Once Upon A Time – Jan. 28 – 2017 – Serena Williams Defeats Older Sister Venus, Records 23rd Grand Slam Event Singles Victory

1521 Emperor Charles V opens the Diet of Worms in Worms, Germany which lasts until May 25th; Produced the “Edict of Worms” which denounced Martin Luther

1807 London’s Pall Mall is 1st street lit by gaslight

1813 Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” is published by Thomas Egerton in the United Kingdom

1819 Sir Stamford Raffles lands in Singapore

1834 Sarah L. H. Smith reaches Beirut, where she will devote her life and energy as a missionary to Syrian women.

1906 Conversion of Oswald J. Smith at a Robert A. Torrey evangelistic meeting. Smith becomes a notable evangelist as well as a hymnwriter.

1933 The name “Pakistan” is coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali and gradually accepted by Muslims in the Indian sub-continent who use it to push for a separate Muslim homeland in South Asia

1998 Michelangelo’s drawing of Jesus asking the Samaritain woman for a drink sells for $7.4 million at a Sotheby’s auction.

Historical Events Today

Today In Film & Tv

1951 “La Vie Commence Demain” the 1st X-rated movie, depicting artificial insemination, opens in London

Today In Music

1985 Charity single “We Are the World” is recorded by supergroup USA for Africa (Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and other pop stars)

Today In Sport

2017 Australian Open Women’s Tennis: Serena Williams defeats older sister Venus Williams 6–4, 6–4 for her 7th Australian title and record 23rd Grand Slam event singles victory

Would You Believe This Fact About Today?

1887 In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world’s largest snowflakes are reported, being 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick.