatories vowed to create an international postwar peacekeeping organization.
- On Jan. 2, 1962, an appearance by The Weavers on NBC’s “The Jack Paar Show” is canceled when band members refuse to sign an oath of political loyalty. The folk group saw their careers nearly destroyed by the anti-communist Red Scare of the early 1950s.
- On Jan. 6, 1975, some members of a large crowd in line to buy tickets to the rock band Led Zeppelin break into the Boston Garden arena and cause $50,000 in damage. In response, Boston’s mayor Kevin H. White bans the band from Boston for five years.
- On Jan. 3, 1987, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame admits its first female artist, Aretha Franklin. Since then female inductees have included The Supremes, Janis Joplin and The Shirelles.
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