Notable Birthdays for January 2
Philip Freneau (1752-1832) - Poet dubbed the Poet of the American Revolution.
Charles Russell Lowell Jr (1835-1864) - Brigadier General for the Union Army.
Alice Mary Robertson (1854-1931) - The second woman to serve in Congress.
Helen Herron Taft (1861-1973) - Wife of President Taft who receives credit for planting President Washington's cherry trees.
Tex Rickard (1870-1929) - Founder of the NY Rangers (NHL).
Bob Marshall (1901-1939) - Co-founder of The Wilderness Society.
Juanita Jackson Mitchell (1913-1992) - The first Black to to practice law in Maryland.
Beatrice Hicks (1919-1979) - The first woman engineer to be hired by Western Electric and the co-founder of the Society of Women Engineers.
Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) - Science fiction writer.
Larry Harmon (1925-2008) - Otherwise known as Bozo the Clown.
Roger Miller (1936-1992) - Singer remembered for his hit son King of the Road.
Jack Hanna (1947-Still Living) - Zoologist who is nicknamed Jungle Jack.
Lynne Cox (1957-Still Living) - Long-distance open-water swimmer who swam from the U.S. to the Soviet Union.
Memorable Events for January 2
1776 - George Washington's army raises the Grand Union Flag at Charlestown.
1788 - Georgia becomes the 4th state to join the Union.
1800 - The Free African American Community petitions Congress to abolish the slave trade.
1832 - The first U.S. Curling club opens.
1890 - Alice Sanger becomes the first female staff member at the White House.
1906 - Willis Carrier is awarded the patent for the first air conditioner.
1934 - The first state liquor stores open in PA.
1941 - The U.S. government announces a program to build freighters in support of the war effort.
1942 - The FBI convicts 33 members of a German spy ring.
1974 - President Nixon signs a bill lowering the speed limit to 55 mph to conserve gas.
1975 - The Department of Interior designates the grizzly bear an endangered species.
1991 - Sharon Pratt Dixon becomes the Black female mayor of the District of Columbia and a major city.
