January 28 in Pop Culture History

January 28th History, Trivia, and Fun Facts

January 28th History Highlights

  • 1909 – United States troops left Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the SpanishAmerican War.
  • 1958 – The Lego company patented (#3005282) the design of its Lego bricks- it is still compatible with bricks produced today.
  • 1986 – The Challenger Space Shuttle exploded 73 seconds after lift-off, kiling all 7 people aboard.
  • If you were born on January 28th,
    You were likely conceived the week of… May 7th (prior year)

USA For Africa

Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, We Are The World was finished recording. It was relased on March 7, 1985 and won 3 Grammys. The artists included:

Soloists (in appearance order): Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, James Ingram, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, Al Jarreau, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, Steve Perry, Daryl Hall, Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, Kim Carnes, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles

Chorus (alphabetically), Dan Aykroyd, Harry Belafonte, Lindsey Buckingham, Mario Cipollina, Johnny Colla, Sheila E., Bob Geldof, Bill Gibson, Chris Hayes, Sean Hopper, Jackie Jackson, La Toya Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Randy Jackson, Tito Jackson, Waylon Jennings, Bette Midler, John Oates, Jeffrey Osborne, The Pointer Sisters, Smokey Robinson

The Band: John Barnes – keyboards & arrangement, David Paich – synthesizers, Michael Boddicker – synthesizers/ programming, Paulinho da Costa – percussion, Louis Johnson – synth bass, Michael Omartian – keyboards, Greg Phillinganes – keyboards, John Robinson – drums

January 28th is…

Blueberry Pancake Day
Daisy Day
Data Privacy Day
National Kazoo Day
National Pediatrician Day
World Leprosy Day

January 28th Birthday Quotes

I touch the future. I teach.
– Christa McAiliffe

It doesn’t make much difference how the paint is put on as long as something has been said. Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement.
– Jackson Pollock

Sit down and put down everything that comes into your head and then you’re a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff’s worth, without pity, and destroy most of it.
– Colette

If you love large, you’ve got to hurt large. If you’ve got a lot of light, you’ve probably got an equal amount of darkness.
– Sarah McLachlan

Everything that divides men, everything that specified, separates or pens them, is a sin against humanity.
– José Martí

It’s too bad I’m not as wonderful a person as people say I am, because the world could use a few people like that.
– Alan Alda

Doctor Livingstone, I presume?
– Henry Morton Stanley

The modern artist is working with space and time, and expressing his feelings rather than illustrating.
– Jackson Pollock

Happiness is like a cloud, if you stare at it long enough, it evaporates.
– Sarah McLachlan

January 28th Birthdays

1717 – Mustafa III, Ottoman sultan (died in 1774)
1841 – Henry Morton Stanley, Welsh Explorer (died in 1904)
1853 – José Julián Martí Pérez, Cuban writer (died in 1895)
1855 – William Seward Burroughs I, American businessman, founded the Burroughs Corporation (died in 1898)
1864 – Charles Williams Nash, American businessman, founded Nash Motors (died in 1948)
1873 – Sidonie-Gabrielle ‘Colette’, French writer (died in 1954)
1900 – Alice Neel, American painter (died in 1984)
1912 – Jackson Pollock, American painter (died in 1956)
1936 – Alan Alda, American actor, director and writer
1950 – Barbi Benton, American actress and model
1954 – Rick Warren, American pastor and author
1955 – Nicolas Sarkozy, French lawyer and politician
1956 – Peter Schilling, German singer-songwriter
1968 – Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer-songwriter
1976 – Rick Ross (William Roberts II), American rapper
1980 – Nick Carter, American singer-songwriter
1981 – Elijah Wood, American actor
1985 – J. Cole, American singer
1998 – Ariel Winter, American actress

January 28th History

814 – RIP Charlemagne (April 2, 748 – January 28, 814), the first Holy Roman Emperor.

1547 – Edward VI, the nine-year-old son of Henry VIII, became King of England after his father’s death.

1782 – The Great Seal of The United States was approved.

1807 – London’s Pall Mall became the first street of any city to be illuminated by gaslight.

1813 – Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was first published.

1902 – The Carnegie Institution of Washington was founded in Washington, DC with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.

1915 – The US Congress created the United States Coast Guard as a branch of the United States Armed Forces.

1934 – The first ski tow rope in the US, built by Robert Royce, was used for the first time in Woodstock, Vermont

1953 – J. Fred Muggs (a chimp) joined NBC’s Today Show

1958 – The Lego Company patented the design of its Lego bricks.

1978Fantasy Island, starring Ricardo Montalban and Herve Villachaise, debuted on ABC.

1979CBS News Sunday Morning debuted with original host Charles Kuralt.

1986 – Space Shuttle Challenger 10 exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, killing astronauts Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik and schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.

January 28, 19** Birthday (fictional) Ernie, Sesame Street

1995 – #1 Hit January 28, 1995 – February 24, 1995: TLCCreep

January 28, 19** RIP Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man, Marvel Comics

January 28, 2017 -May 5, 2017: Ed Sheeran – Shape of You

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

I before E except after C also works for the alphabet.

Add an extra “o” to the word “stop” and it becomes “stoop.” Add more o’s and it becomes “stop” again.

“Up your nose with a rubber hose” – Vinnie Barbarino (Welcome Back, Kotter)

Mary Pickford – Real Name: Gladys Mary Smith

The entire 150,000+ moose population of the island of Newfoundland is descendant from just four moose released a little over 100 years ago.

“All-human staff” will eventually become a selling point for restaurants, like “free-range” or “fair trade”.

In 20 minutes characters in TV shows can save lives, destroy lives, end relationships, start relationships, betray friends, die protecting others, and what-not. While I will spend twenty minutes stressing over how I have to be at work soon.

The earth is 24,901 miles in circumference across its diameter.

The word ‘brackets’ (like [ ] and { }) is related to the french word for a codpiece and derives from the old Germanic word for pants.

If you told someone in 1990 that Ice Cube, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and OJ Simpson would be famous for: playing cops in movies, being Governor of California, alleged double murder …

In 1923, Mark Sennett, Harry Chandler, and the Los Angeles Times put up the ‘Hollywoodland’ (later shortened to ‘Hollywood’) sign, for $21,000.

A group of Bacteria is called a Culture.

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