On This Day: January 18

This is the 18th day of the year.

Fact of the Day: Roget

Peter Mark Roget (1779-1869) was an English physician and philologist remembered for his Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (1852), a comprehensive classification of synonyms or verbal equivalents that is still popular in modern editions and has never gone out of print. He also invented a "log-log" slide rule for calculating the roots and powers of numbers. The first edition of the Thesaurus, which was begun in his 61st year and finished in his 73rd, was a product of his retirement from active medical practice. As early as 1805 he had compiled, for his own personal use, a small indexed catalogue of words which he used to enhance his prolific writing. The book had synonyms presented under 990 classes.

Holidays

Feast day of St. Prisca, St. Peter's Chair, Rome, St. Desle or Deicolus, and St. Volusian.

Winnie The Pooh Day (in observance of the birthday of Alan Alexander Milne, 1882).

Events

1778 - English explorer Captain James Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands, naming them the Sandwich Islands.

1788 - The first English settlers arrived in Australia's Botany Bay to establish a penal colony.

1871 - Wilhelm, King of Prussia from 1861, was proclaimed the first German Emperor.

1896 - The first college basketball game was played, between the University of Iowa and University of Chicago.

1911 - The first landing of an aircraft on a ship took place as pilot Eugene B. Ely flew onto the deck of the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco harbor.

1912 - English explorer Robert Falcon Scott reached the South Pole, only to find out that Norwegian Roald Amundsen had gotten there a month earlier. Scott and his party perished during the return trip.

1919 - The World War I Peace Congress opened in Versailles, France.

1943 - A wartime ban on the sale of pre-sliced bread in the U.S. went into effect. It was aimed at reducing the bakeries' demand for metal replacement parts.

1967 - Albert DeSalvo, who claimed to be the "Boston Strangler," was convicted in Massachusetts of armed robbery, assault and sex offenses. He was sentenced to life and killed by a fellow inmate in 1973.

1978 - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) isolated the cause of Legionnaire's disease.

1991 - After 62 years in service, Eastern Air Lines shuts down, citing financial problems.

1993 - The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was observed in all 50 states for the first time.

2001 - Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson revealed an extramarital affair that resulted in the birth of his daughter, Ashley.

2003 - A bushfire kills four people and destroys more than 500 homes in Canberra, Australia.

Births

1779 - Peter Mark Roget, English lexicographer and thesaurus compiler.

1782 - Daniel Webster, U.S. statesman.

1854 - Thomas A. Watson, American telephone pioneer and shipbuilder.

1882 - A.A. (Alan Alexander) Milne, British author, creator of Winnie the Pooh.

1892 - Oliver Hardy, American comedian, vaudeville team with Stan Laurel.

1904 - Cary Grant (Archibald Leach), British-born American actor.

1913 - Danny Kaye (David Kominski), American comedian, dancer, singer, actor.

1944 - Paul Keating, Australian statesman and Prime Minister.

1955 - Kevin Costner, film actor and director.

1969 - Jesse Lamont Martin (born Jesse Lamont Watkins), an American theater, film, and television actor.

1971 - Christian Fittipaldi, Brazilian race car driver.

1971 - Jonathan Davis, American vocalist and drummer for the nu metal band KoRn.

Deaths

1936 - Rudyard Kipling, English author.

1952 - Curly Howard (born Jerome Lester Horwitz), American comedian and actor, probably best known as a member of the comedy act The Three Stooges.