January 3 ...

In 1496 references in Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks suggested that he tested his flying machine. The test didn't succeed and he didn't try to fly again for several years. In 1521 Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther. In 1777 Gen. George Washington defeated Gen. Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton in the Revolutionary War. In 1815 by secret treaty, Austria, Britain, and France formed a defensive alliance against Prusso-Russian plans to solve the Saxon and Polish problems. In 1823 Stephen F. Austin received a grant from the Mexican government and began colonization in the region of the Brazos River in Texas. In 1825 the first engineering college in the US, Rensselaer School (now now known as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) opened in Troy, NY. In 1868 the Shogunate was abolished in Japan and Meiji dynasty was restored. In 1871 Henry W. Bradley patented oleomargarine (known as margarine). In 1892 author J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. In 1924 English explorer Howard Carter discovered the sarcophagus of Tutankhamen (King Tut) in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, Egypt. In 1925 Italy's Benito Mussolini announced that he would take dictatorial powers in the country. In 1947 US Congressional proceedings were televised for the first time as viewers in Washington, Philadelphia, and New York City saw some of the opening ceremonies of the 80th Congress. In 1953 Ohioans Frances Bolton and her son, Oliver, became the first mother-son combination to serve at the same time in the US Congress. In 1959 Alaska became the 49th state. In 1961 the US severed diplomatic relations with Cuba. In 1962 Pope John XXIII excommunicated Cuban prime minister Fidel Castro. In 1973 CBS sold the New York Yankees to a 12-man syndicate headed by George Steinbrenner for $10 million. In 1988 Great Britain's Margaret Thatcher became the country's longest-serving prime minister in the 20th century. In 1990 ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega surrendered to US forces, 10 days after taking refuge in the Vatican's diplomatic mission. In 1991 the British government announced that seven Iraqi diplomats, another embassy staff member, and 67 other Iraqis were being expelled from Britain. In 1993 President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) in Moscow. In 2000 Charles M. Schulz's final original Peanuts comic strip appeared in newspapers. In 2004 NASA's Spirit rover landed on Mars. The craft was able to send back black and white images three hours after landing.