What Happened in January?

The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba as Fidel Castro solidifies his socialist government.

George Wallace is inaugurated as Governor of Alabama and delivers his infamous "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" speech.

Patsy Mink (Patsy Matsu Takemoto) becomes the first Asian-American woman to serve in Congress. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the State of Hawaii. More

The United States Surgeon General Luther Terry announces that cigarette smoking may be hazardous to health and it is linked to serious health effects, including lung cancer and heart disease. More

A Soviet fighter shot down a U.S. T–39 training aircraft over East Germany. The three U.S. officers aboard were killed. More

President Lyndon B. Johnson unveils his "Great Society" vision in his State of the Union address calling for legislation for major investments in social welfare programs. More

A US B-52 bomber loaded with nuclear weapons collides with a tanker plane during a midair refueling operation off the coast of Almeria, Spain. Seven of the total 11 crew members were killed. The crash caused four hydrogen bombs to tumble from the B-52; one was later recovered intact in the Mediterranean while the other three crashed on land near the coastal village of Palomares. The bombs did not explode but two cracked open and dispersed 7 pounds of radioactive plutonium with the wind. More

Indira Gandhi becomes the first female Prime Minister of India.

Jack Leon Ruby dies of cancer in a Dallas hospital. Born Jacob Leon Rubenstein, he had been convicted and sentenced to death for murdering Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963, two days after Oswald was accused of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The conviction was appealed, and he was to be granted a new trial, but Ruby became ill, was diagnosed with cancer, and died of a pulmonary embolism at a Dallas hospital. More

The United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union sign the Outer Space Treaty banning the militarization of space by prohibiting placing nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in orbit or on celestial bodies, and dedicating outer space and celestial bodies to peaceful use.

The Apollo I Tragedy; a fire swept through the Apollo 1 Command Module during a launch rehearsal test, tragically killing astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee. A long investigation concluded that a faulty electrical wire inside the Apollo 1 command module was the probable cause of the fire. More

Alexander Dubček comes to power in Czechoslovakia, beginning the period known as the Prague Spring.

North Korea, using three torpedo boats, two sub chasers and a couple of MiG fighters opens fire on the USS Pueblo (AGER-2) —and captures the virtually unarmed U.S. Ship outfitted as an electronic surveillance platform, in international waters off North Korea’s east coast in the Sea of Japan. More

The Viet Cong launch the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War, marking a turning point in the conflict.

The Beatles perform their last public concert on the rooftop of Apple Records in London.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is ratified by 43 nations.

President Richard Nixon signs a bill authorizing $5.5 billion for the development of a reusable winged space transportation system commonly known as the space shuttle. The reusability of the shuttle’s components was expected to provide regular access to space to many customers, while at the same time reducing costs. The spacecraft was to be designed to carry seven astronauts and up to 50,000 pounds of cargo into orbits a few hundred miles from Earth. NASA launched Columbia, the first space shuttle, in 1981. More

Japanese Army Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi is discovered by local farmers on Guam. Yokoi, who fought in World War II, had been hiding in the jungle for almost 28 years. The return of the American forces to Guam and the bloody battle for possession of the island, created a breakdown of the Japanese command on Guam and soldiers like Yokoi were left to fend for themselves and told “to prefer death to the disgrace of getting captured alive”. More

British Paratroopers open fire on Roman Catholic civil rights supporters in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing 13 in what becomes known as Bloody Sunday. The demonstration began as a peaceful, but illegal, demonstration by some 10,000 people organized by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association in opposition to the British government’s policy of interning suspected members of the IRA without trial. The incident remained a source of controversy for decades, with competing accounts of the events. In 2010 the Saville Report, the final pronouncement of a government inquiry initiated by British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1998, concluded that none of the victims had posed any threat to the soldiers and that their shooting was without justification.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade recognized that the decision whether to continue or end a pregnancy belongs to the individual, not the government. Roe held that the specific guarantee of “liberty” in the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects individual privacy, includes the right to abortion prior to fetal viability. After Roe, the Supreme Court repeatedly reaffirmed that the Constitution protects for abortion as an essential liberty, which is tied to other liberty rights to make personal decisions about family, relationships, and bodily autonomy. However, the Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022. More