#TodayInHistory – January 3

January 3 – Some important events on this day

1496 👉🏼 Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine

1521 👉🏼 Martin Luther is Excommunicated by Pope Leo X from the Roman Catholic Church for failing to recant parts of his Ninety-five Theses which started the Protestant Reformation.
By 1521, the religious revolution started by Martin Luther in 1517 when he nailed his Ninety-Five theses on the door of a church in Wittenburg, Germany, had reached a crescendo. The Catholic pope Leo X, against whose church the Ninety-Five theses were a complaint, had demanded in 1520 that Luther renounce and recant his beliefs. Luther refused, and publicly burned the bull containing the threat.
Luther was brought before the Diet of Worms (an imperial gathering presided over by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V) and defended his position, but the Emperor proclaimed the Edict of Worms, banning Luther’s writings and teachings from the German people. Luther went into hiding with a sympathetic prince, where he wrote his Luther Bible, the first in vernacular German rather than Latin. This had a huge impact on the Church and German people as the laity could now read the Bible themselves.
In spite of his excommunication, the Reformation had a huge impact on European society and politics, causing a schism in the Catholic church and the emergence of Protestant and Lutheran states.

1777 👉🏼 General George Washington’s revolutionary army defeats British forces at Battle of Princeton, New Jersey

1870 👉🏼 Construction begins on New York’s Brooklyn Bridge; completed May 24, 1883.
US President Chester A. Arthur and New York Governor Grover Cleveland (himself a future president) turned out in New York to officially open the Brooklyn Bridge across the East River, connecting New York and Brooklyn for the first time. The bridge is often featured in wide shots in television shows and movies set in New York, and is an iconic piece of American architecture.
At the time the Brooklyn Bridge was an engineering marvel and the largest suspension bridge ever built. Designed by John A. Roebling, who died in 1869 and whose son took over construction of the project, it was built between 1870 and 1883. Construction was a prolonged affair due to numerous controversies over the relatively novel design of the bridge and accidents such as damaging fires.
The bridge was originally designed to carry horse and carriages; it has been renovated and expanded several times since its construction. The bridge had a dramatic effect on New York history by connecting the two cities; Brooklyn eventually merged with New York formally in 1898.

1925 👉🏼 Benito Mussolini dissolves the Italian parliament and proclaims himself dictator of Italy, taking the title “Il Duce” (the Leader)
1956 👉🏼 A fire damages the top part of the Eiffel Tower
1977 👉🏼 Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs incorporate Apple Computer, Inc
1985 👉🏼 Israel government confirms resettlement of 10,000 Ethiopian Jews
1996 👉🏼 1st clamshell flip mobile phone, the Motorola StarTAC, goes on sale. Eventually 60 million are sold.
2018 👉🏼 Previously unknown ancient Beringians group of people unearthed in Alaska, earliest known Native Americans at 11,500 years old
2018 👉🏼 First bionic hand with a sense of touch, for use outside a lab unveiled in Rome