Important Events

1656 Oldest surviving commercial newspaper begins (Haarlem, Netherlands)
1790 1st US President George Washington delivers 1st state of the union address
1835 US national debt is $0 for the first and only time in history
1912 Chiefs, representatives of people’s and church organisations, and other prominent individuals form the African National Congress and declare its aim to bring all Africans together as one people to defend their rights and freedoms
1916 WWI: ANZAC forces withdraw from the Gallipoli Peninsula after Ottoman forces successfully defend access to Constantinople
1926 Abdulaziz Ibn Saud becomes King of Nejd and Hejaz; forerunner of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Jan 8 in Film & TV

1978 TV series “All Creatures Great and Small” debuts on BBC TV, based on the books by James Herriot, starring Robert hardy and Christopher Timothy

Jan 8 in Music

1956 Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Hound Dog” single goes #1 and stays #1 for a record 11 weeks (for a single)

Jan 8 in Sport

1993 Michael Jordan’s game-high 35 points leads Chicago to 120-95 win over Milwaukee; gives him exactly 20,000 points in 620th game of his NBA career; 2nd-fastest to reach milestone after Wilt Chamberlain (499)