Jan. 18. 1983: Pres. Reagan asks for largest peacetime build-up of the CIA in history--including a 25 percent budget increase. The resulting juggernaut fails to detect either the collapse of the Soviet empire or 9/11.

Jan. 19. 1812: Luddites torch Oatlands Mill in Yorkshire, England. 1857: After killing the sheriff and a prefect, Indians force their way into the house of New Mexico's first American Territorial Governor, Charles Bent, and scalp him and three others, Taos, New Mexico.

Jan. 20. 1847: Governor of Taos, New Mexico, killed by rebellious Mexicans during Mexican War. 2001: Tens of thousands, lining Pennsylvania Ave. to protest the inauguration of George W. Bush, are systematically excluded from almost all media coverage of the event.

Jan. 21. 1997: Sixty protesters with bathrobes, shower caps, and toothbrushes traipse through Nordstrom's and NikeTown in downtown Seattle, looking for a place to take a shower, in an ETS!-inspired protest drawing attention to City Council plans to de-fund a proposed downtown public hygiene center that could be used by the homeless.

Jan. 23. 1973: Pres. Nixon announces "Peace With Honor" accord with Vietnam, with all American troops to be out of Vietnam within 60 days.

Jan. 24. 1814: Salvadorans unsuccessfully rise up against Spanish rule. 1962: US Navy confirms plans to build Polaris submarine base at Bangor, Washington.

Jan. 25. 1787: Shay's Rebellion breaks out against imprisonment of Massachusetts farmers for debts. Daniel Shays and 800 followers march to Springfield to seize the Federal arsenal, but were repulsed by the Massachusetts State militia. 1890: United Mine Workers formed.

Jan. 26. 1944: Birth of Angela Davis, Black Panther, radical, activist, author. Birmingham, Ala. 1945: Liberation of extermination camp, Auschwitz/Oswiecim, Poland.

Jan. 27. 1606: Trial and conviction of Gunpowder Plotters, London. 1734: New York City maids organize to improve working conditions. 1988: Center for Constitutional Rights reveals the FBI had under surveillance a number of organizations critical of Reagan administration policies in Central America. Although the principal target was the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), more than 100 other groups were investigated, including the Roman Catholic Maryknoll Sisters, the United Auto Workers, the United Steel Workers, and the National Education Association. FBI director William Sessions said the investigations were an outgrowth of the belief that CISPES was aiding a "terrorist organization."

Jan. 28. 1853: Birth of Cuban independence hero Jos Marti (1853-1895), Havana. 1854: Vigilantes attack Coquille village near Randolph, Oregon, killing 16.

Jan. 29. 1737: Thomas Paine, radical writer, born, Thetford, Britain. Will die in obscurity, still a revolutionary. 1834: Pres. Andrew Jackson orders first use of American troops to suppress a labor dispute. Posse Comitatus be damned.

Jan. 30. 1933: Nazi Leader Adolf Hitler assumes office, named Chancellor of Germany. Bad things follow. 1968: North Vietnamese launch Tet offensive.

Jan. 31. 1865: By a narrow margin, the US House of Representatives passes the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery; it becomes part of the Constitution later that year.