On January 4, 1847, Samuel Colt rescues the future of his
faltering gun company by winning a contract to provide
the U.S. government with 1,000 of his .44 caliber revolvers

Before Colt began mass-producing his popular revolvers
in 1847, handguns had not played a significant role in the
history of either the American West or the nation as a
whole.

View of the Colt Factory from Dutch Point or Little River, Hartford, oil painting.

Drawing of an early Colt pistol, ca. 1835.
(Connecticut Historical Society)        

On January 4, 1996, General Motors announced at the Greater
Los Angeles Auto Show it will build an electric car, dubbed
the EV1, to be launched in the fall of that year.

When it debuted ,the EV1 was made available to consumers
in just two states, Arizona and California, and for lease-only,
as GM considered the development of electric car technology
to be ongoing.

During its years in production, from 1996 to 1999, around 2,500
EV1s were produced in total. In late 2003, GM announced it was
pulling the plug on the EV1 program and wouldn’t renew any
leases.

Thomas Stearns Eliot was a poet, essayist and playwright. He
was a leading figure in English-language Modernist poetry
where he reinvigorated the art through the use of language,
writing style, and verse structure. He is also noted for his
critical essays, which often re-evaluated long-held cultural
beliefs.

Eliot died of emphysema at his home in Kensington in London
at age 76 and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. In accordance with his wishes, his ashes were taken to St Michael
and All Angels’ Church, East Coker, the village in Somerset from
which his Eliot ancestors had emigrated to America.

A wall plaque in the church commemorates him with a quotation
from his poem East Coker: "In my beginning is my end. In my
end is my beginning." 

Aretha Louise Franklin (March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018)

On January 3, 1987, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame admits its first
woman: Aretha Franklin. Fewer than 100 female performers—
less than 10 percent—have been added since the Hall began
its induction ceremonies.

In 1986, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its first group
of inductees: Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Fats
Domino, James Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Ray
Charles, Sam Cooke and the Everly Brothers.        
        
        
        
        
        
  

Recent photos taken by India’s Space Research Organization moon orbiter, known as Chandrayaan 2, clearly show the
Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 landing sites more than 50 years
later. (India Space Research Organization)

The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter (above) was equipped with
eight instruments to study the moon, including a lunar
terrain mapping camera and a sensor to study the
moon’s thin exosphere.