On This Day
What Happened on January 14 in History
9 events that happened on January 14, oldest first. Every entry is written in our own words and links to its source.
Colonial America and the Revolution
1639 (Old Style date)
Connecticut settlers adopted the Fundamental Orders, often called the first written constitution in America.
Representatives of Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield approved the framework, which set up an elected government for the colony. It is one reason Connecticut calls itself the Constitution State.
Source: history.com; avalon.law.yale.edu
1784
The Continental Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris, formally ending the Revolutionary War.
In the treaty Britain recognized the independence of its 13 former colonies as the United States of America. It was called the Second Treaty of Paris to tell it apart from the 1763 treaty that ended the Seven Years' War.
Source: history.com
The Young Republic and the Civil War Era
1875
Albert Schweitzer, the doctor and humanitarian who won the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize, was born in Alsace.
Schweitzer was also a theologian and a noted organist. In 1913 he opened a hospital at Lambarene in what is now Gabon, where he worked for most of the rest of his life.
Source: history.com; archive.nytimes.com
The Early 1900s and the World Wars
1942
Franklin Roosevelt ordered noncitizens from Japan, Germany and Italy to register with the government.
Presidential Proclamation 2537 required registration with the Justice Department and issued identity certificates. It was an early step toward the internment of Japanese Americans later that year.
Source: history.com; presidency.ucsb.edu
1943
Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill opened their wartime conference at Casablanca.
Meeting in Morocco, the two leaders planned the next stages of the war against the Axis powers. Roosevelt had flown across the Atlantic for the talks.
Source: archive.nytimes.com
The Cold War
1963
George Wallace was inaugurated governor of Alabama, vowing segregation forever.
His inaugural speech, with its pledge of segregation now, tomorrow and forever, made him a national symbol of resistance to the civil rights movement.
Source: history.com; npr.org
1967
The Human Be-In in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park drew more than 20,000 people.
Billed as a gathering of tribes, the event brought together the city's counterculture and helped set the stage for the Summer of Love.
Source: history.com
1969
A rocket explosion and fire aboard the carrier USS Enterprise near Pearl Harbor killed 27 people.
An accidentally detonated rocket set off a chain of blasts that destroyed 15 aircraft and injured more than 300. The Enterprise was the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
Source: history.com
1973
The Miami Dolphins beat Washington 14-7 in Super Bowl VII to finish the NFL's only perfect season.
The win capped a 17-0 season, a record no other team has matched. Miami had lost the previous Super Bowl to the Dallas Cowboys.
Source: history.com