January 18

1890  The editor of the Rawlins newspaper said unmarried men should be taxed $2.50.  Attribution. Wyoming State Historical Society.

1890  The U.S. Senate Committee on Territories recommended a bill to the Senate to make Wyoming a state.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1903   President Theodore Roosevelt sends a radio message to King Edward VII: the first transatlantic radio transmission originating in the United States.

1910  The Casper newspaper reported on the relief of a stranded passenger train attempting to go from Lander Wyoming to Casper Wyoming.   The train became stranded for two days on the prairie where it remained until Saturday, January 16 when it was dug out and backed down the railway to Lander.

1916   Secretary of War Newton D. Baker informs Maj. Gen Frederick Funston that the US withdrawing from Mexico.
 

The caption says it all.

Newton D. Baker.

Frederick Funston.

Well, I suppose it might not if you don't know  who Frederick Funston was.  He was the commander of American forces in the Southwest and in overall  charge of the forces then in Mexico, contrary to it being John Pershing, whom people typically imagine to have been in overall charge.  Pershing was the commander in the field, and Funston was his superior.

1918   Industry Stopped. The Industry Vacation of 1918
 

This week in 1918 the United States was day one into an ordered five day industry work stoppage east of the Mississippi, where most American industry was in fact located, something absolutely phenomenal for a nation at war.

The phenomenal move was brought about by a coal shortage and what that meant for food transportation and heating homes.  As American industry was coal fired the thought and hope was that a few days off would give the government time to address the crisis, which was indeed becoming a crisis.

So, as the country started to see some of its first casualties in Europe, the news at home wasn't exactly cheery.

1919   The USS Wyoming becomes the flagship of Rear Admiral Robert Coontz, Commander Battleship Division 7, Battle Squadron 3.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1919     The World War I peace conference opened in Versailles, France.

January 18, 1919. The Paris Peace Conference Commenced.

The work of the war was over, although the peace wasn't very peaceful by a long measure in many places.  Be that as it may, on this day in 1919, the Paris Peace Conference opened to commence the work on arriving at a formal peace.

In addition to the momentous story of the opening of the Paris Peace Conference, some other news was circulating as well, including the start of the news on the uneven treatment the National Guard, which had shouldered a heavy burden in the war, had received from the Regular Army.  It truly did, and indeed it continued to be slighted even into the peace, where the Regular Army, in its memory of the war in France, managed to omit the Guard as much as possible.

1924  Douglas bank closes in failure, part of a waive of bank failures.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society. 

1943  The sale of sliced bread banned in the US.  This was done in order to keep a demand for steel replacement parts for slicers down and because officials with the government had determined that sliced bread required a heavier wrapping.  The ban only remained in effect until March 8, when the government announced the anticipated materials savings had not been realized.

 A World War One bread conservation poster.