What Happened on January 19?

January 19 is National Popcorn Day! It's also Edgar Allan Poe's birthday and the day Georgia voted to secede, Howard Hughes smashed a flight record, and Indira Gandhi made history.

• 1861 — Georgia votes to secede from the Union

  At a convention in Milledgeville, Georgia delegates voted 208 to 89 to leave the United States — a decisive step toward the Civil War. Read the full story →

• 1937 — Howard Hughes shatters the transcontinental flight record

  Flying his custom H-1 Racer non-stop from Burbank to Newark, Howard Hughes crossed America in 7 hours 28 minutes — beating his own record by over two hours. Read the full story →

• 1955 — Eisenhower holds the first president's news conference filmed for TV

  Movie cameras recorded President Eisenhower's news conference for the first time, letting Americans see and hear their president answer reporters' questions that night on TV. Read the full story →

• 1966 — Indira Gandhi becomes India's first woman prime minister

  Winning a dramatic party leadership vote 355 to 169, Indira Gandhi became the first woman ever elected to lead the world's largest democracy. Read the full story →

Famous birthdays

Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) · Dolly Parton (1946) · Janis Joplin (1943–1970)

Days & observances

National Popcorn Day · National Tin Can Day · Brew a Potion Day