Monthly Archives: January 2019

January 12, 1998

Posted on January 12, 2019 by Joel Byers

On January 12, 1998, nineteen nations decided to ban the cloning of humans. The Council of Europe issued an amendment to its ‘Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine”, where it and its member nations prohibit any intervention seeking to create a human being identical to another human being, whether living or dead. Russia, not being … Continue reading →

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January 11, 1964

Posted on January 11, 2019 by Joel Byers

On January 11, 1964, US Surgeon General Luther Terry issued the first government report that smoking may be hazardous to a smokers’ health. One out of ten doctors disagreed. That doctor, Matt Montgomery Wilder, MD Esq, said that not only was smoking good for you, but that it would make a sixteen year old girl … Continue reading →

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January 10, 1946

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Joel Byers

On January 10, 1946, Project Diana was successfully completed. The United States Army Signal Corps bounced radio waves off the Moon and received the reflected signals, thereby proving that the Moon was real and probably not made of brie, green or otherwise. Flat Earthers cried foul, claiming that the US Army’s science was inadmissible, as … Continue reading →

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January 9, 1793

Posted on January 9, 2019 by Joel Byers

On January 9, 1793, Frenchman, Jean Pierre Blanchard made the first balloon flight in North America. Aeronaut Blanchard lifted off from the Walnut Street Prison in Philadephia, setting the stage for future prison breaks in books and movies, and floated over the Pennsylvania countryside. Coincidentally, this is also the first semi-documented UFO sightings made over … Continue reading →

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January 8, 2002

Posted on January 8, 2019 by Joel Byers

On January 8, 2002, George W Bush signed into U.S. law the “No Child Left Behind Act. This law was intended to improve the United States’ educational system. US evangelicals mistakenly thought it was a reference to the ‘Rapture’ and was worried that the new law would help black, brown and Jewish children get into … Continue reading →

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January 7, 1985

Posted on January 7, 2019 by Joel Byers

On January 7, 1985, Japan launched its first interplanetary spacecraft, named the Sakigake. This was the first deep space probe launched by a nation not named the United States or the USSR. To the disappointment of future anime fans, the ship was not a Gundam Mecha nor did it have teenage Japanese girls wearing battle … Continue reading →

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