History Today

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on January 28th. It’s been 35 years since the music industry’s biggest stars gathered in Los Angeles to record “We are the World.” The brainchild of singer/actor/activist Harry Belafonte, the recording, which featured dozens of stars from Paul Simon and Billy Joel to Cyndi Lauper and Willie Nelson, went on to sell more than 7 million copies and raise more than $60 million for African famine relief.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on January 24th. Americans consume nearly three billion cases of beer each year--and a lot of that beer comes in beer cans, which made their debut on this day in 1935. Krueger’s beer and cream ale was the first to hit the market in cans, but Pabst, Schlitz and Anheuser-Busch soon followed suit, and by the end of the year Americans had enjoyed more than 200 million canned brews.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on January 23rd. Although research shows that women doctors are often paid less than their male counterparts, women are now becoming doctors in greater numbers than men. That was far from the case on this day in 1849, when Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman physician in the United States.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on January 22nd. Abortion has been a hot-button issue in American politics since even before this day in 1973, when the Supreme Court delivered the historic Roe v. Wade decision. The decision legalized abortion during the first two trimesters of pregnancy as part of a woman’s right to privacy, reversing a century of anti-abortion legislation.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on January 21st. Just days after women across America once again took to the streets in what has become an annual event, we look back to this day in 2017, and the first Women’s March. On the first full day of Donald Trump’s presidency, hundreds of thousands of people crowded into the U.S.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on January 20th. Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and millions of Americans have the day off from work and school to honor the civil rights hero. And it's been that way since 1986, when King became the first modern private citizen to be honored with a federal holiday. For the many who admired his leadership of the civil rights movement, it made sense to celebrate him. But not everyone agreed.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on January 19th.

He is remembered as one of the greatest military strategists in history, even though he ultimately lost the Civil War. On this day in 1807, Robert E. Lee was born in Virginia.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on January 18th.

He may be just a “bear of little brain,” but he’s a very big brand: Winnie the Pooh books, movies and merchandise rake in more than $5 billion each year. And it all started with his creator, A.A. Milne, who was born on this day in 1882.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on January 17th.

Car enthusiasts have been nearly unanimous in their praise of the 2020 Corvette Stingray. But that was far from the case back on this day in 1953, when a prototype Chevrolet Corvette made its debut at the GM auto show in New York.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on January 15th.

Do you remember the Miracle on the Hudson? It was 11 years ago today that Captain Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger safely landed an Airbus 320 carrying 150 passengers on New York City’s Hudson River after a bird strike caused its engines to fail.