Updated January 17, 2012, 1:28 pm
On Jan. 18, 1912, English explorer Robert F. Scott and his expedition reached the South Pole, only to discover that Roald Amundsen had gotten there first.
On Jan. 18, 1854, Thomas Watson, the American telephone pioneer and shipbuilder, was born. Following his death on Dec. 13, 1934, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1778 English navigator Captain James Cook became the first European to reach the Hawaiian Islands. 1782 Lawyer and statesman Daniel Webster was born in Salisbury, N.H. 1788 The first English settlers arrived in Australia’s Botany Bay to establish a penal colony. 1862 John Tyler, the 10th president of the United States, died in Richmond, Va., at age 71. 1871 William I of Prussia was proclaimed German emperor in Versailles, France. 1892 Oliver Hardy of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy was born Norvell Hardy in Harlem, Ga. 1904 Actor Cary Grant was born Archibald Leach in Bristol, England. 1911 The first landing of an aircraft on a ship took place as pilot Eugene B. Ely flew onto the deck of the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco harbor. 1943 The Soviets announced that they had broken the long Nazi siege of Leningrad. 1990 Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was arrested for drug possession in an FBI sting. 1991 Financially strapped Eastern Airlines shut down after more than six decades in business. 1993 The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was observed in all 50 states for the first time. 2005 The world’s largest commercial jet, an Airbus A380 that can carry 800 passengers, was unveiled in Toulouse, France. 2011 The first director of the Peace Corps, R. Sargent Shriver, died at age 95. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Actor Jason Segel (“How I Met Your Mother”) turns 32 years old today.
AP Photo/Peter Kramer
Actor Kevin Costner turns 57 years old today.
AP Photo/Phil Klein
1941 Bobby Goldsboro, Singer, songwriter, turns 71 1961 Mark Messier, Hockey Hall of Famer, turns 51 1963 Martin O’Malley, Governor of Maryland, turns 49 1965 Dave Attell, Comedian, turns 47 1969 Jesse L. Martin, Actor (“Law & Order”), turns 43
Historic Birthdays
Thomas Watson 1/18/1854 – 12/13/1934 American telephone pioneer/shipbuilder.Go to obituary »
70 Daniel Webster 1/18/1782 – 10/24/1852
American orator/politician93 Joseph Glidden 1/18/1813 – 10/9/1906
American inventor66 Seth Low 1/18/1850 – 9/17/1916
American philanthropist/educator66 Oliver Hardy 1/18/1892 – 8/7/1957
American comic movie actor73 Daniel Hale Williams 1/18/1858 – 8/4/1931
American physician62 Hans Goldschmidt 1/18/1861 – 5/25/1923
German chemist85 Myron Taylor 1/18/1874 – 5/6/1959
American financier/diplomat74 A.A. Milne 1/18/1882 – 1/31/1956
English humorist101 Sir Thomas Sopwith 1/18/1888 – 1/27/1989
English WW1 aircraft designer82 Cary Grant 1/18/1904 – 11/29/1986
English/American actor74 Danny Kaye 1/18/1913 – 3/3/1987
American actor/comedian
