January 29, 1843 – 25th U. S. President William McKinley is born in Niles, Ohio. Early in his second term in office he was shot and mortally wounded by an anarchist while attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.
January 26, 1880 - General Douglas MacArthur is born on a military base in Little Rock, Arkansas. He commanded Allied forces in the Pacific during World War II. He commanded U.N. forces after war broke out in Korea in 1950 until dismissed in 1951 by President Harry S. Truman in a disagreement over war policy.
January 30, 1882 – The 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is born in Hyde Park, New York. Despite being crippled by polio, he launched a successful political career and as President oversaw relief efforts for the Great Depression and America’s response to World War II. He died in office during his unprecedented fourth term as President.
January 27, 1932 – British novelist Lewis Carroll (author of “Alice in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass”) is born in Daresbury, Cheshire, England.