January 20
January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 345 days remaining until the end of the year (346 in leap years).
In the ancient astronomy, it was the cusp day between Capricorn and Aquarius. In some years it is Aquarius, but others Capricorn. It depends on the year.
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 Montfort 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 Almanza.
- 1649 – Charles I of England goes on trial for treason and other "high crimes".
- 1783 – The Kingdom of Great Britain signs a peace treaty with France and Spain, officially ending hostilities in the American Revolutionary War (also known as the American War of Independence).
- 1788 – The third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decides that Botany Bay is unsuitable for the 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 1934 – Fujifilm, the photographic and electronics company, is founded in Tokyo, Japan.
- 1936 – Edward VIII becomes King of the United Kingdom.
- 1941 – A Nazi officer is murdered in Bucharest, Romania, sparking a rebellion and pogrom by the Iron Guard, killing 125 Jews and 30 soldiers.
- 1942 – World War II: At the Wannsee Conference held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, senior Nazi German officials discuss the implementation of the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question".
- 1945 – World War II: Hungary agrees to an armistice with the Allies.
- 1945 – World War II: Germany begins the evacuation of 1.8 million people from East Prussia, a task which will take nearly two months.
- 1949 – Point Four Program a program for economic aid to poor countries announced by United States President Harry S. Truman in his inaugural address for a full term as President.
- 1954 – The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
- 1959 – The first flight of the Vickers Vanguard.
- 1960 – Hendrik Verwoerd announces a plebiscite on whether South Africa should become a Republic.
- 1969 – East Pakistani police kill student activist Amanullah Asaduzzaman. The resulting outrage is in part responsible for the Bangladesh Liberation War.
- 1972 – Pakistan launched its Nuclear detterent program few weeks after its defeat in Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
- 1981 – Twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated, at age 69 the oldest man ever to be inaugurated as U.S. President, Iran releases 52 American hostages.
- 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 – On Black Saturday, the Red Army kills Azerbaijani civilians 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 five crew members.
- 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.
- 2006 – Witnesses report seeing a bottlenose whale swimming in the River Thames, the first time the species had been seen in the Thames since records began in 1913.
- 2007 – A three-man team, using only skis and kites, completes a 1,093-mile (1,759 km) trek to reach the southern pole of inaccessibility for the first time since 1958 and for the first time ever without mechanical assistance.
Births
- 225 – Gordian III, Roman Emperor (d. 244)
- 1292 – Elisabeth of Bohemia (1292–1330) (d. 1330)
- 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 – Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French writer and numismatist (d. 1795)
- 1716 – King Charles III of Spain (d. 1788)
- 1732 – Richard Henry Lee, American statesman (d. 1794)
- 1755 – Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1824)
- 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 and 60th Governor of Delaware (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 – Clarice Cliff, English ceramic artist (d. 1972)
- 1899 – Kenjiro Takayanagi, Japanese development of television (d. 1990)
- 1900 – Colin Clive, British actor (d. 1937)
- 1902 – Leon Ames, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1903 – Jennifer Ishikawa, Japanese singer (d. 1985)
- 1907 – Paula Wessely, Austrian actress (d. 2000)
- 1908 – Fleur Cowles, American writer, editor and artist (d. 2009)
- 1910 – Joy Adamson, Austrian naturalist and writer (d. 1980)
- 1911 – Wendell J. Westcott, American carillonneur (d. 2010)
- 1912 – Walter Briggs, Jr., American sports executive (d. 1970)
- 1913 – Cleon Skousen, American author (d. 2006)
- 1915 – Ghulam Ishaq Khan, President of Pakistan (d. 2006)
- 1918 – Juan García Esquivel, Mexican bandleader (d. 2002)
- 1918 – Nevin S. Scrimshaw, American food scientist
- 1920 – Federico Fellini, Italian film director (d. 1993)
- 1920 – DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1920 – Frank Kush, American football player and coach
- 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 (d. 2010)
- 1926 – David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
- 1928 – Rudy Boesch, Contestant on Survivor: Borneo (3rd Place) and Survivor: All-Stars (17th Place)
- 1929 – Jimmy Cobb, American jazz drummer
- 1929 – Arte Johnson, American actor
- 1929 – Edward Glenn "Fireball" 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 5th Dimension) (d. 2001)
- 1934 – Tom Baker, British actor
- 1935 – Alexander Men, Russian priest (d. 1990)
- 1935 – Joan Weston, Roller Derby Queen (d. 1997)
- 1937 – Dorothy Provine, American singer, dancer and actress (d. 2010)
- 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
- 1944 – José Luis Garci, Spanish filmmaker
- 1944 – Farhad Mehrad, Iranian musician (d. 2002)
- 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 – Nancy Kress, American writer
- 1948 – Mel Pritchard, British Musician
- 1948 – Natan Sharansky, Russian-born physicist and politician
- 1949 – Göran Persson, Prime Minister of Sweden (1996–2006)
- 1950 – Daniel Benzali, Brazilian-American actor
- 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)
- 1953 – Jeffrey Epstein, American financier and convicted sex offender
- 1953 – Colleen Zenk Pinter, American actress
- 1954 – Rudy La Scala, Venezuelan singer-songwriter
- 1954 – Ken Page, American cabaret singer and actor
- 1955 – Joe Doherty, Provisional Irish Republican Army member
- 1955 – Wyatt Knight, American actor
- 1955 – Hiromi Ōta, Japanese singer
- 1956 – Maria Larsson, Swedish politician
- 1956 – Bill Maher, American author, comedian, and political analyst
- 1958 – Lorenzo Lamas, American actor
- 1959 – Tami Hoag, American novelist
- 1959 – R.A. Salvatore, American author
- 1960 – Apa Sherpa, Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer, summitted Everest 19 times
- 1960 – Scott Thunes, American musician (Frank Zappa)
- 1960 – Will Wright, American computer game designer
- 1963 – Firebreaker Chip, American professional wrestler
- 1963 – James Denton, American actor
- 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 – Warren Joyce, English footballer
- 1965 – Greg Kriesel, American bassist (The Offspring)
- 1965 – John Michael Montgomery, American singer
- 1965 – Heather Small, British Soul Singer
- 1965 – Sophie, Countess of Wessex, the wife of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
- 1965 – Anton Weissenbacher, Romanian footballer
- 1966 – Stacey Dash, American actress
- 1966 – Tracii Guns, American guitarist
- 1966 – Rainn Wilson, American actor
- 1968 – Nick Anderson, American basketball player
- 1968 – Melissa Rivers, American reporter and actress
- 1969 – Patrick K. Kroupa, American computer hacker
- 1969 – Nicky Wire, British musician (Manic Street Preachers)
- 1970 – Mitch Benn, UK comedian, songwriter and actor
- 1970 – Kerri Kenney-Silver, American actress
- 1970 – Edwin McCain, American singer-songwriter
- 1970 – Skeet Ulrich, American actor
- 1971 – Gary Barlow, English singer (Take That)
- 1971 – Brian Giles, American baseball player
- 1971 – Derrick Green, American singer (Sepultura)
- 1971 – Wakanohana Masaru, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 66th Yokozuna
- 1971 – Gerard McDonnell, Irish mountaineer (d. 2008)
- 1971 – Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, American drummer (The Roots)
- 1973 – Princess Mathilde, Duchess of Brabant
- 1974 – David Dei, Italian footballer
- 1975 – David Eckstein, American baseball player
- 1975 – Norberto Fontana, Argentine racing driver
- 1976 – Kirsty Gallacher, Scottish television presenter
- 1976 – Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater
- 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
- 1978 – Luciano Zauri, Italian footballer
- 1979 – Asaka Kubo, Japanese gravure idol of 20th Century
- 1979 – Shang Yi, Chinese footballer
- 1979 – Will Young, British singer
- 1980 – Philippe Cousteau, Jr., French oceanographer; grandson of Jacques Cousteau
- 1980 – Brigitte Olivier, Belgian judoka
- 1981 – Daniel Cudmore, Canadian actor
- 1981 – Brendan Fevola, Australian Rules Football Player
- 1981 – Freddy Guzmán, Dominican baseball player
- 1981 – Owen Hargreaves, English footballer
- 1981 – Crystal Lowe, Canadian actress
- 1981 – Jason Richardson, American basketball player
- 1982 – Fredrik Strømstad, Norwegian footballer
- 1982 – Joe Swash, English actor
- 1983 – Geovany Soto, Puerto Rican baseball player
- 1983 – Paula Taylor, English-Thai actress, model and presenter
- 1983 – Mari Yaguchi, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
- 1984 – Toni Gonzaga, Filipina actress and singer
- 1984 – Olivia Hallinan, English actress
- 1986 – Derek Fathauer, American professional golfer
- 1987 – Marco Simoncelli, Italian motorcycle racer (d. 2011)
- 1988 – Denisse Lara, American singer-songwriter
- 1988 – Jeffrén Suárez, Spanish footballer
- 1988 – Benjamin Ulrich, German rugby player
- 1989 – Washington, Brazilian footballer
- 1991 – Jolyon Palmer, English racing driver; son of Jonathan Palmer
Deaths
- 250 – Pope Fabian
- 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)
- 1837 – Sir John Soane, English neo-classical architect (b. 1753)
- 1841 – Minh Mang, the second emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam (b. 1791)
- 1848 – Christian VIII of Denmark (b. 1786)
- 1850 – Adam Oehlenschläger, Danish poet (b. 1779)
- 1852 – Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 6th Yokozuna (b. 1794)
- 1873 – The Blessed Father Basil Anthony Marie Patrice Moreau, Founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross (b. 1799)
- 1875 – Jean-François Millet, French painter (b. 1814)
- 1877 – Dato Maharajalela Lela, Malay nationalist.
- 1891 – King Kalākaua, of Hawaiʻi (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)
- 1924 – Ivor Crapp, Australian rules football umpire (b. 1872)
- 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)
- 1971 – Minanogawa Tōzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 34th Yokozuna (b. 1903)
- 1973 – Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician (b. 1885)
- 1973 – Amilcar Cabral, Guinea Bissauan and Cape Verdian politician (b. 1924)
- 1979 – Gustav Winckler, Danish singer (b. 1925)
- 1980 – William Roberts, British painter (b. 1895)
- 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, daughter of comedienne/actress Carol Burnett (b. 1963).
- 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 – Parveen Babi, Indian Actress and Model (b. 1949)
- 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 (b. 1920)
- 2009 – Stan Hagen, Canadian politician (b. 1940)
- 2009 – David Newman, American jazz musician, nicknamed "Fathead" (b. 1933)
- 2009 – Sheila O'Nions Walsh (aka Sheila Walsh, Sophie Leyton), English romance writer (b. 1928)
Holidays and observances
- Armed Forces Day (Mali)
- Christian Feast Day:
- Martyrs' Day (Azerbaijan)
- United States presidential inauguration, held every four years since 1937 (with 2 exceptions by Eisenhower & Reagan, on January 21st because January 20 was a Sunday [1957 and 1985]) in odd-numbered years after years when the United States Presidential Election takes place (as the election takes place in 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.
External links