January 7 ...

In 1610 Galileo Galilei sighted four of Jupiter's moons, naming them Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. In 1782 The Bank of North America opened in Philadelphia, becoming the first commercial bank in the United States. In 1785 French aeronaut/balloonist Jean-Pierre Blanchard successfully made the first air-crossing of the English Channel from the English coast to France. In 1789 Americans voted for the electors that would choose George Washington to be the first president of the US. In 1800 the 13th president of the United States, Millard Fillmore, was born in Summerhill, NY. In 1887 Thomas Stevens completed the first worldwide bicycle trip; he started his trip in April 1884 traveling 13,500 miles in almost three years time. In 1926 comedians George Burns and Gracie Allen were married. In 1927 transatlantic telephone service Service began between New York and London; also on this day, the Harlem Globetrotters played their first game, in Hinckley IL. In 1932 Chancellor Heinrich Bruning declared that Germany would not resume reparations payments. In 1935 French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval and Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini signed the Italo-French agreements. In 1942 the World War II siege of Bataan began. In 1949 the first photograph of genes was shown at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. In 1953 President Harry Truman announced the development of the hydrogen bomb. In 1959 the US recognized Fidel Castro's new government in Cuba. In 1972 Lewis F. Powell Jr. and William H. Rehnquist were sworn in as the 99th and 100th members of the US Supreme Court. In 1975 OPEC agreed to raise crude oil prices by 10%, which began a time of world economic inflation. In 1979 Vietnamese forces captured the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, overthrowing the Khmer Rouge government. In 1980 President Jimmy Carter signed legislation that authorized $1.5 billion in loans for the bail out of Chrysler Corp. In 1989 Crown Prince Akihito became the emperor of Japan following the death of his father, Emperor Hirohito. In 1999 President Clinton went on trial before the Senate, only the second time in US history that an impeached president had gone to trial; Clinton was later acquitted of perjury and obstruction of justice charges.