The folk group "The Weavers" were scheduled to appear on the Jack Paar TV show but were canceled when every member of the group refused to sign a "loyalty" oath.
Founded in 1948 by Pete Seeger, "The Weavers" were responsible for a resurgence in American folk music in the 1950s & early 1960s.
Members of the group came under suspicion in the "Red Scare" of the 1950s because they supported pacifism & communist ideals.
January 2, 1923
Secretary of the Interior, Albert B. Fall, resigned as a result of his involvement in the "Teapot Dome" scandal.
Fall, appointed by President Warren G. Harding in 1921, had taken "loans" of $400,000 from oil companies in return for allowing them to exploit public lands in Wyoming.
A rock formation located on this land resembled a tea pot.
Harding, discredited by this & other scandals, died in 1923. Fall died in near poverty in 1944.
January 2, 1974
President Richard M. Nixon signed into law the reduction of the SPEED LIMIT on US interstate highways from 70 miles per hour to 55 miles per hour.
This law came on the heels of a major oil crisis resulting in a spike in gasoline prices. The law was based on the evidence that slower driving results in reduced fuel consumption.
January 2, 1963
VIET CONG (VC) inflicted heavy losses on a force of the SOUTH VIETNAMESE ARMY (SVA) at Ap Bac, 50 miles SW of Saigon.
This defeat symbolized the weakness of the South Vietnamese Army in opposition to the communists in SE Asia.
January 2, 1492
The Kingdom of Granada fell to the Christian forces of King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella of SPAIN.
The Moors lost their last foothold in Spain as a result.
