History for January 8

History for January 8 - On-This-Day.com:
James Longstreet 1821 - U.S. Civil War general, Soupy Sales (Milton Hines) 1926 - Comedian (Host: The Soupy Sales Show), Elvis Presley 1935 - Musician, known as "the King of rock 'n' roll" 


Bob Eubanks 1938 - Game show host ("The Newlywed Game"), Stephen Hawking 1942 - Theoretical physicist, writer ("A Brief History of Time"), David Bowie (David Robert Jones) 1947 Singer, movies ("The Man Who Fell to Earth", "Labyrinth", "Basquiat"), Broadway ("The Elephant Man") 


1675 - The first corporation was chartered in the United States. The company was the New York Fishing Company. 


1815 - The Battle of New Orleans began. The War of 1812 had officially ended on December 24, 1814, with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. The news of the signing had not reached British troops in time to prevent their attack on New Orleans. 


1856 - Borax (hydrated sodium borate) was discovered by Dr. John Veatch. 


1889 - The tabulating machine was patented by Dr. Herman Hollerith. His firm, Tabulating Machine Company, later became International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). 


1900 - In South Africa, General White turned back the Boers attack of Ladysmith. 


1958 - Bobby Fisher, at the age of 14, won the United States Chess Championship for the first time. 


1964 - U.S. President Lyndon Johnson declared a "War on Poverty." 

1994 - Tonya Harding won the ladies' U.S. Figure Skating Championship in Detroit, MI, a day after Nancy Kerrigan dropped out because of a clubbing attack that injured her right knee. The U.S. Figure Skating Association later took the title from Harding because of her involvement in the attack.