January 29:1845 - The Raven, a popular poem by Edgar Allan Poe, was first published in the New York Evening Mirror. 1856 - The Victoria Cross was first awarded, recognizing acts of valour during the Crimean War. 1886 - Carl Benz received a patent for the first successful gasoline-driven automobile. 1959 - The Disney animated film Sleeping Beauty was first released. 2002 - In his State of the Union Address, U.S. President George W. Bush described Iraq, Iran and North Korea as "regimes that sponsor terror", forming an "Axis of Evil". Recent days: January 28 – January 27 – January 26