Today in History.....January 26

On this day in …

* 1784, in a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin expressed unhappiness over the choice of the eagle as the symbol of America, and expressed his preference: The turkey.

* 1788, the first European settlers in Australia, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, landed in present-day Sydney

* 1802, Congress passed an act calling for a library to be established within the U.S. Capitol

* 1841, Britain formally occupied Hong Kong, which the Chinese had ceded to the British

* 1942, the first American expeditionary force to go to Europe during World War II went ashore in Northern Ireland

* 1950, India officially proclaimed itself a republic as Rajendra Prasad took the oath of office as president

* 1962, the United States launched Ranger 3 to land scientific instruments on the moon --- but the probe missed its target by some 22,000 miles

* 1995, hours before a midnight deadline, a confrontation-weary Congress voted to avert a third federal shutdown and finance dozens of agencies for seven more weeks