Today in history

January 26

1784
Benjamin Franklin, noting the bald eagle was “a bird of bad moral character” who lived “by sharping and robbing,” expressed regret it had been selected to be the U.S. national symbol. Franklin proposed the turkey, “a much more respectable Bird and a true original Native of America.”

bald eagle and eastern wild turkey

1922The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, later defeated by a filibuster in the Senate.

1950
The Indian Constitution became law and India proclaimed itself a republic, whose sovereignty was derived from the people, becoming the largest democracy in the world.

1962
Bishop Joseph A. Burke of the Buffalo, New York Catholic Diocese banned the Twist. It can’t be danced, sung about, or listened to in any Catholic school, parish, or youth event. Later in the year, the Twist was banned from community center dances in Tampa, Florida as well. The religious right claimed the Twist was actually a pagan fertility dance.

1986
Major accident occurs at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine. The radiation cloud killed 23; 40,000 were evacuated.

1991
100,000 march against Gulf War, New York City & San Francisco.

1993
Women in Black demonstrate in solidarity with their Serbian sisters, Toronto, Canada.