THURSDAY, Jan. 15, 2026

588-BC Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah's reign. The siege lasts until July 23, 586 BC.

1535-King Henry VIII declares himself head of the Church in England

1559-Elizabeth I crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London

1759-British Museum opens in Montague House, London

1902-Abdulaziz Ibn Saud leads 40 men over the walls of Riyadh and takes the city, marking the beginning of the Third Saudi State

1945-The Manhattan Project's G-5 Group, headed by Physicist's Donald Kerst and Seth Neddermeyer, take their first betatron pictures of a nuclear implosion at the Los Alamos Laboratory

2001-Wikipedia, a free Wiki or content encyclopedia, is launched by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger

2009-Chesley Sullenberger lands U.S. Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in NYC. All passengers and crew members survive in what becomes known as the "Miracle on the Hudson"