January 20 Explained
In astrology, it is the cusp day between Capricorn and Aquarius.
Events
- 250 - Emperor Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. Pope Fabian is martyred.
- 1265 - In Westminster, the first English parliament conducts its first meeting held by Simon de Beaufort in the Palace of Westminster, now also known colloquially as the "Houses of Parliament".
- 1320 - Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland.
- 1356 - Edward Balliol abdicates as King of Scotland.
- 1502 - The present-day location of Rio de Janeiro is first explored.
- 1523 - Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway.
- 1576 - The Mexican city of León is founded by order of the viceroy Don Martín Enríquez de Almansa.
- 1649 - Charles I of England goes on trial for treason and other "high crimes".
- 1667 - The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth cedes Kiev, Smolensk, and left-bank Ukraine to Imperial Russia in the treaty of Andrusovo.
- 1783 - The Kingdom of Great Britain signs a peace treaty with France and Spain, officially ending hostilities in the Revolutionary War.
- 1788 - The third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decides that Botany Bay is unsuitable for location of a penal colony, and decides to move to Port Jackson.
- 1801 - John Marshall is appointed the Chief Justice of the United States.
- 1839 - In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeats an alliance between Peru and Bolivia.
- 1840 - Dumont D'Urville discovers Adélie Land, Antarctica.
- 1840 - Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.
- 1841 - Hong Kong Island is occupied by the British.
- 1885 - L.A. Thompson patents the roller coaster.
- 1887 - The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.
- 1892 - At the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, the first official basketball game is played.
- 1920 - The American Civil Liberties Union is founded.
- 1921 - The first Constitution of Turkey is adopted, making fundamental changes in the source and exercise of sovereignty by consecrating the principle of national sovereignty.
- 1929 - In Old Arizona, the first full-length talking motion picture filmed outdoors, is released.
- 1936 - Edward VIII becomes King of the United Kingdom.
- 1937 - Franklin Roosevelt is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States. This is the first inauguration scheduled on January 20, following adoption of the 20th Amendment. Previous inaugurations were scheduled on March 4.
- 1942 - World War II: At the Wannsee Conference held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, senior Nazi German officials decided on the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question", accelerating The Holocaust.
- 1945 - World War II: Hungary agrees to an armistice with the Allies.
- 1954 - The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
- 1960 - Hendrik Verwoerd announces a plebiscite on whether South Africa should become a Republic.
- 1961 - John Fitzgerald Kennedy is inaugurated as the youngest man, and first-ever Roman Catholic, to become elected President of the United States.
- 1968 - The Houston Cougars defeat the UCLA Bruins 71-69 to win the Game of the Century.
- 1981 - Iran releases 52 American hostages twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as U.S. President.
- 1986 - Martin Luther King, Jr. day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
- 1987 - Church of England envoy Terry Waite is kidnapped in Lebanon.
- 1990 - Black January - crackdown of Azerbaijani pro-independence demonstrations by Soviet army in Baku.
- 1991 - Sudan's government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country's Muslim north and Christian south.
- 1992 - Air Inter Flight 148 crashes near Strasbourg, France, killing 82 passengers and 5 crew.
- 1999 - The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use aimed especially at Internet cafés.
- 2001 - Philippine president Joseph Estrada is ousted in a nonviolent 4-day revolution, and is succeeded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
- 2009 - Barack Obama, inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, becomes the United States' first African-American president.
Births
- 225 - Gordian III, Roman Emperor (d. 244)
- 1292 - Elisabeth I of Bohemia (d. 1330)
- 1358 - Eleanor of Aragon, wife of John I of Castile (d. 1382)
- 1435 - Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Japanese shogun (d. 1490)
- 1554 - King Sebastian of Portugal (d. 1578)
- 1586 - Johann Schein, German composer (d. 1630)
- 1664 - Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian writer and jurist (d. 1718)
- 1716 - King Charles III of Spain (d. 1788)
- 1716 - Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French writer and numismatist (d. 1795)
- 1775 - André-Marie Ampère, French physicist (d. 1836)
- 1781 - Joseph Hormayr Freiherr zu Hortenburg, Austrian politician (d. 1848)
- 1783 - Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer, German cellist and composer (d. 1860)
- 1798 - Anson Jones, 5th and last President of Texas (d. 1858)
- 1804 - Eugène Sue, French novelist (d. 1857)
- 1812 - Thomas Meik, Scottish engineer (d. 1896)
- 1834 - George D. Robinson, 34th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
- 1837 - David Josiah Brewer, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1910)
- 1855 - Ernest Chausson, French composer (d. 1899)
- 1867 - Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (d. 1944)
- 1873 - Johannes Vilhelm Jensen, Danish Nobel laureate (d. 1950)
- 1876 - Józef Hofmann, Polish pianist (d. 1967)
- 1878 - Finlay Currie, British actor (d. 1968)
- 1878 - Ruth St. Denis, American dancer (d. 1968)
- 1880 - Walter W. Bacon, American politician (d. 1962)
- 1889 - Allan Haines Loughead, American aviation executive (d. 1969)
- 1891 - Mischa Elman, Ukrainian born violinist (d. 1967)
- 1893 - Georg Åberg, Swedish athlete (d. 1946)
- 1894 - Walter Piston, American composer (d. 1976)
- 1895 - Gábor Szegő, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1985)
- 1896 - George Burns, American actor, comedian (d. 1996)
- 1896 - Isabel Withers, American actress (d. 1968)
- 1898 - U Razak, Burmese politician (d. 1947)
- 1899 - Kenjiro Takayanagi, Japanese development of television (d. 1990)
- 1900 - Colin Clive, British actor (d. 1937)
- 1902 - Leon Ames, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1907 - Paula Wessely, Austrian actress (d. 2000)
- 1910 - Joy Adamson, Austrian naturalist and writer (d. 1980)
- 1912 - Walter Briggs, Jr., American sports executive (d. 1970)
- 1915 - Ghulam Ishaq Khan, President of Pakistan (d. 2006)
- 1918 - Juan García Esquivel, Mexican bandleader (d. 2002)
- 1920 - Federico Fellini, Italian film director (d. 1993)
- 1920 - DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1920 - Thorleif Schjelderup, Norwegian author and ski jumper (d. 2006)
- 1921 - Telmo Zarraonaindía, Spanish footballer (d. 2006)
- 1922 - Ray Anthony, American trumpeter, bandleader and actor
- 1922 - Graham Stark, British actor
- 1923 - Nora Brockstedt, Norwegian singer
- 1924 - Slim Whitman, American singer
- 1925 - Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan theologian and politician
- 1926 - Jamiluddin Aali, Pakistani poet, essayist and columnist
- 1926 - Qurratulain Hyder, Indian and Pakistani novelist (d. 2007)
- 1926 - Patricia Neal, American actress
- 1926 - David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
- 1929 - Jimmy Cobb, American jazz drummer
- 1929 - Arte Johnson, American actor
- 1929 - Glenn Roberts, American race car driver (d. 1964)
- 1930 - Buzz Aldrin, American astronaut
- 1931 - David Lee, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate
- 1931 - Hachidai Nakamura, Japanese songwriter and pianist (d. 1992)
- 1932 - Lou Fontinato, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1933 - Ron Townson, American singer (The Fifth Dimension) (d. 2001)
- 1934 - Tom Baker, British actor
- 1935 - Joan Weston, Roller Derby Queen (d. 1997)
- 1937 - Dorothy Provine, American singer, dancer and actress
- 1938 - William Berger, Austrian actor (d. 1993)
- 1938 - Derek Dougan, Northern Irish footballer (d. 2007)
- 1939 - Paul Coverdell, American politician (d. 2000)
- 1940 - Carol Heiss, American figure skater
- 1940 - Krishnam Raju, Indian actor and politician
- 1941 - Pierre Lalonde, Canadian singer and television host
- 1942 - Linda Moulton Howe, American investigative journalist and documentary producer-writer-director-editor
- 1943 - Farhad Mehrad, Iranian musician (d. 2002)
- 1944 - José Luis Garci, Spanish filmmaker
- 1945 - Robert Olen Butler, American writer
- 1945 - Christopher Martin-Jenkins, cricket commentator and correspondent
- 1945 - Eric Stewart, English musician and songwriter (10cc)
- 1946 - David Lynch, American film director
- 1947 - Cyrille Guimard, French cyclist and directeur sportif
- 1948 - Natan Sharansky, Russian-born physicist and politician
- 1948 - Nancy Kress, American writer
- 1949 - Göran Persson, Prime Minister of Sweden
- 1950 - Liza Goddard, British actress
- 1950 - Edward Hirsch. American poet
- 1950 - Chuck Lefley, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1950 - Mahamane Ousmane, President of Niger
- 1951 - Ivan Fischer, Hungarian conductor
- 1951 - Ian Hill, British musician (Judas Priest)
- 1952 - Paul Stanley, American musician (Kiss)
- 1955 - Wyatt Knight, American actor
- 1955 - Joe Doherty, Provisional Irish Republican Army member
- 1955 - Hiromi Ōta, Japanese singer
- 1956 - Maria Larsson, Swedish politician
- 1956 - Bill Maher, American actor, comedian, and political analyst
- 1958 - Lorenzo Lamas, American actor
- 1960 - Scott Thunes, American musician (Frank Zappa)
- 1960 - Will Wright, American computer game designer
- 1963 - James Denton, American actor
- 1962 - IKKO, Japanese make-up artist
- 1963 - Firebreaker Chip, American professional wrestler
- 1964 - Ozzie Guillén, Venezuelan-born baseball player and manager
- 1964 - Ron Harper, American basketball player
- 1964 - Kazushige Nojima, Japanese game scenario writer
- 1965 - Colin Calderwood, Scottish footballer
- 1965 - Greg Kriesel, American bassist (The Offspring)
- 1965 - Sophie, The Countess of Wessex, the wife of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
- 1965 - John Michael Montgomery, American singer
- 1965 - Anton Weissenbacher, Romanian footballer
- 1966 - Stacey Dash, American actress
- 1966 - Tracii Guns, American guitarist
- 1968 - Melissa Rivers, American reporter and actress
- 1968 - Nick Anderson, American basketball player
- 1968 - Rainn Wilson, American actor
- 1969 - Patrick K. Kroupa, American computer hacker
- 1969 - Nicky Wire, British musician (Manic Street Preachers)
- 1970 - Mitch Benn, UK comedian, songwriter, actor
- 1970 - Kerri Kenney-Silver, American actress
- 1970 - Skeet Ulrich, American actor
- 1971 - Derrick Green, American singer (Sepultura)
- 1971 - Gary Barlow, English singer (Take That)
- 1971 - Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, American drummer (The Roots)
- 1971 - Brian Giles, American baseball player
- 1973 - Princess Mathilde, Duchess of Brabant
- 1974 - David Dei, Italian footballer
- 1975 - David Eckstein, American baseball player
- 1975 - Norberto Fontana, Argentine racing driver
- 1976 - Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater
- 1976 - Kirsty Gallacher, Scottish television presenter
- 1977 - Melody, Belgian singer
- 1977 - Sid Wilson, American Musician, (Slipknot)
- 1978 - Joy Giovanni, American actress and glamour model
- 1978 - Sonja Kesselschläger, German heptathlete
- 1978 - Allan Søgaard, Danish footballer
- 1979 - Rob Bourdon, American musician (Linkin Park)
- 1979 - Asaka Kubo, Japanese gravure idol of 20th Century
- 1979 - Will Young, British singer
- 1979 - Shang Yi, Chinese footballer
- 1979 - Joel Pott, British musician (Athlete)
- 1980 - Philippe Cousteau Jr., French oceanographer; grandson of Jacques Cousteau
- 1980 - Brigitte Olivier, Belgian judoka
- 1980 - Matthew Tuck, Welsh guitarist (Bullet for My Valentine)
- 1981 - Freddy Guzmán, Dominican baseball player
- 1981 - Jason Richardson, American basketball player
- 1981 - Christine Bleakley, British television presenter
- 1981 - Owen Hargreaves, English footballer
- 1981 - Daniel Cudmore, Canadian actor
- 1981 - Crystal Lowe, Canadian actress
- 1982 - Joe Swash, English actor
- 1982 - Fredrik Strømstad, Norwegian footballer
- 1983 - Geovany Soto, Puerto Rican baseball player
- 1983 - Paula Taylor, English-Thai actress, model and presenter
- 1983 - Mari Yaguchi, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
- 1984 - Olivia Hallinan, English actress
- 1984 - Toni Gonzaga, Filipina actress and singer
- 1986 - Derek Fathauer, American professional golfer
- 1991 - Jolyon Palmer, English racing driver; son of Jonathan Palmer
Deaths
- 287 - St. Sebastian
- 1156 - Bishop Henry, patron saint of Finland
- 1191 - Frederick VI, Duke of Swabia (b. 1167)
- 1479 - King John II of Aragon (b. 1397)
- 1568 - Myles Coverdale, English Bible translator
- 1612 - Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1552)
- 1663 - Isaac Ambrose, English Puritan divine (b. 1604)
- 1666 - Anna of Austria, wife of Louis XIII of France and regent (b. 1601)
- 1707 - Humphrey Hody, English theologian (b. 1659)
- 1709 - François de la Chaise, French confessor of Louis XIV of France (b. 1624)
- 1739 - Francesco Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect/designer (b. 1659)
- 1751 - John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, English politician (b. 1665)
- 1770 - Charles Yorke, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1722)
- 1779 - David Garrick, English actor (b. 1717)
- 1810 - Benjamin Chew, Chief Justice of colonial Pennsylvania (b. 1722)
- 1819 - King Charles IV of Spain (b. 1748)
- 1848 - Christian VIII of Denmark (b. 1786)
- 1850 - Adam Oehlenschläger, Danish poet (b. 1779)
- 1873 - The Venerable Father Basil Anthony Marie Moreau, Founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross (b. 1799)
- 1875 - Jean-François Millet, French painter (b. 1814)
- 1891 - David Kalakaua, King of Hawaii (b. 1836)
- 1900 - John Ruskin, English art critic (b. 1819)
- 1901 - Zénobe Gramme, Belgian engineer (b. 1826)
- 1908 - John Ordronaux, American Civil War army surgeon, a professor of medical jurisprudence, and pioneering mental health commissioner (b. 1830)
- 1913 - José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican engraver and illustrator (b. 1852).
- 1920 - Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler (b. 1876)
- 1936 - King George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865)
- 1940 - Omar Bundy, American army general (b. 1861)
- 1944 - James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (b. 1860)
- 1947 - Josh Gibson, American baseball player (b. 1911)
- 1954 - Fred Root, English cricketer (b. 1890)
- 1962 - Robinson Jeffers, American poet (b. 1887)
- 1965 - Alan Freed, American disk jockey (b. 1922)
- 1971 - Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, American actor, director, writer, and producer (b. 1880)
- 1973 - Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician (b. 1885)
- 1979 - Gustav Winckler, Danish singer (b. 1925)
- 1983 - Garrincha, Brazilian footballer (b. 1933)
- 1984 - Johnny Weissmuller, American swimmer and actor (b. 1904)
- 1988 - Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Pashtun Nationalist & non-violent freedom fighter (b. 1890)
- 1988 - Dora Stratou, Greek choreographer and folklorist (b. 1903)
- 1989 - Alamgir Kabir, Bangladeshi film director (b. 1938)
- 1990 - Hayedeh, Persian singer (b. 1942)
- 1990 - Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (b. 1907)
- 1993 - Audrey Hepburn, Anglo-Dutch actress (b. 1929)
- 1994 - Sir Matt Busby, Scottish football player and coach (b. 1909)
- 1996 - Gerry Mulligan, American musician (b. 1927)
- 1997 - Curt Flood, American baseball player (b. 1938)
- 1998 - Bobo Brazil, American professional wrestler (b. 1924)
- 2002 - Carrie Hamilton, actress and singer (b. 1963). Daughter of comedienne/actress Carol Burnett.
- 2003 - Al Hirschfeld, American caricaturist (b. 1903)
- 2003 - Craig Kelly, American snowboarder (b. 1966)
- 2003 - Nedra Volz, American actress (b. 1908)
- 2003 - Bill Werbeniuk, Canadian snooker player (b. 1947)
- 2004 - Guinn Smith, American athlete (b. 1920)
- 2005 - Per Borten, Prime Minister of Norway (b. 1913)
- 2005 - Roland Frye, American literary critic and theologian (b. 1921)
- 2005 - Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, Polish journalist, writer, and politician (b. 1913)
- 2005 - Miriam Louisa Rothschild, British zoologist, entomologist, and author (b. 1908)
- 2006 - Dave Lepard, Swedish rock singer and guitarist (b. 1980)
- 2009 - Stéphanos II Ghattas, Patriarch Emeritus of Alexandria for the Coptic Catholic Church
- 2009 - Stan Hagen, Canadian politician (b. 1940)
- 2009 - David Newman, American jazz musician, nicknamed "Fathead" (b. 1933)
Holidays and observances
- United States presidential inauguration, held every four years since 1937 (with 2 exceptions by Eisenhower & Reagan, on January 21st) in odd-numbered years after years when the United States Presidential Election takes place (as the election takes place in even-numbered years divisible by four - 2004, 2008, 2012, and so on - the inauguration takes place in 2005, 2009, 2013, etc.). The incoming/reelected President traditionally swears-in as close to Noon as possible.
- Astrology
First day of sun sign Aquarius.
External links
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