Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: The Date Your Grandmother Was Born

Randy Seaver has a fun challenge for this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun!

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music, please!):
 

(1) What day of the week was your grandmother born (either one)?  Tell us how you found out.

(2)  What event was a headline in the newspapers on that date?  Tell us how you found out.
 
(3) What has happened in recorded history on your grandmother's birth date (day and month)? Tell us how you found out and list five events.

(4) What famous people have been born on your grandmother's birth date?  Tell us how you found out and list five of them.

(5) Put your responses in your own blog post, in a comment on this blog post, or in a status or comment on Facebook.

Here's mine:

1.  I chose my paternal grandmother, Anna Gauntt, who was born January 14, 1893, a Saturday, in Westhampton Township, Burlington County, New Jersey.  Her parents were Thomas Kirkland Gauntt and Jane Dunstan.

Method:  I confirmed Nana's birth date and place by finding her birth registration in Burlington County, New Jersey records.  I found the day by checking http://www.timeanddate.com/.

2.  In the Los Angeles Herald of January 14, 1893, the first story on the front page was "Charges against Carnot / Enemies of the President [of France] Tell Ugly Stories", with a dateline of Paris.

Method:  I looked on Chronicling America for front pages of newspapers published on January 14, 1893.  I wanted to find one from New Jersey, but there weren't any, so I settled for a Los Angeles newspaper, because that's where I was born.

3.  Historical events that occurred on January 14:

• A.D. 1301:  Andrew III of Hungary died.

• A.D. 1539:  Spain annexed Cuba.

• A.D. 1784:  The Congress of the United States of America ratified the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain.

• A.D. 1907:  An earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica killed more than 1,000 people.

• A.D. 2004:  The national flag of the Republic of Georgia was restored to official use.

Method:  I looked up the date on Wikipedia.

4.  Famous people born on January 14:

• 83 B.C.:  Mark Antony, Roman general and politician.

• A.D. 1273:  Joan I of Navarre, queen regnant of Navarre and queen consort of France.

• A.D. 1741:  Benedict Arnold, American-British general and traitor.

• A.D. 1836:  Henri Fantin-Latour, French painter and lithographer.

• A.D. 1919:  Andy Rooney, American soldier, journalist, critic, and television personality.

Method:  I looked up the date on Wikipedia.

I didn't think Nana's birth date was as boring as Randy thinks his grandmother's was.