On this day in History - Jan. 21

• 304 - Martyrdom of Saint Agnes, under emperor Diocletianus.
• 1118 - Pope Paschal II dies.
• 1189 - Philip II of France and Richard I of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade.
• 1276 - Innocent V becomes Pope.
• 1519 - Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Spanish explorer (b. ca. 1475).
• 1525 - The Swiss Anabaptist Movement was born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptized each other in the home of Manz's mother on Neustadt-Gasse, Zurich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.
• 1533 - El español Pedro de Heredia funda Cartagena de Indias en el territorio que actualmente es Colombia.
• 1561 - Sir Francis Bacon, was born, philosopher, statesman, essayist (d. 1626) .
• 1643 - Abel Tasman discovers Tonga.
• 1720 - Sweden and Prussia signs the Treaty of Stockholm.
• 1732 - Russia and Persia sign Treaty of Riascha.
• 1738 - Ethan Allen, was born, American soldier, patriot (d. 1789) .
• 1789 - The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth, is printed in Boston, Massachusetts.
• 1790 - La Asamblea Constituyente francesa proclama la igualdad de todos los ciudadanos ante la ley.
• 1792 - Ajusticiado Joaquín da Silva Xavier ("Tiradentes"), por conspirar para conseguir la independencia de Brasil.
• 1793 - After being found guilty for treason by the French Convention, Louis XVI of France [b.1754] is guillotined in Paris .
• 1793 - Russia and Prussia partition Poland.
• 1813 - John C. Fremont was born, explorer, soldier, and political leader .
• 1824 - Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Confederate Army general (d. 1863).
• 1829 - Oscar II, was born, King of Sweden and Norway (d. 1907) .
• 1840 - Sophia Jex-Blake physician .
• 1846 - The first issue of the London Daily News was published .
• 1850 - Paul Vinzenz Busch, ringmaster (d. 1927).
• 1853 - Russell L. Hawes patents the envelope-folding machine.
• 1855 - John Moses Browning, was born, inventor (d. 1926) .
• 1861 - American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.
• 1861 - Padre Landell de Moura, nascimento de, inventor brasileiro .
• 1864 - The Tauranga Campaign starts during the Maori Wars.
• 1867 - Ludwig Thoma, narrator, dramatist and lyricist (d. 1921) .
• 1867 - Maxime Weygand, French General (d. 1965) .
• 1883 - Olav Aukrust, Norwegian poet .
• 1884 - Roger Baldwin, ACLU president, social activist (d. 1981) .
• 1885 - Umberto Nobile, politician and airship designer (d. 1978).
• 1887 - The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is formed.
• 1891 - Francisco Lazaro, was born , Portuguese runner , died tragically in 1921 during the marathon of Stocholm Olympic Games . He was the first olympic atlet in representation of Benfica.
• 1895 - Cristobal Balenciaga, couturier (d. 1972) .
• 1899 - Opel Motors opens for business.
• 1901- Emirs of Kontagora and Bida are defeated by British forces in the continuing campaign against the Sokoto Caliphate.
• 1905 - Christian Dior was born, fashion designer [d. 24 October 1957].
• 1908 - New York City passes a law, the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public only to be vetoed by the mayor.
• 1911 - The first Monte Carlo Rally.
• 1913 - Aluízio de Azevedo, morte de, caricaturista, jornalista, romancista e diplomata brasileiro.
• 1913 - Aristide Briand forms French government.
• 1915 - Kiwanis International founded in Detroit, Michigan.
• 1919 - Meeting in Dublin, the Sinn Féin adopts Ireland's first constitution.
• 1921 - Nasce o Partido Comunista Italiano, encabeçado por Gramsci, que pertencia ao Partido Socialista.
• 1922 - Paul Scofield, was born, actor .
• 1923 - Lola Flores, nacimiento de, cantante española.
• 1924 - Vladimir Lenin, dies, first leader of the USSR (b. 1870). He had led the Bolsheviks to victory in the 1917 October Revolution and in its aftermath, had grappled with anarchy and war.
• 1925 - Albania declares itself a republic.
• 1925 - Benny Hill, was born, comedian, actor (d. 1992).
• 1926 - Steve Reeves, was born, actor (d. 2000) .
• 1926 - Camillo Golgi, fallecimiento de, médico italiano, premio Nobel de Medicina en 1906.
• 1927 - Telly Savalas, was born, Emmy Award-winning actor (d. 1994) .
• 1930 - El emperador Hirohito disuelve el Parlamento japonés.
• 1936 - In Britain, King Edward VIII was proclaimed king following the death of his father, King George V. He remained king until December 1936 when he abdicated and was succeeded by George VI.
• 1936 - Koji Hashimoto, was born Japanese film director (d. 2005) .
• 1938 - España: el ejército fascista de Franco llega al río Alfambra.
• 1939 - Wolfman Jack , was born , disk jockey, actor (d. 1995) .
• 1940 - Jack Nicklaus, was born professional golfer .
• 1941 - Placido Domingo was born, Spanish tenor opera singer .
• 1941- World War II: Australian and British forces attack Tobruk, Libya.
• 1950 - Former State department Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.
• 1950 - Billy Ocean,[Leslie S Charles], was born musician Billy Ocean, Trinidad, singer (Caribbean Queen) .
• 1950 - George Orwell, dies in London[b. 1903], writer (1984 ; Animal Farm) .
• 1954 - The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groto, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, then the First Lady of the United States.
• 1955 - Jeff Koons, was born, artist .
• 1956 - Geena Davis, was born, Academy Award-winning supporting actress, (The Accidental Tourist [1988]; Beetlejuice, Fletch, The Fly, Tootsie, Thelma and Louise, Buffalo Bill, The Long Kiss Goodnight).
• 1958 - Anita Baker, born this day, US soul singer.
• 1959 - Cecil B. DeMille, dies, film director (b. 1881) .
• 1961 - Ahmed Sékou Touré is elected president of the republic of Guinea.
• 1962 - Julius Kambarage Nyerere, Tanganyikan president, resigns because of opposition to his policies. He spends the year converting the Tanganyikan African National Union, TANU, into a governing party in preparation for the republic.
• 1963 - Hakeem Olajuwon,was born basketball player .
• 1963 - Detlef Schrempf, was born basketball player .
• 1965 - Hassan Ali Mansur, primeiro-ministro da Pérsia, atual Irã, é assassinado.
• 1968 Tet offensive in Vietnam begins with battle for Khe Sanh .
• 1968 - Simon & Garfunkel release the Original Soundtrack to The Graduate, which quickly goes to #1 on the pop charts and which will bring Simon a Grammy for Best Original Score.
• 1969 - An experimental underground nuclear reactor at Lucens Vad, Switzerland, released radiation into a cavern, which was then sealed.
• 1970 - El socialista Salvador Allende es nombrado candidato a presidente de Chile.
• 1976 - The first commercial service Concorde flight took off.
• 1976 - Começo dos voos comerciais do avião supersónico Concorde. O avião voa a uma velocidade duas vezes superior à velocidade do som (Mach 2).
• 1976 - Emma Bunton, was born, AKA "Baby Spice," singer .
• 1977 -Italy legalizes abortion.
• 1977 - President Jimmy Carter pardons nearly all Vietnam War draft evaders.
• 1977- El príncipe Felipe de Borbón detentará el título de Príncipe de Asturias, a propuesta del Gobierno español.
• 1980 - Jorge Luis Borges y Gerardo Diego Cendoya, son galardonados ex aequo con el Premio Cervantes.
• 1980 - An Iran Air Boeing 727 flying from Mashad to Tehran crashed on a mountainside in fog, killing all 128 on board.
• 1980 - Mueren más de 300 personas al derrumbarse una plaza de toros en Sincelejo (Colombia).
• 1985 - Don DeLillo wins the American Book Award for his breakthrough novel, White Noise.
• 1991 - El nuevo rey de Noruega, Harald V, jura la Constitución ante el Parlamento .
• 1992 -The UN orders Libya to hand over two suspects linked to the Lockerbie bombing (Pan Am 103).
• 1994 - El Senado mexicano ratifica la ley de amnistía para los insurgentes de Chiapas, aprobada el día antes por el Congreso .
• 1994 - Lorena Bobbitt is found not-guilty by reason of temporary insanity for severing the penis of her husband John Bobbitt.
• 1995 - 52th Golden Globes: Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks, Jessica Lange .
• 1996 - 53th Golden Globes: Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman, John Travolta .
• 1997 - Newt Gingrich becomes the first leader of the United States House of Representatives to be internally disciplined for ethical misconduct.
• 1998 - Juan Pablo II inicia su viaje a Cuba.
• 1999 - Died this day, Charles Brown (Merry Christmas Baby), of cogestive heart failure.
• 1999 - War on Drugs: In one of the one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 9,500 pounds (4,300 kg) of cocaine on board.
• 2000 - El presidente de Ecuador Jamil Mahuad, huye del palacio presidencial de Quito, acorralado por el asalto al poder protagonizado por un grupo de militares y miles de indígenas.
• 2001- Pope John Paul II names 37 new cardinals. This is an unusually high number, putting a heavy stamp on the body that will elect his successor.
• 2002 - Peggy Lee, dies, singer (b. 1920) .
• 2002 - Zipacná de León, fallecimiento de, pintor y ceramista guatemalteco.
• 2003 - The terms of Kevin Mitnick's parole allow him to use a computer again.
• 2003 -The U.S. Census Bureau reported that Hispanics had surpassed Blacks as the largest minority group.
• 2003 - Some 40 persons dies in earthquake of magnitude 7.8 with epicenter 33 km deep at south of Tecomán, Colima, Mexico, at 20:06 (Jan 22 02:06:35 UT).
• 2004 - Canada: The residence of reporter, Juliet O'Neill was searched by the RCMP investigating leaks concerning the deportation of Maher Arar.
• 2004 - NASA's MER-A (Spirit the Mars Rover) had too many open files for the flash memory; the robotic Rover froze in mid-motion; the problem was fixed remotely from Earth.
• 2004 - Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway was born .