Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026
1845 The poem The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe was first published, in the New York Evening Mirror, instantly making him famous, although it did not bring him much financial success.
“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping…”
1929 Morris Frank, himself blind, founded The Seeing Eye in Nashville, Tennessee. Frank had brought the first U.S. seeing-eye dog, Buddy, into the U.S. from Switzerland.
1936 Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson were selected as the first inductees in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Music History:
1983 Australian group Men At Work went to No.1 on the British and American singles and album charts simultaneously with ‘Down Under’ and ‘Business As Usual’. The last artist to achieve this was Rod Stewart in 1971.
Notable Birthdays:
Singer Adam Lambert 44
Oprah Winfrey 72
Actor Tom Selleck 81
Credit to:
Thisdayinmusic.com and Thisdaytrivia.com
