Jan 14 in History
1699 — Massachusetts holds a day of fasting for wrongly persecuting “witches”. In the Salem witch trials of 1692-93, more than 200 people were accused of practising witchcraft and 20 executed. 1742 — English astronomer Edmond Halley, 85, who observed the comet that bears his name, dies in London.
1814 — Berthe Morisot, French impressionist painter, is born in Bourges.
1875 — Dr Albert Schweitzer, French theologian and surgeon who sets up a hospital in French Equatorial Africa in 1913, is born in Kaysersberg. 1897 — The 6 962m summit (the second highest in the world) of Cerro Aconcagua in Argentina is reached for the first time by Swiss Matthias Zurbriggen, chief guide of Englishman Edward Fitz Gerald’s nine-man European team.
1898 — Author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (better known as “Alice in Wonderland” creator Lewis Carroll), 65, dies in Guildford, England.
1907 — The Kingston earthquake (magnitude 6.5) shakes the capital of Jamaica, leaving 800-1 000 people dead and 10 000 homeless.
1920 — Berlin is placed under martial law as 40 000 radicals rush the Reichstag; 42 are killed and 105 wounded.
1949 — In what is known as the Durban Riots, a large group of black Africans attack people and property in the Indian business area with an assortment of improvised weapons. The riot spreads to the peri-urban areas. In total 142 people die and 1 087 are injured; 58 shops, 247 dwellings and a factory are destroyed.
1953 — Josip Broz Tito becomes president of Yugoslavia (until his death, at 87, on May 4 1980). 1957 — Humphrey Bogart, 57, actor, dies in Los Angeles. His many films include “The Maltese Falcon”, “Casablanca” and “The Big Sleep”. He won an Oscar for “The African Queen” (1951).
1963 — President Charles de Gaulle announces the French veto on Britain’s application to join the European Economic Community. After months of negotiations in London, Paris and Brussels, De Gaulle declares the British government lacked “commitment” to European integration. The UK finally joins the EEC on January 1 1973.
1970 — Diana Ross and the Supremes perform their last concert together in Las Vegas.
1986 — Donna Reed, 64, actress (“Donna Reed Show”, “Dallas”), dies in Beverly Hills.
2007 — Darlene Conley, 72, actress (Sally Spectra in “The Bold and the Beautiful”), dies in Los Angeles.