January 15 in Pop Culture History

• It’s National Hat Day because in 1797, the 1st top hat was worn, by John Etherington in London.
• There are 350 days left until next year. (unless it is 2024 or 2028)

1759 – The British Museum in Bloomsbury, London, the world’s oldest public national museum, opened to the public.

1861 – Elisha Otis patented the Steam elevator.

1863 – Wood pulp paper was first used in the US for a printed newspaper by the Boston Morning Herald of Boston.

1870 – The Donkey was 1st used as the symbol of the Democratic Party, in Harper’s Weekly, drawn by Thomas Nast.

1889 – The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, was incorporated in Atlanta.

1895 – Tchaikovsky’s ballet “Swan Lake” premiered in St. Petersburg.

1919 – The Boston Molasses Disaster – a huge vat of molasses broke open at the Purity Distilling Company and flooded a Boston neighborhood. 21 were killed.

1936 – The first building to be completely covered in glass, two stories built for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, was completed in Toledo, Ohio.

1951 – The US Supreme Court ruled that “clear and present danger” of incitement to riot is not protected speech and can cause arrest.

1955 – The Benny Hill Show debuted on the BBC

1967 – The inaugural Super Bowl was simulcast on CBS and NBC. The National Football League (NFL) champion Green Bay Packers defeated the American Football League (AFL) champion Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 35–10.

1967 – The Rolling Stones appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and did not sing “Let’s Spend Some time Together” as planned.

1969 – The first docking of two manned spacecraft occurred between the Soviet Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5.

1972 – #1 Hit January 15, 1972 – February 11, 1972: Don McLean – American Pie

1974 – Happy Days debuted on ABC.

1975 – Space Mountain opened at Disney World (Florida)

1977 – #1 Hit January 15, 1977 – January 21, 1977: Leo Sayer – You Make Me Feel Like Dancing

1977 – The Coneheads debuted on NBC’s Saturday Night Live. Also, Bill Murray joined the cast of SNL, replacing Chevy Chase

1978 – Superbowl XII aired on CBS, the first night-time Superbowl

1981 – Hill Street Blues premiered on NBC.

1983 – #1 Hit January 15, 1983 – February 4, 1983: Men at Work – Down Under

1983 – Thom Syles kept a lifesaver intact in his mouth for over 7 hours.

1988 – Jimmy ‘The Greek’ Snyder made a racist remark about black athletes – He said that the black athlete was “bred to be the better athlete because this goes all the way to the Civil War when … the slave owner would breed his big woman so that he would have a big black kid.”

1993 – Body of Evidence, Alive, Man Bites Dog and Nowhere to Run were released in theaters.

1999 – Varsity Blues, At First Sight, Virus and In Dreams were released in theaters.

2000 – #1 Hit January 15, 2000 – January 28, 2000: Christina Aguilera – What a Girl Wants

2001 – Bob The Builder premiered on Nick Jr.

2001- Wikipedia debuted online.

2009 – US Airways flight 1549 landed safely in the Hudson River, NY, thanks to Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger.

2010 – The Book of Eli & The Spy Next Door debuted in theaters.

#1 Hit January 15, 2022 – February 4, 2022: Easy on Me – Adele