On This Day: January 22

This is the 22nd day of the year.

Fact of the Day: paleography

Paleography is the study of ancient and medieval handwriting. The term is derived from the Greek palaios 'old' and graphein 'to write'. Epigraphy, the study of inscriptions cut on immovable objects for permanent public inspection, is related to paleography. Paleography principally studies writings found on papyrus, parchment (vellum), and paper. Paleography relates to Greek and Latin scripts with their derivatives, excluding Egyptian, Hebrew, and Middle and Far Eastern scripts. French monk Jean Mabillon is considered to be the first famous paleographer.

Holidays

Feast day of St. Dominic of Sora, St. Berthwald of Ramsbury, St. Anastasius the Persian, St. Blesilla, St. Vincent Pallotti, and St. Vincent of Saragossa.

Netherlands: Elfstedentocht.

New Zealand: Anniversary Day.

St. Vincent: Discovery Day.

Ukraine: Ukrainian Day.

Events

1689 - England's "Bloodless Revolution" reached its climax when parliament invited William and Mary to become joint sovereigns.

1771 - The Falkland Islands were ceded to Great Britain by Spain.

1807 - President Thomas Jefferson exposed a plot by Aaron Burr to form a new republic in the Southwest.

1840 - The first British colonists to New Zealand arrived at Port Nicholson on Auckland Island.

1905 - The first Russian Revolution began when czarist troops opened fire on a peaceful group of workers marching to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to petition their grievances to Czar Nicholas II. It became known as "Bloody Sunday."

1943 - In the first land victory over the Japanese in World War II, the Allies took New Guinea.

1968 - The comedy show "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" premiered on TV.

1970 - The first regularly scheduled commercial flight of the Boeing 747 took place, starting in New York and landing in London about 6.5 hours later.

1972 - The United Kingdom, the Irish Republic, and Denmark joined the Common Market.

1973 - The Supreme Court handed down its Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion during the first two trimesters.

1973 - American boxer George Foreman knocked out Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica, becoming the world heavyweight boxing champion.

1996 - A mass grave containing nearly 3,000 Muslim and Croat victims of Serb ethnic cleansing was discovered near the Bosnian town of Brcko.

1997 - Madeleine Albright was confirmed by the Senate as the nation's first female Secretary of State.

1998 - Theodore Kaczynski pleaded guilty in California to being the Unabomber, in return for a sentence of life in prison without parole.

2006 - Evo Morales is inaugurated as President of Bolivia.

Births

1440 - Ivan III (Ivan the Great), grand prince of Moscow.

1561 - Francis Bacon, English philosopher, writer.

1788 - Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron), British poet.

1875 - David (D.W.) Griffith, American film producer, director.

1904 - George Balanchine (Georgi Balanchivadze), Russian-born choreographer, founder of New York City Ballet and School of American Ballet.

1909 - U Thant, statesman from Burma/Myanmar, United Nations Secretary-General (1961-1971).

1934 - London-born Graham Kerr, a chef who gained fame through his cooking show The Galloping Gourmet.

1937 - Joseph Wambaugh, American author.

1949 - Steve Perry, American singer and musician.

1960 - Michael Hutchence, the original lead singer of the Australian rock band INXS.

1980 - Christopher Masterson, American actor.

Deaths

1901 - Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

1973 - Lyndon B Johnson, 36th President of the United States of America.

1994 - Telly Savalas, American film and television actor.

2002 - Stanley Marcus, American business executive.

2003 - Bill Mauldin, political cartoonist born in Mountain Park, New Mexico.

2004 - Ann Miller (born Johnnie Lucille Ann Collier), American actress and dancer.