January 20, 1909 (Wednesday)
- A fire at the 68th Street water crib, which supplied drinking water to Chicago from Lake Michigan, killed 70 construction workers. Most were burned to death, but some died after jumping into the icy lake waters.
- General Motors purchased a one-half interest in the Oakland Motor Company of Pontiac, Michigan, acquiring full control after the death a few months later of its founder, Edward Murphy. After the creation of the Pontiac division in 1926 as a companion to Oakland in 1926, GM would discontinue the Oakland Motor division in 1932.
- Born: William "Spike" Eckert, MLB Commissioner 1965-68; in Madison, Indiana (d. 1971); and Gogen Yamaguchi, Japanese karate teacher, in MiyakonojĊ; (d. 1989)
Read more about this topic: January 1909
Famous quotes containing the word january:
“and you undid the reins
and I undid the buttons,
the bones, the confusions,
The New England postcards,
the January ten o’clock night,
and we rose up like wheat....”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)