TODAY IN HISTORY - JANUARY 26TH

1837 – Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.

1856 – First Battle of Seattle. Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers.

1861 – American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union.

1863 – American Civil War: Governor of Massachusetts John Albion Andrew receives permission from the Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent.

1870 – Reconstruction Era: Virginia rejoins the Union.

1905 – Maria von Trapp, Austrian-American singer, Sound of Music (d. 1987) is born.

1911 – Glenn H. Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane.

1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the U.S. Congress.

1920 – Former Ford Motor Company executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer.

1921 – Akio Morita, Japanese businessman, co-founded Sony (d. 1999) is born.

1925 – Paul Newman, American actor, director, race car driver, and businessman, co-founded Newman's Own (d. 2008) is born.

1926 – The first demonstration of the television by John Logie Baird.

1932 – William Wrigley, Jr., American businessman, founded the Wrigley Company (b. 1861) dies.

1934 – The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City.

1949 – The Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory sees first light under the direction of Edwin Hubble, becoming the largest aperture optical telescope (until BTA-6 is built in 1976).

1961 – John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be his physician. This is the first time a woman holds the appointment of Physician to the President.

1962 – Ranger 3 is launched to study the Moon. The space probe later misses the moon by 22,000 miles (35,400 km).

1979 – Nelson Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 41st Vice President of the United States (b. 1908) dies.

1992 – José Ferrer, Puerto Rican-American actor (b. 1912) dies.

1992 – Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.

1998 – Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

2005 – Glendale train crash: Two trains derail killing 11 and injuring 200 in Glendale, California, near Los Angeles.

2016 – Abe Vigoda, American actor (b. 1921) dies.