On this day 8th January

Some notable facts about this date, for more, visit http://www.onthisday.com

Facts

1656 Oldest surviving commercial newspaper begins (Haarlem, Netherlands)

1790 1st US President George Washington delivers 1st state of the union address

1835 The United States national debt is 0 for the first and only time.

1912 Chiefs, representatives of people's and church organisations, and other prominent individuals form the African National Congress and declare its aim to bring all Africans together as one people to defend their rights and freedoms

1916 WWI: ANZAC forces withdraw from the Gallipoli Peninsula after Ottoman forces successfully defend access to Constantinople

1926 Abdulaziz Ibn Saud becomes King of Nejd and Hejaz; forerunner of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Deaths

1324 Marco Polo, Venetian explorer, dies at 69

1642 Galileo Galilei, Italian physicist/astronomer, dies at 77 in Italy

1825 Eli Whitney, American inventor (Cotton Gin), dies of prostate cancer at 59

1880 Joshua Abraham Norton, [Emperor Norton] Self-proclaimed US Emperor/Protector of Mexico, dies at 60

1941 Robert Baden-Powell, British founder of the Boy Scout movement, dies at 83

1946 Dion Fortune, British occultist and author dies at 55

1972 Kenneth Patchen, American writer (See You in the Morning), dies at 60

1976 Zhou Enlai, Premier of the People's Republic of China, dies of bladder cancer at 77

1990 Terry Thomas [Thomas Terry Stevens], British actor (It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World), dies of Parkinson's disease at 78

1996 Francois Mitterrand, President of France (1981-95), dies of cancer at 79

2006 Tony Banks, British politician (b. 1943)

2007 Iwao Takamoto, American animator (b. 1925)

Sport

1931 Philadelphia Quakers set then NHL record of 15 straight loses

1962 Golfer Jack Nicklaus, 21, 1st pro appearance, he came in 50th

Films and TV

1966 The Who & the Kinks perform on the last "Shindig" TV show on ABC

2009 14th Critics' Choice Movie Awards: Slumdog Millionaire wins Best Film

Born on this day

1969 R. Kelly [Robert Sylvester Kelly], American R&B singer (I Wish I Could Fly), born in Chicago, Illinois

1983 Kim Jong-un, Supreme Leader of North Korea (2011-), born in Pyongyang

A Couple of Pics from those no longer with us

Terry Thomas

Tony Banks