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Date and Events General Knowledge January 3
General Knowledge – Importance of January 3
On this day…. in 1521 Martin Luther the founder of Protestantism was excommunicated by a papal bull issued by Pope Leo X after a deadline to recant his heretical views had ended.
Born on this day were: William Renshaw (1861-1904) and Ernest Renshaw (1861-1899), twin English brothers who introduced hard serves and volleys to the game of tennis when they first appeared together at Wimbledon in 1880. William won the Wimbledon singles championship seven times (1881-86 and 1889), defeating his brother in the finals three times. Ernest won in 1888, and together they won the British doubles championship seven times. In 1888 William was elected the first president of the British Lawn Tennis Association.
Also born on this day were: Robert Whitehead (1823-1905), British engineer who invented the modern torpedo; Joseph de Veuster (1840-1889), better known as Father Damien, the Belgian priest who devoted his life to missionary work among the Hawaiian lepers and who eventually died after contracting leprosy; Clement Attlee (1883-1967), British politician who as prime minister (1945-1951) presided over the granting of independence to India; T. Claude Ryan (1898-1982), American aircraft manufacturer who designed the Spirit of St. Louis in which Charles Lindberg made his historic trans-Atlantic flight; John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973), the British philologist and novelist who is famous for The Hobbit and the epic The Lord of the Rings; Ngo Dinh Diem (1901-1955), Vietnamese political leader who was president of South Vietnam, until his assassination; Ray Milland (1908-86), American actor; Mel Gibson (1956- ), Australian born Hollywood film actor; and Michael Schumacher, German racing champion who holds the record for the highest Grand Prix wins in Formula One racing.
GK World History – Importance of January 3
In 1880 the first issue of what would eventually become the Illustrated Weekly of India was published in Bombay. It was published as a weekly edition of The Times of India under the name the Times of India Overland Weekly Edition. It became the Illustrated Weekly of India in 1929.
In 1915 tear-gas was used for the first time in warfare by the Germans against the Russians in Poland; and in 1931 Joseph Jacques Cesaire Joffre, French Marshal and commander-in-chief of the French armies on the Western front during World War I died shortly before his 79th birthday.
In 1949 Everton Weekes (one of the ‘Three Ws’ – the others being Walcott and Worrell) completed his fifth consecutive Test century, scoring 162 and 101 in the third Test against India at Calcutta to achieve this still unequalled feat.
In 1967 Jack Ruby who shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald the assassin of John F. Kennedy Ruby died of a blood clot, complicated by cancer.
In 1979 Conrad Hilton, American businessman and founder of the Hilton chain of hotels died at the age of 91; and in 1980 the conservationist Joy Adamson was murdered by a disgruntled employee at Shaba National Reserve in Kenya.
