This Month in History
January
Abigail Guy
Embedded Files
January 1st, 1863: The Emancipation Proclamation is Signed
During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This document declared that, “all persons held as slaves… [they] are, and henceforth shall be free.” Unfortunately, the proclamation didn’t completely end slavery because of geographical and political exceptions, although it was a big step in the right direction. It changed the meaning of the war, now the fight was to free everyone, and black men were officially allowed to join the Union Army and Navy. The original document is now held in the National Archives in Washington, DC.
January 4th, 1998: The Great Ice Storm of ‘98
In the new year of 1998, eastern Ontario, southern Québec, and parts of the northeastern United States were hit with a catastrophic ice storm. This storm would last six days, leaving behind over 80 mm of ice. Power lines collapsed, and branches broke off trees due to the weight of all the ice. An estimated 4.7 million Canadians lost power because of this storm. This was a significant problem since most families now had no heating in the middle of a Canadian winter. Almost 1,000 Canadians were injured and 35 died during the storm from various causes like hypothermia, trauma, fire, and carbon monoxide poisoning (from using things like barbeques in an improperly ventilated space). It took several weeks for power to be fully restored, and 400,000 Canadians were still without power two weeks after the storm. All in all, there ended up being $3 million USD in economic loss.
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces walk in front of a tree heavy with ice in Quebec. Cred. Robert Galbraith/Canadian Press. Via. CBC
January 9th, 2007: Steve Jobs Reveals the iPhone
Crazy to think that it was this month 15 years ago, the CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, announced the release of the first model of the iPhone. At the time, it was a revolutionary product - something that could call, take pictures, and access the internet all in one. The phone was released in June of that year for a price of $499 USD (or $599 depending on the storage), and by November, more than 1.4 million of them had been sold. As we all know, that success continues, and there are now a dozen models of iPhones.
January 12th, 2010: Haiti Gets Hit With a 7.0 Magnitude Earthquake
Haiti, because of where it is situated near the border of two tectonic plates, sees a lot of seismic activity. On the evening of the 12th of January in 2010, a massive earthquake struck the country. It had a magnitude of 7.0 (on a scale out of 10; this was a strong quake) and the epicenter was only 25km from the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince. There were eight aftershocks on the same day, and this quake was felt as far away as Venezuela. Due to the country’s poverty, their infrastructure was not well equipped to handle the earthquake, so it caused a lot of destruction, and their infrastructure was demolished. 300,000 buildings were damaged - most of them houses, and roads were rendered unusable. Destroyed hospitals made the rescue efforts that much harder. The death toll was so massive that it is near impossible to properly count. The government of Haiti estimated it to be around 316,000 people, and almost 1 million were displaced. Humanitarian aid came from all over the world to help. Recently, in August of 2021, Haiti was hit with another earthquake (magnitude of 7.2), although as it stands now it seems to have been slightly less devastating.
Cred. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. Via History.com
The crew of Challenger. Cred. JSC/NASA. Via. Encyclopedia Britannica
January 28th, 1986: The Space Shuttle Challenger Explodes
In Cape Canaveral, Florida, 1986, the US space shuttle Challenger was getting ready to embark on its 10th mission to space. After a series of technical difficulties and setbacks, the launch was finally set for the 28th of January. Challenger was going to be taking a crew of seven to space, one of whom was a teacher, Christa McAuliffe, who had been selected through a screening process to teach some lessons from space. Unfortunately, the crew never made it, as the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after launch on live television. None of the crew survived; however, they most likely survived the initial explosion, only to be knocked unconscious by the sudden change in air pressure and killed due to lack of oxygen. This tragedy was blamed on the cold snap that hit the area right before the launch causing a mechanical malfunction. In the wake of this disaster, NASA made sure to make adjustments to their future missions to prioritize crew safety, and the remains of the Challenger were buried and sealed in abandoned missile silos at Cape Canaveral, where they still are to this day.
Sources:
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. "Challenger disaster." Britannica, 30 Nov. 2021, www.britannica.com/event/Challenger-disaster. Accessed 17 Jan. 2022.
"The Emancipation Proclamation." National Archives, US National Archives and Records Administration, 5 Aug. 2021, www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation. Accessed 18 Jan. 2022.
History.com Editors. "Massive earthquake strikes Haiti." History, A&E Television Networks, 18 Jan. 2022, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/massive-earthquake-strikes-haiti. Accessed 18 Jan. 2022.
---. "Steve Jobs debuts the iPhone." History, A&E Television Networks, 7 Jan. 2020, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/steve-jobs-debuts-the-iphone. Accessed 19 Jan. 2022.
Howell, Elizabeth. "Challenger: The shuttle disaster that changed NASA." Space, Future US, 1 May 2019, www.space.com/18084-space-shuttle-challenger.html. Accessed 17 Jan. 2022.
RMS. The 1998 Ice Storm: 10-Year Retrospective. Risk Management Solutions, 2008, forms2.rms.com/rs/729-DJX-565/images/wtr_1998_ice_storm_10_retrospective.pdf. Accessed 16 Jan. 2022.
Steuter-Martin, Marilla ·, and Loreen Pindera. "Looking back on the 1998 ice storm 20 years later." CBC, 4 Jan. 2018, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ice-storm-1998-1.4469977. Accessed 16 Jan. 2022.
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