Today in history—January 1
1735: Businessman Paul Revere (left), whose name will become synonymous with silver, is born in Boston.
1815: Samuel Cunliffe Lister, the inventor of wool-combing and silk-spinning machines who became a major mill owner, is born. The company he founds at age 23, Lister-Corniche Fabrics, is still in business.
1890: Real estate boosters in Pasadena, California, eager to lure Easterners to their marvelous climate, create the first Tournament of Roses Parade. Two thousand people watch the horse-drawn floats followed by foot races, polo matches and tugs-of-war on the town lot.
1909: Barry Morris Goldwater, whose career in the family department store business will be interrupted by World War II, is born at Prescott, Arizona Territory.
1934: Lumber tycoon James Greeley McGowin (left) dies. When his estate stops paying a small pension to Joe Webb, the latter will sue.
1964: Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code goes into effect in Michigan.
1968: Performing a stunt for Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, stuntman Evel Knievel loses control of his motorcycle while attempting to jump the casino fountains and is badly injured.
1971: Under pressure from the government, commercial broadcasters ban cigarette advertising.
1976: NBC television, which has used a peacock as its emblem since color television began, with great hoopla announces a new, stylized “N” as its new logo. It spent a million dollars developing it. Only after launching it did NBC discover that Nebraska Public Television was already using the same logo.
1998: The California state government bans smoking in bars. Smoking has been replaced by state lotto games on television screens.
1999: Eleven European countries launch the new “Euro” currency. The original group is made up of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Portugal, and Luxembourg.
2000: The world does not end, even though experts had predicted that the Y2K bug would create massive disruptions in all developed countries.