Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem “The Raven,” beginning
“Once upon a midnight dreary,”was published on this day
in the New York Evening Mirror in 1845.

Poe’s dark and macabre work reflected his own tumultuous
and difficult life. Born in Boston in 1809,

Poe was orphaned at age three and went to live with the
family of a Richmond, Virginia, businessman.

Poe studied at the University of Virginia but was expelled
for gambling. He later enrolled briefly at a military
academy. 

On January 20, 1981, minutes after Ronald Reagan’s inauguration
as the 40th president of the United States, the 52 U.S. captives
held at the U.S. embassy in Teheran, Iran, are released, ending
the 444-day Iran Hostage Crisis.

On January 20, 1961, on the newly renovated east front of
the United States Capitol, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was
inaugurated as the 35th president of the United States.

It was a cold and clear day, and the nation’s capital was
covered with a snowfall from the previous night.

The ceremony began with a religious invocation and prayers,
and then African American opera singer Marian Anderson
sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and Robert Frost recited
his poem “The Gift Outright.” Kennedy was administered the
oath of office by Chief Justice Earl Warren.       
        

    
   

President George H.W. Bush announcing the start of the 
Persian Gulf war.

At midnight in Iraq, the United Nations deadline for the Iraqi
withdrawal from Kuwait expires, and the Pentagon prepares
to commence offensive operations to forcibly eject Iraq from
its five-month occupation of its oil-rich neighbor.

The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting
the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating
liquors for beverage purposes,” was ratified by the
requisite number of states on January 16, 1919.      

The movement for the prohibition of alcohol began in
the early 19th century, when Americans concerned
about the adverse effects of drinking began forming
temperance societies.       

       
By the late 19th century, these groups had become a
powerful political force, campaigning on the state level
and calling for total national abstinence.

In December 1917, the 18th Amendment, also known
as the Prohibition Amendment, was passed by Congress
and sent to the states for ratification.