January 19 is:
National Popcorn Day Although popcorn is typically thought of as a snack food today, popcorn was once a popular breakfast food. Ahead of its time and very likely a role model for breakfast cereals to come, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, popcorn was eaten just as we eat cereal today.
Birthday of James Watt (January 19, 1736), Scottish engineer and inventor who developed a separate condensing vessel for the steam engine.
Publication of Federalist Paper #41: General View of the Powers Conferred by The Constitution written by James Madison in 1788. Federalist No. 41 – 46 examine the powers given to the general government and address concerns about the divisions of powers.
Madison looks at the powers given to the federal government under the Constitution and asks if these powers are necessary and proper; he then examines if these powers in the aggregate are dangerous to the individual states. He examines the meaning of “general welfare”.
Robert E Lee Day (January 19, 1807), Birthday of Robert Edward Lee, American soldier, commander of the army of Northern Virginia; Honored on this date in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial is in Arlington, Virginia, and was once Lee’s home. It overlooks the Potomac River and the National Mall in Washington, D.C. During the Civil War, the grounds of the mansion were selected as the site of Arlington National Cemetery, in part to ensure that Lee would never again be able to return to his home.
Birthday of Edgar Allen Poe (January 19, 1809), American poet, short-story writer. Wrote “Annabelle Lee”.
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
Also wrote “The Raven”
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“‘Tis some visiter,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”
Birthday of Paul Cézanne (1839), French artist and Post-Impressionist painter.
1915 – Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube for use in advertising.
The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations on January 19, 1920.
1922 Geological survey says US oil supply would be depleted in 20 years.
1935 – Coopers Inc. in Chicago sells the world’s first briefs. Originally called the “Jockey”, 30,000 pairs were sold within three months of their introduction.
On Jan. 19, 1937, millionaire Howard Hughes set a transcontinental air record by flying his monoplane from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.
1977 – Snow fell in Miami, Florida. This is the only time in the history of the city that snow has fallen.
1978- The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VW’s plant in Emden. Beetle production in Latin America would continue until 2003.
1981 US and Iran sign agreement to release 52 American hostages.
The Apple Lisa (1983), the first commercial personal computer from Apple Inc. to have a graphical user interface and a computer mouse, is announced.