Today, January 22

1879 – Near Isandlwana hill in Zululand, South Africa, greatly outnumbered British Army, colonial and native troops are defeated in detail and slaughtered by Zulu Impi forces of King Cetshwayo kaMpande .
Later in the day at Rorke’s Drift Station, Natal colony, around 10 miles from Isandlwana, greatly outnumbered British Army and colonial troops, using different defensive tactics, repeatedly repel and defeat a force of Zulus who had been unused reserves at the previous battle.

1901 – Queen Victoria – at the time the then longest ruling British monarch – dies, age 81, at her estate on the Isle of Wight. Her eldest son is proclaimed King Edward VII.

1906 – The Red D Line’s SS Valencia, sailing on the San Francisco–Seattle route, misses the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, strikes a reef off Cape Beale of Vancouver Island, British Columbia and runs aground resulting in the deaths of 136 of the 173 passengers and crew aboard.

1917 – President Woodrow Wilson of the still neutral United States calls for “peace without victory” in Europe, during World War I.

1944 – Allied forces commence Operation Shingle, an assault on Anzio and Nettuno, Italy during World War II.

1946 – President Truman establishes the National Intelligence Authority whose operational division, the Central Intelligence Group, is the direct forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency.

1947 – KTLA, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi River, begins operation in Hollywood.

1957 – The New York City “Mad Bomber”, George P. Metesky, is arrested in Waterbury, Connecticut and charged with planting more than 30 bombs.

1970 –  Pan American Airways begins intercontinental air service between New York City and London, flying the Boeing 747.

1973 – The same day that former President Lyndon Johnson dies, age 64, at his home in Johnson City Texas, the Supreme Court delivers its decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, legalizing elective abortion in all fifty states for the next 49 years.

1982 – At a live news conference the day before he was to be sentenced for being convicted of bribery as the Treasurer of Pennsylvania, R. Budd Dwyer commits suicide. As he died while still officially in office, per Pennsylvania law, his wife receives his full survivor pension benefits of over $1.28 million.

1984 – The Apple Macintosh computer is introduced

2002 – Kmart becomes the largest retailer in United States history to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

2009 – President Obama signs an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, which is overridden by Congress.

2018 – Celebrating the 90th anniversary year of her debut, Minerva ‘Minnie’ Mouse receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.