On This Day: January 4

This is the 4th day of the year.

Fact of the Day: Billboard

On January 4, 1936, Billboard magazine published the first list of bestselling pop records, called "Chart Line," covering the week ending December 30, 1935. On the list were recordings by the Tommy Dorsey and Ozzie Nelson orchestras. In November 1955, Billboard rolled out its first 100-position pop chart, the Top 100. Then in the issue of August 4, 1958, the Hot 100 chart was introduced, combining sales and airplay for the first time. The first Number 1: "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson.

Holidays

Myanmar: Independence Day.

Feast day of St. Gregory of Langres, St. Roger of Ellant, St. Elizabeth Bayley Seton, St. Pharaidis, and St. Rigobert of Reims.

Events

1865 - The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) opened its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street in New York City.

1885 - The first appendectomy was performed, by Dr. William W. Grant of Davenport, Iowa.

1896 - Utah was admitted as the 45th state.

1920 - The first black baseball league, the Negro National League, was organized by Rube Foster.

1936 - The first pop-music chart was compiled, based on record sales published in New York, in "Billboard" magazine.

1948 - Britain granted independence to Burma/Myanmar.

1951 - During the Korean conflict, North Korean and Communist Chinese forces captured the city of Seoul. United Nations forces abandoned Seoul.

1965 - President Lyndon Johnson outlined the goals of his "Great Society" in his State of the Union Address.

1974 - President Richard Nixon refused to hand over tape recordings and documents subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.

1991 - The UN Security Council voted unanimously to condemn Israel's treatment of the Palestinians in the occupied territories.

1999 - Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura was sworn in as governor of Minnesota.

2004 - The Constitution of Afghanistan became the official law of Afghanistan.

Births

1643 - Sir Isaac Newton, English scientist.

1785 - Jacob Ludwig Grimm, German librarian; author, with his brother, of fairy tales.

1809 - Louis Braille, French, inventor of reading system for the blind.

1813 - Sir Isaac Pitman, English educator and inventor of shorthand.

1838 - Charles Sherwood Stratton, "General Tom Thumb," American entertainer with PT Barnum.

1895 - Leroy Randle Grumman, American aeronautical engineer and founder of Grumman Aircraft.

1939 - Dyan Cannon (born Samile Diane Friesen), American film and television actress.

1941 - Maureen Reagan, daughter of Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman; step-daughter of Nancy Reagan.

1943 - John McLaughlin, British jazz fusion guitarist.

Deaths

1965 - T.S. Eliot American-British poet and critic.

1986 - Christopher Isherwood, British-American author.

2001 - Les Brown, American orchestra leader.