On This Date In History
January 1, 1968 -- James Randi first offered his "challenge" to the psychics. His sum at that time was $1000.
It is now $1.2 million.
January 1, 2000 -- The dreaded "Y2K" day, when computers will supposedly stop working and
the world will be thrown into chaos. If that happens, the author promises to post a full retraction
of all the disparaging comments he has made about Y2K doomsayers. Said retraction will be
published in this space ;-) This is also the day when most people will celebrate the beginning of
the 21st century and the third millennium, despite the fact that both those events are still a year
away.
January 2, 1920 -- The birthday of Isaac Asimov.
January 5, 1982 -- Judge William R. Overton (U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas,
Western Division) strikes down the "Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-
Science Act" (Act 590).
January 6, 1969 -- Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter, visiting a Lion's Club in Leary, Georgia, mistakes
Venus for a UFO.
January 7, 1948 -- Capt T. Mantell, USAF killed when he chased a UFO in his P51 and ran out of
oxygen.
January 8, 1973 -- Uri Geller appears on the Johnny Carson show. Carson, an amateur magician,
is ready for him, and Geller is unable to make any of his "miracles" happen.
January 9, 1969 -- The University of Colorado UFO Project, headed by Edward Condon and
sponsored by the U.S. Air Force, released its report, Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying
Objects, commonly referred to as The Condon Report. "Our general conclusion is that nothing
has come from the study of UFOs in the past 21 years that has added to scientific knowledge."
January 20, 1692 -- Two girls in Salem, Massachusetts, Nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris and
eleven-year-old Abigail Williams, began to exhibit strange behavior, such as blasphemous
screaming, convulsive seizures, trance-like states and mysterious spells. Within a short time,
several other Salem girls began to demonstrate similar behavior. This is the beginning of the
infamous Salem witch trials.
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