What happened on
January 15?
January 15th people are born on the birthday of one of history's most powerful voices for justice — and they often carry an instinctive awareness of how things should be, as opposed to how they are. They tend not to accept the gap between those two things as simply the way it is. They find it uncomfortable to stay quiet when they see something that could be different.
Historical Events
Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia — the Baptist minister and civil rights leader who would transform American society through nonviolent resistance, the March on Washington, and his 'I Have a Dream' speech.
US Airways Flight 1549 successfully landed on the Hudson River after both engines were disabled by a bird strike — Captain Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger safely evacuated all 155 passengers in what became known as the Miracle on the Hudson.
Wikipedia was launched by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger — the free, collaborative encyclopedia that would become the largest and most-read reference work in history, with over 55 million articles in 300+ languages.
Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States — the first African American to hold the office — just days before this date marked what would have been Martin Luther King Jr.'s 80th birthday.
Elizabeth I was crowned Queen of England at Westminster Abbey, beginning a 44-year reign known as the Elizabethan Era — a period of unprecedented cultural flowering, including the work of William Shakespeare.
Famous Birthdays
American Baptist minister and civil rights activist who led the movement to end racial segregation in the United States through nonviolent civil disobedience, winning the Nobel Peace Prize at age 35 — the youngest recipient at the time.
French playwright and actor considered one of the greatest comedy writers in Western literature, whose plays — including Tartuffe and The Misanthrope — satirised French society and are still performed today.
American actress and director who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for If Beale Street Could Talk and became one of the most respected directing talents in American television.
#1 Songs on This Date
The Miracle on the Hudson on January 15, 2009 involved a flock of Canada geese that disabled both engines of Flight 1549 just 90 seconds after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport. Captain Sully Sullenberger had exactly 208 seconds from bird strike to water landing. He later said that in those 208 seconds, he drew on 40 years of accumulated flying experience. The entire incident — including evacuation — was over in under 24 minutes. Everyone survived.