Today in History
2010 Burj Khalifa is opened
Burj Khalifa in Dubai is currently the world’s tallest building, at 829.8 m (2,722 ft).
1958 Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from orbit
The Soviet Union was the first nation to send an artificial Earth satellite into space.
1948 Burma gains independence from the United Kingdom
Burma (Myanmar) came under British rule on January 1, 1886.
1896 Utah becomes the 45th state of the U.S.A.
One condition for statehood was that a ban on polygamy had to be written into the state constitution.
1847 Samuel Colt sells his first revolver
Captain Samuel Walker of the Texas Rangers ordered 1000 revolver pistols after witnessing their devastating effect.
Births On This Day, January 4
1986 James Milner
English footballer
1965 Guy Forget
French tennis player
1942 John McLaughlin
English guitarist, songwriter
1832 George Tryon
English Admiral
1809 Louis Braille
French educator, invented Braille
Deaths On This Day, January 4
2011 Gerry Rafferty
Scottish singer-songwriter
1965 T. S. Eliot
American/English publisher, playwright, critic, Nobel Prize laureate
1961 Erwin Schrödinger
Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
1960 Albert Camus
French author, journalist, philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate
1941 Henri Bergson
French philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate
