The first abolitionist society in North America was formed by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush in 1775. They gave it the snappy name, The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage. Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre in 1865. The Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912, resulting in 1517 deaths. A 1999 hailstorm in Sydney cause A$2.3 billion in damage -- the costliest natural disaster in Australian history.
Born today: John Gielgud (1904-2000), Rod Steiger (1925-2002), Loretta Lynn (1935), Julie Christie (1941), Ritchie Blackmore (1945), Robert Carlyle (1961).
It is the Day of Mologa in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia and New Year's Day in several South & SE Asian cultures.
