According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there are only about 1,4OO lions remaining in west and central Africa — less than HALF of what their population was just 3O years ago. Lions are being slaughtered for profit and sport — and they’re being driven to the brink of extinction. We still have a chance to save these incredible creatures. But we’re running out of time. Sign on to protect lions from poaching: SIGN YOUR NAME >>

Jefferson sends secret letter to Congress, Jan. 18, 1803 On this day in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent a secret letter to Congress, seeking financing for a transcontinental exploration that became the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-1806. Jefferson sought an appropriation of $2,500, the equivalent of about $50,000 today.

Source: loc.gov

1803 – Thomas Jefferson, in secret communication with Congress, sought authorization for the first official exploration by the U.S. government.

1778 – English navigator Captain James Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands, which he called the “Sandwich Islands.”

1788 – The first English settlers arrived in Australia’s Botany Bay to establish a penal colony. The group moved north eight days later and settled at Port Jackson.

1871 – Wilhelm, King of Prussia from 1861, was proclaimed the first German Emperor.

1886 – The Hockey Association was formed in England. This date is the birthday of modern field hockey.

1896 – The x-ray machine was exhibited for the first time.

1911 – For the first time an aircraft landed on a ship. Pilot Eugene B. Ely flew onto the deck of the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco harbor.

1919 – The World War I Peace Congress opened in Versailles, France.

1929 – Walter Winchell made his debut on radio.

1937 – CBS radio debuted “Aunt Jenny’s Real Life Stories”.

1939 – Louis Armstrong and his orchestra recorded “Jeepers Creepers.”

1943 – During World War II, the Soviets announced that they had broken the Nazi siege of Leningrad, which had began in September of 1941.

1943 – U.S. commercial bakers stopped selling sliced bread. Only whole loaves were sold during the ban until the end of World War II.

1948 – “The Original Amateur Hour” debuted. The show was on the air for 22 years.

1950 – The federal tax on oleomargarine was repealed.

1951 – Joan Blondell made her TV debut on “Pot of Gold” episode of “Airflyte Theatre” on CBS-TV.

1957 – The first, non-stop, around-the-world, jet flight came to an end at Riverside, CA. The plane was refueled in mid-flight by huge aerial tankers.

1958 – Willie O’Ree made his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins. He was the first black player to enter the league.

1964 – The plans for the original World Trade Center in New York were unveiled to the public.

1967 – Albert DeSalvo, who claimed to be the “Boston Strangler,” was convicted in Cambridge, MA, of armed robbery, assault and sex offenses. He was sentenced to life in prison. Desalvo was killed in 1973 by a fellow inmate.

1972 – Former Rhodesian prime minister Garfield Todd and his daughter were placed under house arrest for campaigning against Rhodesian independence.

1975 – “The Jeffersons” debuted on CBS-TV.

1978 – The European Court of Human Rights cleared the British government of torture but found it guilty of inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners in Northern Ireland.

1985 – Mary Decker broke a world, indoor record when she ran the women’s, 2,000-meter race in 5:34.2. She also ran the outdoor mile in 4:16.7.

1987 – For the first time in history the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) was seen by over 100 million viewers. The audience was measured during the week of January 12-18.

1990 – A jury in Los Angeles, CA, acquitted former preschool operators Raymond Buckey and his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey, of 52 child molestation charges.

1990 – In an FBI sting, Washington, DC, Mayor Marion Barry was arrested for drug possession. He was later convicted of a misdemeanor.

1991 – Eastern Airlines shut down after 62 years in business due to financial problems.

1993 – The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was observed in all 50 U.S. states for the first time.

1995 – The “yahoo.com” domain was created.

1995 – A network of caves were discovered near the town of Vallon-Pont-d’Arc in southern France. The caves contained paintings and engravings that were 17,000 to 20,000 years old.

1997 – Hutu militiamen killed three Spanish aid workers and three soldiers and seriously wound an American in a night attack in NW Rwanda.

2000 – The Chinese web services company Baidu, Inc. was incorporated in Beijing.

2002 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the approval of a saliva-based ovulation test.

2012 – Wikipedia began a 24-hour “blackout” in protest against proposed anti-piracy legislation (S. 968 and H.R. 3261) known as the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House. Many websites, including Reddit, Google, Facebook, Amazon and others, contended would make it challenging if not impossible for them to operate.

Jaguars used to roam freely in the wild. But today, it’s estimated they occupy only half of their historic range.[1]We must take action before this beautiful species disappears completely. Sign your name to save jaguars from extinction: SIGN YOUR NAME >>

• 1773 Captain James Cook becomes 1st to cross Antarctic Circle (66° 33′ S)
• 1873 A group of Modoc warriors defeats the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, a part of the Modoc War

• 1912 Captain Robert Scott‘s expedition arrives at the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen
• 1946 United Nations Security Council holds its 1st meeting
• 1991 Operation Desert Storm begins, with US-led coalition forces bombing Iraq, during the Gulf War

• 1775 9 old women burnt as witches for causing bad harvests in Kalisk, Poland
• 1775 Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s play “The Rivals” premieres in London
• 1779 Captain James Cook‘s last notation in Discovery’s ship’s log
• 1799 Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriots, is executed
• 1871 1st cable car patented, by Andrew Smith Hallidie in the US (begins service in 1873)
• 1873 A group of Modoc warriors defeats the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, a part of the Modoc War
• 1874 Armed Democrats seize Texas government ending Radical Reconstruction
• 1882 1st Dutch female physician Aletta Jacobs opens her office
• 1885 Battle of Abu Klea (Battle of Abu Tulayh), Sudan: British Desert Column defeat Mahdist forces: 76 British and 1,100 Mahdists killed
• 1893 -17°F (-27°C), Millsboro, Delaware (state record)
• 1893 Queen Liliuokalani is deposed by an American coup, Kingdom of Hawaii becomes a republic
• 1893 Franco-Russian Alliance is signed
• 1895 French president Casimir-Perier resigns; Félix Faure installed.
• 1899 US takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific
• 1912 Captain Robert Scott‘s expedition arrives at the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen
• 1916 Rodman Wanamaker organises a lunch to discuss forming a golfers association (later the PGA) at the Taplow Club, Martinique Hotel, New York City
• 1917 US pays Denmark $25 million for Virgin Islands (or 3/21)
• 1920 Paul Deschanel elected President of France
• 1920 First day of prohibition of alcohol comes into effect in the US as a result of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution
• 1923 Belgian Working people Party protest against occupied Ruhrgebied
• 1923 Origin of Brown lunation numbers
• 1928 1st fully automatic photographic film developing machine patented
• 1929 Popeye makes 1st appearance, in comic strip “Thimble Theater”