From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 345 days remaining (346 in leap years). In astrology, it is the cusp day between Capricorn and Aquarius.
[edit] Events
- 250 - Emperor Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. Pope Fabian is martyred. Afterwards the Donatist controversy over readmitting lapsed Christians disaffects many in North Africa.
- 1156 - According to legend, freeholder Lalli slays English crusader Bishop Henry with an axe on the ice of the lake Köyliönjärvi in Finland.
- 1265 - In Westminster, the first English parliament conducts its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster, now also known as the "Houses of Parliament".
- 1320 - Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland.
- 1356 - Edward Balliol resigns as King of Scotland.
- 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 - 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 - Third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decides Botany Bay is unsuitable for location of a penal colony. 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 a Peruvian and Bolivian alliance.
- 1840 - Dumont D'Urville discovers Adélie Land, Antarctica.
- 1840 - Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.
- 1841 - Hong Kong Island occupied by the British Empire.
- 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 - American Civil Liberties Union founded.
- 1921 - The first Constitution of Turkey was adopted, which made 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 film filmed outdoors, is released.
- 1936 - Edward VIII becomes King of the United Kingdom.
- 1937 - Franklin D. 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: Nazis at the Wannsee conference in Berlin decide the "final solution to the Jewish problem".
- 1944 - World War II: The Royal Air Force drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin.
- 1945 - Hungary drops out of the Second World War, agreeing an armistice with the Allies.
- 1952 - Edgar Faure becomes Prime Minister of France.
- 1954 - The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
- 1960 - Hendrik Verwoerd announced a plebiscite on whether South Africa should become a Republic.
- 1964 - Meet the Beatles, the first Beatles album in the United States, is released.
- 1968 - Game of the Century, which allowed the NCAA to gradually have influence over college sports broadcasting and introduce NCAA higher education opportunities; also a game that influenced the enactment of Title IX.
- 1969 - The first pulsar is discovered, in the Crab Nebula.
- 1969 - Richard M. Nixon is sworn in as President of the United States.
- 1981 - Iran releases 52 American hostages twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as U.S. President.
- 1986 - Martin Luther King, Jr., day was celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
- 1986 - The United Kingdom and France announce plans to construct the Channel Tunnel.
- 1987 - Church of England envoy Terry Waite is kidnapped.
- 1990 - Black January - bloody crackdown of Azerbaijani peaceful 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.
- 1993 - Bill Clinton is inaugurated as President of the United States.
- 1996 - Yasser Arafat is elected president of the Palestinian Authority.
- 1999 - The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use aimed especially at Internet cafés.
- 2001 - George W. Bush is sworn in as President of the United States.
- 2001 - Philippine president Joseph Estrada is ousted in the EDSA II Revolution, succeeded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
- 2005 - Ireland completes metrication.
[edit] Births
- 225 - Gordian III, Roman Emperor (d. 244)
- 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 - Andre Marie Ampere, 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)
- 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 writer, Nobel Prize in Literature laureate (d. 1950)
- 1876 - Józef Hofmann, Polish pianist (d. 1967)
- 1878 - Ruth St. Denis, dancer (d. 1968)
- 1878 - Finlay Currie, British actor (d. 1968)
- 1880 - Walter W. Bacon, Governor of Delaware (d. 1962)
- 1891 - Mischa Elman, Ukrainian born violinist (d. 1967)
- 1893 - Georg Åberg, Swedish athlete
- 1894 - Walter Piston, American composer (d. 1976)
- 1896 - George Burns, American actor, comedian (d. 1996)
- 1898 - U Razak, Burmese politician (d. 1947)
- 1900 - Colin Clive, British actor (d. 1937)
- 1902 - Leon Ames, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1906 - Aristotle Onassis, Greek industrialist (d. 1975)
- 1907 - Paula Wessely, Austrian actress (d. 2000)
- 1910 - Joy Adamson, Austrian naturalist and writer (d. 1980)
- 1915 - Ghulam Ishaq Khan, President of Pakistan (d. 2006)
- 1918 - Juan Garcia Esquivel, Mexican musician (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)
- 1922 - Ray Anthony, American trumpeter, bandleader, songwriter and actor
- 1923 - Nora Brockstedt, Norwegian singer
- 1924 - Slim Whitman, American singer
- 1925 - Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan theologian and author and politician
- 1926 - Jamiluddin Aali, Pakistani poet, essayist and columnist
- 1926 - Patricia Neal, American actress
- 1926 - David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
- 1929 - Jimmy Cobb, American jazz drummer
- 1929 - Bob Denard, French mercenary
- 1929 - Arte Johnson, American actor
- 1929 - Glenn "Fireball" Roberts, American race car driver (d. 1964)
- 1930 - Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr., astronaut
- 1931 - David Lee, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate
- 1932 - Lou Fontinato, National Hockey League defenceman
- 1934 - Tom Baker, British actor
- 1937 - Dorothy Provine, American singer, dancer and actress
- 1938 - William Berger, Austrian actor (d. 1993)
- 1938 - Derek Dougan, Northern Irish footballer
- 1939 - Paul Coverdell, American politician (d. 2000)
- 1940 - Carol Heiss, American figure skater
- 1940 - Krishnam Raju, Indian actor and politician
- 1941 - Pierre Lalonde, Quebec singer and television host
- 1941 - Ron Townson, American singer (The Fifth Dimension) (d. 2001)
- 1945 - Robert Olen Butler, American writer
- 1945 - Christopher Martin-Jenkins, cricket commentator and chief cricket correspondent of The Times
- 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
- 1949 - Göran Persson, Prime Minister of Sweden
- 1950 - Liza Goddard, British actress
- 1950 - Edward Hirsch. American poet
- 1950 - Chuck Lefley, National Hockey League player
- 1950 - Mahamane Ousmane, President of Niger
- 1951 - Ian Hill, British musician (Judas Priest)
- 1951 - Ivan Fischer, Hungarian conductor
- 1952 - Paul Stanley, American musician (Kiss)
- 1955 - Wyatt Knight, American actor
- 1956 - Bill Maher, American actor, comedian, and political analyst
- 1956 - Maria Larsson, Swedish politician
- 1958 - Lorenzo Lamas, American actor
- 1960 - Will Wright, American computer game designer
- 1960 - Scott Thunes, American musician (Frank Zappa)
- 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
- 1966 - Tracii Guns, American guitarist
- 1968 - Melissa Rivers, American reporter and actress
- 1968 - Rainn Wilson, American actor
- 1969 - Patrick K. Kroupa, American writer, hacker
- 1970 - Mitch Benn, UK comedian, songwriter, actor
- 1970 - Skeet Ulrich, American actor
- 1971 - Derrick Green, American singer (Sepultura)
- 1971 - Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, American drummer (The Roots)
- 1975 - David Eckstein, baseball player
- 1976 - Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater
- 1978 - Sonja Kesselschläger, German heptathlete
- 1979 - Rob Bourdon, American musician (Linkin Park)
- 1979 - Will Young, British singer
- 1980 - Matthew Tuck, Welsh guitarist (Bullet for My Valentine)
- 1981 - Owen Hargreaves, English international footballer
- 1981 - Crystal Lowe, Canadian actress
- 1981 - Jason Richardson, NBA basketball player
- 1982 - Erin Wasson, American model
- 1984 - Toni Gonzaga, Filipino TV host and actress
- 1991 - Justin Jonson, American World Champion Martial Artist
[edit] Deaths
- 1156 - Bishop Henry, patron saint of Finland
- 1479 - King John II of Aragon (b. 1397)
- 1568 - Myles Coverdale, English Bible translator
- 1612 - Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1552)
- 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)
- 1745 - Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1697)
- 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)
- 1891 - David Kalakaua, King of Hawaii (b. 1836)
- 1900 - John Ruskin, art critic (b. 1819)
- 1901 - Zénobe Gramme, Belgian engineer (b. 1826)
- 1907 - Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev, Russian chemist (b. 1834)
- 1920 - Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler (b. 1876)
- 1936 - King George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865)
- 1944 - James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (b. 1860)
- 1947 - Josh Gibson, African-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)
- 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, baseball player (b. 1938)
- 1998 - Bobo Brazil, American professional wrestler (b. 1924)
- 2003 - Al Hirschfeld, American caricaturist (b. 1903)
- 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)
[edit] Holidays and observances
[edit] External links
