1. In 1802, the first impeachment trial of a United States federal judge, John Pickering, began in the Senate. Pickering was accused of intoxication on the bench and using profane language. He was eventually found guilty and removed from office.

2. On January 26, 1837, Michigan was admitted as the 26th state of the United States. It was the first state to be added to the Union since the admission of Arkansas in 1836.

3. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves in Confederate states "shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." The proclamation did not immediately free all slaves, but it was a critical step in the eventual abolition of slavery in the United States.

4. On January 26, 1905, the world's largest diamond, the Cullinan Diamond, was found in South Africa. The diamond weighed 3,106 carats and was later cut into several smaller diamonds, including the Great Star of Africa, which is now part of the British Crown Jewels.

5. In 1979, a major blizzard struck the Washington, D.C. area, causing widespread power outages and leaving more than 300,000 people stranded. The storm, which became known as the "President's Day Blizzard," resulted in the closure of federal government offices for several days.