TODAY IN HISTORY: Hollywood star fought to keep plane seat before crash that killed all on-board
January 16
Hollywood actress Carole Lombard refused to give up her seat on a flight on January 16, 1942.
Lombard and her entourage were asked to give up their seats for a group of Army Air Force personnel.
But arguing that because of her war bond efforts she was essential to the trip, she was allowed to reboard.
Soon after a refuelling stop, the plane crashed straight into a near-vertical cliff, killing all on board.
Lombard's final film To Be or Not To Be was in post-production when she died.
The film's producers reportedly cut a line from her performance in which she remarked, "What can happen on a plane?"
Lombard's widower Clark Gable was in a strong legal position to sue the airline for a substantial payout.
But too grief-stricken to go through a court case, he settled his claim for just $10.
Despite marrying twice more in his life, Gable would be buried next to Lombard.
A London theatre packed out with spectators on January 16, 1749, after an advertisement announcing an acrobat who could fit inside an empty wine bottle.
The newspaper advertisement declared a man would also take any ordinary walking stick and play it like "every instrument now in use".
When nobody showed up to perform on the night, the crowd rioted.
Theatre benches were torn up and debris was burned in the street.
The wider consensus is that John Montagu, Second Duke of Montagu, was responsible for the prank.
"All his talents lie in things only natural in boys of fifteen years old, and he is about two and fifty," his mother-in-law lamented.
A telegram was sent between the governments of Germany and Mexico on January 16, 1917, with the former urging the latter to go to war with the USA.
Anxious to keep the USA occupied if it entered World War I, the Germans proposed the alliance.
The telegram sent by German foreign minister Arthur Zimmermann offered German financial support if Mexico invaded the USA.
In exchange, Germany would support Mexico annexing New Mexico, Arizona and Texas.
The Mexican government was unconvinced of German reliability and convinced the US would beat them in a war.
The message was intercepted by the British, and caused a firestorm of controversy when it was revealed to the US.
Four months later, the US Congress voted to declare war on Germany.
The Superman comic strip was first published in US newspapers on January 16, 1939.
The strips ran continuously until 1966, with readership peaking at 20 million.
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