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* On Dec. 28, 1900, Mrs. Lulu Jenkins, of Chicago, was paid $4,000 in compensation for the lynching of her husband in Ripley County, Indiana. Mr. Jenkins allegedly was involved in the theft of a horse and ended up the victim of a furious mob. Two other men were killed as well.

* On Dec. 29, 2011, Russian authorities discovered a large amount of a rare caviar stored in, of all places, a morgue in St. Petersburg. A businessman and morgue attendant were arrested but claimed that the caviar was being kept for a personal New Year’s celebration.

* On Dec. 30, 1984, speleologists (cave studiers/explorers) in the Mexican state of Oaxaca landed upon what was then thought to possibly be the world’s deepest cave after going through a maze of underground tunnels in the jungle.

* On Dec. 31, 1943, Henry John Deutschendorf, better known to us today as singer-songwriter, actor John Denver, was born. In a four-decade career before his untimely death in an airplane crash, he won worldwide affection and acclaim not just for his music but for his dedication to humanitarian and environmental causes.

* On Jan. 1, 1962, the U.S. Navy SEALs unit was created. Their elite members (only about 20% actually make it that far) are trained to operate in urban, desert and jungle locations and to withstand torture.

* On Jan. 2, 1941, The Andrews Sisters recorded “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” for Decca Records, about a Chicago trumpeter drafted into the Army in World War II who shakes up “Reveille” with his masterful licks. Originally intended for Lou Costello to perform in the comedy “Buck Privates,” it was reworked for The Andrews Sisters, who introduced it in the film.

* On Jan. 3, 1938, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who contracted polio at age 39, founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, later renamed the March of Dimes Foundation. The moniker came courtesy of comedian Eddie Cantor, who said in a donations appeal: “Nearly everyone can send in a dime, or several dimes. However, it takes only 10 dimes to make a dollar, and if a million people send only one dime, the total will be $100,000.”

* On Jan. 4, 2012, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah decreed that men could no longer sell female underwear in lingerie shops. The country previously allowed only men to work as shop keepers, but after female customers complained that they made the women uncomfortable, a new law allowed women to take their place.

* On Jan. 5, 1914, Henry Ford introduced a revolutionary pay deal of $5 per day wages for all of his employees. When asked about it, he told reporters that he wanted his workers to earn enough to be able to afford to buy a Ford motor car.

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