Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 January 30

Literary Hall

The Romney Literary Society, established on January 30, 1819, as the Polemic Society of Romney, was the first literary society in what is now West Virginia, and one of the first in the United States. It was founded by nine prominent Romney men with the objectives of advancing literature and science, purchasing and maintaining a library, and improving educational opportunities. The society debated a range of scientific and social topics, and often violated its own rules banning religious and political subjects. The society's library began in 1819 and grew to contain around 3,000 volumes in 1861. The organization also sought to establish an institution for "the higher education of the youth of the community". During the Civil War the contents of the library were plundered by Union Army forces. The society was reorganized in 1869 and took a leading role in Romney's civil development. In 1870 the group built the Literary Hall (pictured) and offered its former campus to the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind. The Literary Hall housed the library and group meetings until their last recorded meeting in 1886. (Full article...)

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U.S. winter storm on January 23

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• Ongoing events:
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• Recent deaths:
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January 30: Martyrs' Day in India

Assassination attempt by Richard Lawrence against Andrew Jackson

• 1018 – The German–Polish War ended with the signing of the Peace of Bautzen between Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Piast ruler of Poland, Bolesław I.
• 1835 – Richard Lawrence became the first person to make an assassination attempt on a sitting US president when he failed to kill Andrew Jackson (assassination attempt pictured) and was subdued by the crowd.
• 1930 – Soviet meteorologist Pavel Molchanov launched one of the world's first radiosondes, a device attached to weather balloons to measure various atmospheric parameters.
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• 2000 – Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Côte d'Ivoire shortly after takeoff, killing 169 on board.

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