Think Jan. 6 Was A Big Deal? Here Are 30 Far More Significant Events On That Day In History-Read it and Weep
The rest of the nation may have moved on, but Democrats are determined to squeeze the events of a year ago for every ounce of political juice they can from the events that happened at the U.S. Capitol.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she wants to mark the day as “an observance of reflection, remembrance, and recommitment.” President Joe Biden plans to speak on the Capitol steps. The press is providing saturation coverage.
Not only does the public not care, but polls show that voters are currently more inclined to vote for Donald Trump – the supposed instigator of the “insurrection” – than Biden.
They know that the only reason Democrats want to keep the focus on Jan. 6 is because they think it will help them politically. Never Trumpers want to keep Jan. 6 alive because they hope it will keep him from ever holding elective office again.
Yes, the attack on the Capitol building was outrageously stupid, and we’re all in favor of those who broke the law being punished. But in our view, there have been many other events that also happened to take place throughout history on Jan. 6 that are far more deserving of presidential speeches, prayer vigils, remembrances and the like.
And so, without further ado, here is our list. (Feel free to use the comments section below to suggest any that we might have overlooked.)
1017: Cnut the Great crowned King of England in London by Lyfing, archbishop of Canterbury.
1412: Joan of Arc is born.
1494: The first mass in the New World is celebrated at La Isabela, Hispaniola.
1540: King Henry VIII of England married his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.
1580: Capt. John Smith of Jamestown and Pocahantas fame is born.
1649: The English Rump Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial for treason and other “high crimes.”
1759: George Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis.
1836: Author Harriet Beecher weds educator Calvin Ellis Stowe in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1861: Maryland Gov. Thomas Hicks announces his opposition to the state’s possible secession from the Union.
1912: New Mexico is admitted to the U.S. as the nation’s 47th state.
1912: Danny Thomas is born in Deerfield, Michigan.
1912: Geophysicist and meteorologist Alfred Wegener presents his controversial theory of continental drift in a lecture at the Geological Association.
1914: Stock brokerage firm of Merrill Lynch founded.
1929: Mother Teresa arrives in Calcutta to begin her ministry with India’s poorest.
1938: Samuel Morse demonstrates the telegraph machine for the first time at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, New Jersey.
1941: President Franklin D. Roosevelt asks Congress to support the Lend-lease Bill to help supply the Allies.
1942: Roosevelt authorizes the largest military buildup in the history of the United States a month after the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
1957: Elvis Presley makes his seventh and final appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
1963: “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” with Marlin Perkins begins on NBC.
1967: “Milton Berle Show” last airs on ABC-TV.
1973: “Schoolhouse Rock” premieres on ABC-TV with Multiplication Rock.
1975: “Wheel of Fortune” premieres on NBC hosted by Pat Sajak and Vanna White.
1979: The Village People’s “Y.M.C.A” becomes the United Kingdom’s No. 1 single. At its peak it sold more than 150,000 copies a day.
1987: The 100th U.S. Congress convenes.
1987: University of California astronomers witness the birth of a galaxy that contains 1 billion stars.
1994: Dow-Jones hits record 3803.88.
1994: Olympic hopeful Nancy Kerrigan was injured by an attack set up by the husband of rival skater Tonya Harding.
2001: Congress certifies George W. Bush as the winner of the 2000 election (after the congressional black caucus attempts an insurrection by trying to block the counting of Florida’s electoral votes).
2013: The NHL reaches an agreement to end a 113-day lockout.
2021: More than 50 pro-democracy activists rounded up and arrested in Hong Kong.
That last item on the list is particularly noteworthy in the current context.
Ask yourself how many people wringing their hands today about the future of democracy are even aware that there was an actual suppression of democracy going on that very same day?
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