January Anniversaries
Momentous or merely memorable
- By Chai Woodham
- Smithsonian magazine, January 2006, Subscribe
25 YEARS AGO: HOME AT LAST
Fifty-two hostages are set free by Iran on January 20, 1981, 444 days after their capture at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by an armed mob demanding that the United States return the ousted shah to Iran. David Roeder's first words to his wife after his release were "It's over!" In 2001, the embassy opened as a tourist attraction. Its cafeteria sells soft drinks in cups that carry the slogan "Down with America."
45 YEARS AGO: ROCKET CHIMP
Going where no primate had gone before, Ham the chimp blasts into outer space for a 16-minute rocket ride on January 31, 1961. Despite the difficulties—the ride was longer and faster than intended—the mission is declared a success, paving the way for America's first manned spaceflight some three months later. In 1963, Ham retires from NASA and settles into a simpler life at Washington's National Zoo. The world's first "chimponaut" dies in 1983 at the North Carolina Zoological Park.
300 YEARS AGO: SEXIEST SEPTUAGENARIAN ALIVE
Benjamin Franklin is born in Boston, January 17, 1706. Scientist, economist, inventor, abolitionist, publisher, poet, the words to describe Franklin are numerous, but the title of celebrity probably describes him best. "His reputation is greater than that of Newton, Frederick the Great or Voltaire," says John Adams. Franklin, during his days in France (1776-85), writes of his fame to his daughter: "Your father's face is now as well known as the man in the moon." America's first international superstar dies in Philadelphia in 1790 at the age of 84.
30 YEARS AGO: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
Flying faster than a speeding bullet and at more than twice the speed of sound, the Concorde enters commercial service on January 21, 1976, in Europe. A transatlantic flight between London and New York on the world's first supersonic airliner takes about three hours. In October 2003, the Concorde flies into history, having carried more than 2.5 million passengers across the skies.
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