Daily Calendar for January 6th, 2021

The Old Farmer's Almanac daily calendar gives you quick reference for the significant events on any day throughout the year.

Epiphany

According to the New Testament's Gospels, on this date the Magi, the three wise men or kings, venerated and brought gifts to the infant Jesus. The word epiphany is not specific to Christianity, as Zeus's alias, "Epiphanes," can attest. It comes from the Greek epiphaneia, meaning "manifestation." In many countries, Three Kings Day is a traditional time of gift giving. Bake a King Cake with a lucky bean inside! Whoever finds the bean is the king of the feast.

Every Year

• Epiphany

1410s

• Born 1412: Joan of Arc (French heroine)

1750s

• 1759: George Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis

1790s

• 1797: Albany designated the permanent capital of NY state

• Born 1799: Jedediah Smith (explorer)

1820s

• 1821: Indianapolis designated as the capital of the state of Indiana

1830s

• 1838: S.F.B. Morse demonstrated his completed telegraph at the Speedwell Iron Works

1840s

• Born 1842: Clarence King (founder of the U.S. Geological Survey)

1860s

• 1863: James Plimpton received a patent for improved roller skates

1870s

• Born 1878: Carl Sandburg (poet)

1880s

• Born 1880: Tom Mix (actor)

• 1883: Pendleton Act reformed U.S. civil service, initiating competitive examinations for placement

1890s

• 1896: First women's six-day bicycle race began, N.Y.C.

1910s

• 1912: New Mexico admitted to the Union as the 47th state

• Born 1913: Loretta Young (actress)

• Died 1919: Theodore Roosevelt (26th U.S. president)

1920s

• Born 1921: Cary Middlecoff (golfer)

• Born 1924: Earl Scruggs (musician)

1930s

• Born 1931: E.L. Doctorow (writer)

1940s

• 1941: President FDR delivered his "Four Freedoms" speech to the U.S. Congress, summarizing the goals Americans were ready to defend

• 1942: First around-the-world commercial flight completed by Pan American Airways

• Born 1944: Bonnie Franklin (actress)

• 1945: George H. W. Bush and Barbara Pierce were married

1950s

• Born 1955: Rowan Atkinson (actor)

1960s

• Born 1960: Nigella Lawson (chef)

• 1967: U.S. and South Vietnamese troops launched a major offensive against the Viet-Cong stronghold in the Mekong River delta, the first direct commitment of U.S. troops to combat in that area (Vietnam War)

1970s

• 1973: Schoolhouse Rock! premiered

• 1974: Global Television Network in Ontario began programming

1980s

• 1984: First quadruplets to be conceived in a test tube were born to an Australian woman

• Died 1985: Robert H.W. Welch, Jr. (founder of the John Birch Society)

• 1989: A baby lion-tailed macaque named Bosco was born at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington. Lion-tailed macaques are among the most threatened of all macaque species.

1990s

• Died 1993: Dizzy Gillespie (musician)

• Died 1993: Rudolph Nureyev (ballet dancer)

• 1994: Defending women's figure skating national champion Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the right kneecap in an off-ice attack by an unidentified assailant at the U.S. Olympic trials in Detroit, Michigan

2000s

• 2004: NASA unveiled a breathtaking snapshot of the surface of Mars shot in color by its Spirit rover. The new color image was the sharpest photograph ever taken on Mars

• Died 2006: Lou Rawls (singer)

2010s

• Died 2016: Pat Harrington (actor)