Notable Birthdays for January 3
William Tucker (1624-Death Unknown) - The first known Black child born in America.
Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) - Activist who planned the first Woman's Rights Convention.
Harry Elkins Widener (1885-1912) - Died during the sinking of Titanic.
Dorothy Arzner (1900-1979) - The first woman to direct a film with sound.
Anna May Wong (1905-1961) - The first Asian-American movie star.
Roger Williams Straus, Jr. (1917-2004) - Co-founder of the NY publishing company Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Herbie Nichols (1919-1963) - Pianist and composer wrote Lady Sings the Blues.
Gordon Moore (1929-2023) - Co-founder of the Intel Corporation.
Victoria Principal (1950-Still Living) - Actress remembered for her role as Pamela Barnes Ewing on Dallas.
Mel Gibson (1956-Still Living) - Actor of Mad Max, Lethal Weapon, and Braveheart.
Memorable Events for January 3
1749 - Benning Wentworth issues the land grant in VT.
1831 - The first loan association is organized in PA.
1853 - Solomon Northup, author of Twelve Years a Slave, is freed after 7 years of illegal slavery.
1870 - Construction on Brooklyn Bridge begins.
1871 - Margarine is patented by Henry Bradley.
1888 - The first drinking straw is patented.
1918 - The U.S. Employment Service opens.
1933 - Minnie D. Craig becomes the first woman in the U.S. elected as Speaker of the House in ND.
1938 - The March of Dimes is created to fight polio.
1943 - The first missing persons alert is sent in NY City.
1947 - Congress is televised for the first time.
1957 - The first electric watch (the Hamilton Electric 500) is introduced to the public.
1959 - Alaska becomes the 49th state to join the Union.
1987 - Aretha Franklin becomes the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
1999 - NASA's Mars Polar Lander launched resulting in failure.
