January 26 in history — On This Day

A photograph taken after the 1871 fire can make Chicago look as though its future had been decided by a wall of flame. A view from around 1905 tells a different story: tall offices, busy transport routes and commercial streets crowded again.

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The Hale Telescope records its first light

Also on January 26

Franco’s troops enter Barcelona

India’s independence movement observes a day of self-rule

This Week in History

Journalist Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Karachi

Roberta Bondar becomes Canada’s first woman in space

Kosmos 954 scatters debris across northern Canada

The siege of Khe Sanh begins

AI History Recreations

Politics

India’s independence movement observes a day of self-rule

War & Conflict

Franco’s troops enter Barcelona

Space

Kosmos 954 scatters debris across northern Canada

Technology

Karl Benz files his motor-car patent

History

The Iron Guard launches a rebellion and pogrom in Bucharest

Saima begins publishing in Kuopio

Tang-era cargo from the Belitung wreck goes on display

Crime & Justice

Journalist Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Karachi

A Chilean court issues sentences in the Chiloé witchcraft trial

A deadly school attack takes place in Moscow

Science

The Hale Telescope records its first light

Nature’s February 15 issue carries a draft human genome sequence

Alfred Wegener presents continental drift

Medicine & Health

The Bundaberg vaccine contamination disaster unfolds

Researchers identify the bacterium behind Legionnaires’ disease

Hong Kong Begins a Mass Poultry Cull Against Bird Flu

Nature & Disasters

The Messina Earthquake

The Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami

The Andes Flight Survivors' Rescue Is Completed

Exploration

Amundsen's Team Reaches the South Pole

Tasman's Expedition Sights New Zealand

Francis Drake Begins His Circumnavigation Voyage

Sport

The Montreal Canadiens Are Founded

FC Barcelona Is Founded

Magic Johnson Announces He Has HIV and Retires From the Lakers

Art & Literature

James Joyce’s Ulysses appears in book form

Aleksis Kivi’s Seven Brothers appears in installments

Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard premieres in Moscow

Music

Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov reaches the stage

Bach presents his cantata on the Song of Simeon

Handel’s Ariodante opens at Covent Garden

Film & TV

Ouagadougou opens its first African film festival

A Paris cinema demonstrates digital projection

Jafar Panahi’s Taxi wins the Golden Bear

The Story Behind the Photo

Chicago After the Fire: From Burned Blocks to a New Skyline

Collections

The Road to the Moon

Fires That Changed Cities

The Age of Invention

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