January 5 ...

In 1781 Richmond, VA, was burned by a British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold. In 1885 the Long Island Railroad Company became the first to offer piggy-back rail service which was the transportation of farm wagons on trains. In 1896 it was reported by an Austrian newspaper that Wilhelm Roentgen had discovered the type of radiation that became known as X-rays. In 1900 Irish Nationalist leader John Edward Redmond called for a revolt against British rule. In 1914 Ford Motor Company announced that there would be a new daily minimum wage of $5 and an eight-hour workday. In 1925 Mrs. Nellie Taylor Ross succeeded her late husband as governor of Wyoming, becoming the first female governor in the US. In 1933 the 30th president of the US, Calvin Coolidge, died in Northampton, MA, at age 60; also on this day, construction of the Golden Gate Bridge began. In 1940 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) got its very first demonstration of FM radio. In 1948 Warner Brothers-Pathe showed the first color newsreel. The footage was of the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl football classic. In 1949 in his State of the Union address, President Truman labeled his administration the Fair Deal. In 1957 Brooklyn Dodger Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson retired. In 1970 Joseph A. Yablonski, an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the United Mine Workers of America, was found murdered with his wife and daughter at their Clarksville, PA, home; UMWA President Anthony Boyle and three others were convicted of the killings. In 1972 President Richard M. Nixon ordered the development of the space shuttle. In 1987 President Ronald Reagan underwent prostate surgery. In 1994 former Speaker of the House Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, died in Boston at age 81. In 1998 US Representative Sonny Bono died in a skiing accident.