January 4 in Pop Culture History

1790 – President Washington delivered the 1st State of the Union address

1865 – The New York Stock Exchange opened its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street in New York City.

1896 – Utah became the 45th State

1902 – The Carnegie Institute of Washington was founded.

1903 – Thomas Edison filmed the electrocution of a murdering elephant, Topsy, to show the dangers of Alternating Current electricity.

1936 – Billboard magazine published its 1st music hit parade

1940 – Edwin H. Armstrong demonstrated the first “network” relay of an FM radio broadcast through several stations from Yonkers, NY, to Alpine, NJ, to Meriden, CT, and Paxton, MA, to Mount Washington.

1958 – Sea Hunt premiered in syndication

1958 – Russian Sputnik I, the first man-made object to orbit the earth, fell back into the atmosphere and disintegrated after 92 days in space.

1960 – #1 Hit January 4, 1960 – January 17, 1960: Marty Robbins – El Paso

1964 – #1 Hit January 4, 1964 – January 31, 1964: Bobby Vinton – There! I’ve Said It Again

1965 – US President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaims his “Great Society” during his State of the Union address.

1971 – Congressional Black Caucus was founded

1975 – #1 Hit January 4, 1975 – January 17, 1975: Elton John – Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

1975 – Elizabeth Ann Seton became the first US-born saint.

1980 – The United States boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics

1986 – Phil Lynott, frontman for Brit rockers Thin Lizzy, died from heart failure from pneumonia complications.

1988 – Nick Jr. programming started on Nickelodeon

1995 – Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the US House of Representatives.

1999 – Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura was sworn in as governor of Minnesota.

2007 – Nancy Pelosi was elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives.