MOMENTS IN TIME - Jan. 7, 2010

The History Channel

* On Jan. 18, 1778, English explorer Captain James Cook becomes the first European to discover the Hawaiian Islands when he sails past the island of Oahu. He named the island group the Sandwich Islands, in honor of John Montague, the earl of Sandwich.

* On Jan. 21, 1789, “The Power of Sympathy: Or, the Triumph of Nature. Founded in Truth” is printed in Boston. The book was the first novel by an American writer to be published in America. The first editions of the book did not carry the author’s name, but it was later attributed to William Hill Brown.

* On Jan. 24, 1927, young director Alfred Hitchcock’s first film, “The Pleasure Garden,” is released in England. While the film marked an impressive debut, Hitchcock considered his next film, “The Lodger” (known in the United States as “The Case of Jonathan Drew”), to be his first true accomplishment.

* On Jan. 19, 1940, the Three Stooges film “You Natzy Spy” is released. Anticipating Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” by nine months, Moe Howard played a Hitler-like dictator of a fictional country, “Moronica.”

* On Jan. 23, 1957, machines at the Wham-O toy company roll out the first batch of its aerodynamic plastic discs — now known to millions of fans all over the world as Frisbees. The story of the Frisbee began in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1871. Students from nearby universities would throw the empty pie tins to each other, yelling “Frisbie!” as they let go.

* On Jan. 22, 1973, in a historic decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rules in Roe v. Wade that women, as part of their constitutional right to privacy, can terminate a pregnancy during its first two trimesters.

* On Jan. 20, 1981, minutes after Ronald Reagan’s inauguration as the 40th president of the United States, the 52 U.S. captives held at the U.S. embassy in Teheran, Iran, are released, ending the 444-day Iran Hostage Crisis. The crisis began on Nov. 4, 1979, when militant Iranian students seized the embassy.

(c) 2010 King Features Synd., Inc.