This Week in History

Submitted by ub on

This Week in History, Jan 15 - Jan 21

Jan 15, 1967
Packers face Chiefs in first Super Bowl at the Los Angeles Coliseum, the Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the first-ever world championship game of American football.

Jan 16, 1919
Prohibition takes effect. The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes," is ratified on this day in 1919 and becomes the law of the land.

Jan 17, 1950
Boston thieves pull off historic robbery. 11 men steal more than $2 million from the Brinks Armored Car depot in Boston, Massachusetts. It was the perfect crime--almost--as the culprits weren't caught until January 1956, just days before the statute of limitations for the theft expired.

Jan 18, 1919
Post-World War I peace conference begins in Paris. Some of the most powerful people in the world meet to begin the long, complicated negotiations that would officially mark the end of the First World War.

Jan 19, 1809
Edgar Allan Poe is born. The poet, author and literary critic Edgar Allan Poe is born in Boston, Massachusetts.

Jan 20, 1981
Iran Hostage Crisis ends. Literally and figuratively minutes after Ronald Reagan's inauguration speech accepting the post as 40th president of the United States, the 52 U.S. captives held at the U.S. embassy in Teheran, Iran, are released, ending the 444-day Iran Hostage Crisis.

Jan 21, 1977
President Carter pardons draft dodgers. U.S. President Jimmy Carter grants an unconditional pardon to hundreds of thousands of men who evaded the draft during the Vietnam War.