Vito Acconci was an American performance, video and installation artist, whose diverse practice eventually included sculpture, architectural design, and landscape design. His performance and video art was characterized by "existential unease," exhibitionism, discomfort, transgression and provocation, as well as wit and audacity, and often involved crossing boundaries such as public–private, consensual–nonconsensual, and real world–art world. His work is considered to have influenced artists including Laurie Anderson, Karen Finley, Bruce Nauman, and Tracey Emin, among others.

1940Joachim Gauck, German pastor and politician, 11th President of Germany^[†]

Joachim Wilhelm Gauck is a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017. A former Lutheran pastor, he came to prominence as an anti-communist civil rights activist in East Germany.

Headlines from January 24, 1940

The International Situation

State-Aided Birth Control Clinic Opened, First Subsidized Project in New York; SUBSIDIZED CLINIC ON BIRTH IS OPENED

TAX RISE PROPOSAL AT ALBANY STIRS STORM OF PROTEST; Organizations in Many Fields Voice Denunciation of New Levy on Incomes ECONOMY IS DEMANDED $50,000,000 Cut in Budget Called For by Westchester Group-Hearing Is Set

Four of Six Killed in Crash Of B-18 Bomber in California; Army Plane Is Wrecked Against Mountain in Rain Only 7 Miles From Base--2 Jump to Safety From Spanning Craft

PADEREWSKI VOWS POLAND WILL LIVE; Brings Tears in Speech to Exile Parliament as He Pledges Fight for Democracy

Notable Births