On this day in history, Dec. 31, 1880, statesman George C. Marshall is born.
Gen. George Marshall is best known as father of the Marshall Plan, which earned him a Nobel Peace Prize.



General George C. Marshall, as chief of staff, pictured at his headquarters in the War Department, located in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

 

December 31, 1973 - Australian band AC/DC made their live debut when they appeared at Chequers Bar in Sydney. No word on what happened to them after that... lol

With Bon Scott:

 

On this day years ago...

On this day, still years ago, but less

 

On this day in history, Jan. 1, 1953, country music legend Hank Williams dies.
Popular singer Williams was deemed the 'Hillbilly Shakespeare' of his time.


American country singer and songwriter Hank Williams started playing the guitar when he was just eight years old.

 

On January 1, 1804, Haiti declared its independence from France. Fuck colonialism! They're doing fine! Right? Right?

 

On this day in history, Jan. 2, 1920, thousands detained by DOJ in nationwide 'Palmer Raids'.
Violent dragnet marked height of Red Scare, flagrant abuse of constitutional restrictions on government.


Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer launched a series of unconstitutional raids on Jan. 2, 1920, arresting as many as 10,000 people suspected of being communists or anarchists. (Photo by Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

 

January 2, 1904 was the day the groundbreaking 'fan & bubble' dancer Sally Rand was born. She became known as one of the most scandalous women in America - right up there with Mae West.

 

And one of the most mesmerizing dancers ever.

 

On this day in history, Jan. 3, 1987, Aretha Franklin is first woman inducted into Rock Hall of Fame.


American musician Aretha Franklin performs on stage at the Park West Auditorium, Chicago, Illinois, on March 23, 1992. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)

 

Jan 3, 1945

US First Army launched an attack on the northern flank of the Ardennes bulge in Belgium forcing three German Panzer divisions to withdraw from the front lines toward the interior of the bulge.

Meanwhile, 1,100 Allied bombers, escorted by 11 fighter groups, bombed railroad and communications centers in western Germany.

 

On January 3, 1929, Italian director Sergio Leone, famous for inventing the 'Spaghetti Western' was born.

His mother:


His father:

 

On this day in history, Jan. 4, 1965, LBJ touts utopian 'Great Society' in State of the Union address.
President's plan failed to win 'war on poverty' but succeeded in ballooning size of federal bureaucracy.


President Lyndon B. Johnson delivering a State of the Union message to a joint session of Congress. LBJ outlined his vision of a "Great Society" in the address on Jan. 4, 1965. (Getty Images)

 

On January 4, 1936, Billboard magazine published its 1st music hit parade, which morphed over time into the Billboard Top 100.

Later, the Top 200 album charts were established, and still, the all-time winner remains Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' with an astounding 917 weeks.

 

On this day in history, Jan. 5, 1933, construction begins on Golden Gate Bridge amid great fanfare.
Longest bridge in the world when completed, colossal engineering marvel symbolized audacious spirit of America.


Picture dated October 1935 of the Golden Gate Bridge, in the San Francisco Bay, during construction. The construction began on January 5, 1933, and the bridge was inaugurated on May 27, 1937, by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who pushed a button in Washington, D.C., signaling the official start of vehicle traffic over the bridge. The idea of engineer Joseph Strauss, it was the largest suspension bridge in the world. (AFP via Getty Images)

 

That was on Through the Decades this morning.

 

On January 5th 1914, Ford Motor Company raised their workers salaries to five dollars per day.

 

On this day in history, Jan. 6, 1941, FDR delivers Four Freedoms speech, steeling Americans for World War II.
State of the Union address called for Americans to defend universal human values such as freedom of speech, religion.


President Franklin Delano delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 1941. It would be remembered as his "Four Freedoms" speech. (Photo by Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

 

On this date in 1919, one of the greatest presidents in the history of the US passed away at the unfortunately early age of 60. His death was undoubtedly accelerated by tropical diseases picked up in the Amazon basin during his 1916 expedition there.

 

On January 6, 1759, George Washington, who would become the first president of the United States, married Martha Dandridge in Virginia.



Happy anniversary, you crazy kids!!!

 

On January 6, 1838, Samuel Morse’s telegraph system is demonstrated for the first time at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, New Jersey. The telegraph, a device which used electric impulses to transmit encoded messages over a wire, would eventually revolutionize long-distance communication, reaching the height of its popularity in the 1920s and 1930s.