Images in History

The New York Stock Ex- change opens its offices on January 4, 1865 at 10-12 Broad Street, near Wall Street.

Philippine President Manuel Quezon (1878-1944) arrives in Washington, D.C. on January 4, 1934 for a state visit

Arabs and Jews battle for control of the Wailing Wall on January 4, 1948. The Wailing Wall, located in the old city of Jerusalem (also known as The Western Wall) is considered to be the holiest shrine in the city.

Edmund Hillary (Sir Edmund Percival Hillary; 1919-2008) arrives at the South Pole on January 4, 1958, the first explorer to visit this remote area since Robert Falcon Scott in 1912. Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay were the first to climb Mt. Everest, the world's highest peak, in 1953.

At right, a PBY Catalina flying boat scouts the Aleutians on January 4, 1942, which Japanese forces invaded at Kiska and Attu on June 6-7, 1942.

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908- 1973), 36th President (Democrat) of the U.S., announces his "Great Society" in his State of the Union speech on January 4, 1965.

Nancy Pelosi (1940- ), at right, Democratic Congresswoman from the 8th Congressional District of California since 1987, becomes the first female Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives on January 4, 2007.

Samuel Colt (1814-1862), American inventor and industrialist, sold his first revolver pistol to the U.S. government on January 4, 1847. Colt went on to produce a wide assortment of firearms. One of the most widely purchased was the pocket-sized automatic .25-caliber pistol, as shown in a 1913 advertisement.

Actress Barbara Rush
Born January 4, 1927
Shown with husband/actor
Jeffrey Hunter, California, 1954.

Actor Julian Sands
Born January 4, 1958
Shown with Twiggy
in The Doctor and
the Devils (1985)

Actor James Edwards
Born March 6, 1918
Died January 4, 1970
Shown as a G.I. in
The Steel Helmet (1953).

Actor Iron Eyes Cody
Born April 3, 1907
Died January 4, 1999
Shown at right menacing
Robert Mitchum in
Blood on the Moon (1948)

Elvis Presley (Elvis Aron Presley, 1935-1977) recorded his first demo record on January 4, 1954, a 10-minute demo at Sun Records in Memphis Tennessee of his own songs (he had made an acetate recording of the same songs for his mother in 1953). In July 1954, the young singer, who became "The King" of Rock 'n' Roll, made his first commercial recording with a song entitled "That's All Right (Mama)"—a song originated by black blues musician Arthur Crudup. Presley became a worldwide phenomenon, making his first film in 1956, Love Me Tender (right). He went on to make many more movies. He was inducted into four music halls of fame.