Moments in Time
The History Channel

• On Jan. 14, 1875, theologian, musician, philosopher and Nobel Prize-winning physician Albert Schweitzer is born in Upper-Alsace, Germany. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1952, Schweitzer used his $33,000 award to start a leprosarium at Lambarene.

• On Jan. 18, 1882, A.A. Milne, creator of Winnie-the- Pooh, is born. When Milne's son Christopher Robin was about a year old, he received stuffed bear as a present, which inspired Milne to begin writing a series of whimsical stories.

• On Jan. 15, 1919, fieryhot molasses floods the streets of Boston when the bolts on 58-foot-high tank filled with 2.5 million gallons of crude molasses suddenly explode. The molasses flowed into the street, knocked over the local firehouse and pushed over the support beams for the elevated train line. In all, 21 people were killed.

• On Jan. 19, 1940, the Three Stooges film "You Natzy Spy" is released. The Three Stooges made a total of 190 short subjects with Columbia, at least 20 feature-length films, and hundreds of cartoons.

• On Jan. 17, 1950, a team of 11 thieves steals more than $2 million from the Brink's Armored Car depot in Boston. The Great Brink's Robbery was the almost perfect crime. Just days before the six-year statute of limitations was set to expire, the culprits were finally caught.

• On Jan. 20, 1961, 87- year-old Robert Frost recites his poem "The Gift Outright" at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. Although Frost had written a new poem for the occasion, titled "Dedication," faint ink in his typewriter made the words difficult to read, so he recited "The Gift Outright" from memory.

• On Jan. 16, 1973, the long-running Western series "Bonanza" is canceled after 14 seasons. The show, which debuted in 1959, was the first Western to be televised in color. Its trademark theme song rose to No. 19 on Billboard's Top Singles chart in 1961.

(c) 2008 King Features Synd., Inc.