TODAY IN HISTORY

 

Continental Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris, ending the American Revolution

On January 14, 1784, the Continental Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris, ending the War for Independence.

In the document, which was known as the Second Treaty of Paris because the Treaty of Paris was also the name of the agreement that had ended the Seven Years’ War in 1763, Britain officially agreed to recognize the independence of its 13 former colonies as the new United States of America.

In addition, the treaty settled the boundaries between the United States and what remained of British North America. U.S. fishermen won the right to fish in the Grand Banks, off the Newfoundland coast, and in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Both sides agreed to ensure payment to creditors in the other nation of debts incurred during the war and to release all prisoners of war. The United States promised to return land confiscated during the war to its British owners, to stop any further confiscation of British property and to honor the property left by the British army on U.S. shores, including Negroes or slaves. Both countries assumed perpetual rights to access the Mississippi River.

Despite the agreement, many of these issues remained points of contention between the two nations in the post-war years. The British did not abandon their western forts as promised and attempts by British merchants to collect outstanding debts from Americans were unsuccessful as American merchants were unable to collect from their customers, many of whom were struggling farmers.

In Massachusetts, where by 1786 the courts were clogged with foreclosure proceedings, farmers rose in a violent protest known as Shay’s Rebellion, which tested the ability of the new United States to maintain law and order within its borders and instigated serious reconsideration of the Articles of Confederation.

SPORTS

1973

Miami Dolphins win Super Bowl VII to cap NFL's only perfect season

On January 14, 1973, the Miami Dolphins achieve something no NFL team has  repeated: a perfect season. Despite a gaffe by kicker Garo Yepremian that has earned its own place in history, the Dolphins hold on to beat Washington, 14-7, in Super Bowl VII, capping a 17-0 season. 

AMERICAN REVOLUTION

1741

Benedict Arnold, American traitor, born

Benedict Arnold, the American general during the Revolutionary War who betrayed his country and became synonymous with the word “traitor,” was born on January 14, 1741. Arnold, who was raised in a respected family in Norwich, Connecticut, apprenticed with an apothecary and was a member of the militia during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). He later became a successful trader and joined the Continental Army when the Revolutionary War broke out between Great Britain and its 13 American colonies in 1775.

U.S. PRESIDENTS

1942

FDR orders “enemy aliens” to register

On January 14, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Presidential Proclamation No. 2537, requiring non-U.S. citizens from World War II-enemy countries—Italy, Germany and Japan—to register with the United States Department of Justice. 

US POLITICS

1963

George Wallace inaugurated as Alabama governor

On January 14, 1963, George Wallace is inaugurated as the governor of Alabama, promising his followers, “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!” His inauguration speech was written by Ku Klux Klan leader Asa Carter, who later reformed his white supremacist beliefs and wrote The Education of Little Tree under the pseudonym of Forrest Carter. (The book, which gives a fictitious account of Carter’s upbringing by a Scotch-Irish moonshiner and a Cherokee grandmother, poignantly describes the difficulties faced by Native Americans in American society.)

COLONIAL AMERICA

1639

The first colonial constitution

In Hartford, Connecticut, the first constitution in the American colonies, the “Fundamental Orders,” is adopted by representatives of Wethersfield, Windsor, and Hartford. The Dutch discovered the Connecticut River in 1614, but English Puritans from Massachusetts largely accomplished European settlement of the region. During the 1630s, they flocked to the Connecticut valley from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and in 1638 representatives from the three major Puritan settlements in Connecticut met to set up a unified government for the new colony.

US GOVERNMENT

1980

Gold prices soar

After being released from government control, gold reaches a new record price on January 14, 1980, exceeding $800 an ounce. Gold is scattered sparsely throughout the earth’s crust and since ancient times has been treasured for both its scarcity and metallurgic properties.

FRANCE

1875

Albert Schweitzer born

The theologian, musician, philosopher and Nobel Prize-winning physician Albert Schweitzer is born on January 14, 1875 in Upper-Alsace, Germany (now Haut-Rhin, France). The son and grandson of ministers, Schweitzer studied theology and philosophy at the universities of Strasbourg.

U.S. PRESIDENTS

1943

FDR becomes first president to travel by airplane on U.S. official business

On January 14, 1943, Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the first president to travel on official business by airplane. Crossing the Atlantic by air, Roosevelt flew in a Boeing 314 Flying Boat dubbed the Dixie Clipper to a World War II strategy meeting with Winston Churchill at Casablanca in North Africa. With German U-boats taking a heavy toll on American marine traffic in the Atlantic, Roosevelt’s advisors reluctantly agreed to send him via airplane. Roosevelt, at a frail 60 years old, gamely made the arduous 17,000-mile round trip.

ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY

1970

Diana Ross and the Supremes perform their final concert

They were the most successful American pop group of the 1960s—a group whose 12 #1 hits in the first full decade of the rock and roll era places them behind only Elvis and the Beatles in terms of chart dominance. 

ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY

1954

Marilyn Monroe marries Joe DiMaggio

It was the ultimate All-American romance: the tall, handsome hero of the country’s national pastime captures the heart of the beautiful, glamorous Hollywood star. But the brief, volatile marriage of Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio–the couple wed on January 14, 1954–barely got past the honeymoon before cracks began to show in its brilliant veneer.

1960S

1969

Explosion rocks USS Enterprise

An explosion aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise kills 27 people in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on January 14, 1969. A rocket accidentally detonated, destroying 15 planes and injuring more than 300 people. The Enterprise was the first-ever nuclear-powered aircraft carrier when  it was launched in 1960. It has eight nuclear reactors, six more than all subsequent nuclear carriers. The massive ship is over 1,100 feet long and carries 4,600 crew members.

INVENTIONS & SCIENCE

1920

Dodge co-founder dies

John Dodge, who with his brother Horace co-founded the Dodge Brothers Company, which was once America’s third-largest automaker and later became part of Chrysler, dies at the age of 55. John Francis Dodge was born on October 25, 1864, while his brother Horace Elgin Dodge arrived four years later, on May 17, 1868. The brothers grew up in Michigan and began their careers as machinists. In 1897, they co-founded a bicycle company; however, by 1900, they had sold the business and opened a machine shop in Detroit to make parts for the fledgling auto industry. In 1901, Ransom Olds hired the Dodges to produce engines for his new curved-dash Oldsmobile vehicles. Next, Henry Ford contracted with the brothers to build engines, transmissions and axles. Ford was unable to pay the Dodges fully in cash, so he gave them stock in his company. (In 1919, the brothers sold their Ford Motor Company stock back to Henry Ford for $25 million.)