Almanac for January 12th

Erin O'Riordan's Almanac for January 12th: https://ko-fi.com/post/January-12-V7V0ZONPA

Artist Birthday: Melanie C

Beatles Trivia
January 12, 1963: The Beatles release their second single, “Please Please Me,” which goes on to be their first #1 single in the U.K. My Baby Boomer parents are each 10 years old on this date.

Bummer January 12

January 12, 1888: The so-called Schoolhouse Blizzard strikes the Great Plains of the United States. The unexpected severe weather on what had been a relatively warm day in the morning catches many by surprise, resulting in 235 deaths. Most of these people died of hypothermia or from frostbite and complications of frostbite.

January 12, 1965: Author Lorraine Hansberry dies of pancreatic cancer at the age of 34.

January 12, 2000: Bobby Phills, a professional basketball players for the Charlotte Hornets, drives his Porsche at over a hundred miles per hour, following teammate David Wesley (who is driving at a similar speed). Phills loses control of his car, crosses the center line, and hits a car head-on, causing that car to be rear-ended by a minivan. The drivers of the other car and the minivan are injured, but recover; Phills is killed at the scene of the accident.

January 12, 2007: 28-year-old Jennifer Strange dies of acute water intoxication in her Rancho Cordova, California, home. Strange had taken part in the “Hold Your Wee of a Wii” competition hosted by radio station KDND 107.9, which offered a Nintendo Wii video game system as its prize. Participants were encouraged to drink as much water as they could without going to the bathroom. Hours after the contest, Strange went to work, but told coworkers she had a headache and went home. 

The amount of water she’d ingested is unknown, but in general, drinking more than one liter of water per hour can cause water intoxication, in which the body loses more electrolytes than it needs to sustain bodily functions. KDND’s parent company was ultimately ordered to pay $16,577,118 to Strange’s family for failing to inform her of the dangers of drinking too much water.

January 12, 2010: The second-deadliest earthquake in recorded history (as of 2022) occurs near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. An estimated 316,000 die as a result of building collapses and lack of access to basic necessities. A cholera outbreak in October 2010 among survivors contributes to the death toll.