On this day in History - Jan. 20

• 0225 - Gordian III was born (d. 0244). Roman emperor.
• 0250 - Fabianus, Pope (236-50) , saint, dies .
• 1156 - According to legend, freeholder Lalli slays English crusader Bishop Henry with an axe on the ice of the lake Köyliönjärvi in Finland. Because this Bishop Henry, was converted in patron saint of 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.
• 1358 - Eleanor of Aragon was born (d. 1382). Queen of John I of Castile.
• 1435 - Ashikaga Yoshimasa dies (b. 1490). Ashikaga shogun.
• 1479 - King John II of Aragon dies (b. 1397).
• 1486 - Cristóvão Colombo se apresenta em Córdoba aos Reis Católicos, oferecendo seus serviços científicos e pesquisadores, como a nova rota às Índias.
• 1523 - Christian II was forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway.
• 1554 - King Sebastian of Portugal was born (d. 1578)/ Nascimento de D. Sebastião, Rei de Portugal.
• 1568 - Myles Coverdale dies. English Bible translator.
• 1586 - Johann Schein was born (d. 1630). German composer.
• 1590 - Giovanni Battista Benedetti dies. Italian mathematicien, philosopher and physicien.
• 1612 - Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor dies (b. 1552).
• 1664 - Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina was born (d. 1718). Italian writer and jurist.
• 1666 - Anna of Austria dies (b. 1601). Queen Consort of France and Regent for her son Louis XIV of France.
• 1667 - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth cedes Kyiv, Smolensk, and left-bank Ukraine to Imperial Russia in the treaty of Andrusiv .
• 1707 - Humphrey Hody dies (b. 1659). English theologian.
• 1709 - François de la Chaise dies (b. 1624). French confessor of Louis XIV of France
• 1716 - King Charles III of Spain was born (d. 1788)
• 1716 - Jean-Jacques Barthélemy was born (d. 1795). French writer and numismatist
• 1732 - Richard Henry Lee was born. Political leader in the American Revolution.
• 1745 - Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor dies (b. 1697) .
• 1751 - John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol dies (b. 1665). English politician.
• 1770 - Charles Yorke dies (b. 1722). Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.
• 1778 - Hawaii “discovered” by James Cook The first European to visit Hawaii was British explorer James Cook, who landed at Waimea on Kauai island this day in 1778 and was killed the following year by Hawaiians when he returned to the islands.
• 1779 - David Garrick dies (b. 1717). English actor.
• 1783 - Britain signs a peace treaty with France and Spain, officially ending hostilities in the Revolutionary War.
• 1798 - Anson Jones was born (d. 1858). 5th and last President of Texas.
• 1801 - John Marshall was appointed Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
• 1804 - Eugène Sue was born (d. 1857). French novelist.
• 1806 - Nathaniel P. Willis was born in Portland, Maryland. Writer/editor who founds the "American Monthly Magazine".
• 1807 - Combate del Cardal, en el que la guarnición de Montevideo sucumbió, tras brava resistencia, ante los invasores ingleses.
• 1810 - Benjamin Chew dies (b. 1722). Chief Justice of colonial Pennsylvania.
• 1812 - Thomas Meik was born (d. 1896). Engineer.
• 1817 - Tropas portuguesas, al mando del general Carlos Federico Lecor, ocupan Montevideo.
• 1819 - King Charles IV of Spain dies (b. 1748)
• 1837 - David Josiah Brewer was born (d. 1910). U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
• 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 - A ilha de Hong Kong é cedida pela China à Grã-Bretanha. Mas o acordo entre os dois países estabelece que Hong Kong voltará ao controle chinês em julho de 1997.
• 1848 - Christian VIII of Denmark dies (b. 1786).
• 1850 - Adam Oehlenschläger dies (b. 1779). Danish poet.
• 1855 - Ernest Chausson was born (d. 1899). French composer. His Poème for Violin & Orchestra is one of the most popular in the violin repertory.
• 1856 - Harriot Eaton Stanton Blatch was born (d. 1940). Women's rights activist.
• 1857 -Vladimir Bekhterev was born (d. 24 Dec 1927). Russian neurophysiologist and psychiatrist who studied the formations of the brain and investigated conditioned reflexes.
• 1866 - Euclides da Cunha was born (d. 1909). Brazilian writer.
• 1867 - Yvette Guilbert was born (d. 1944). French singer and actress.
• 1868 - Wilhelm Schaeffer was born. German writer.
• 1868 - Francisco Javier Espinosa becomes President of Ecuador.
• 1868 - O Papa Pío IX concede a Rosa de Ouro à Rainha da Espanha, Isabel II.
• 1873 - Johannes Vilhelm Jensen was born (d. 1950). Danish author, Nobel prize winner.
• 1876 - Jozef Hofmann was born (d. 1967). Polish pianist.
• 1878 - Ruth St. Denis was born in Englewood, New Jersey (d. 1968). Great American modernist dancer.
• 1880 - Walter W. Bacon was born (d. 1962). Governor of Delaware.
• 1882 - Comienzan las obras de excavación del Canal de Panamá.
• 1883 - Alfred Francis Russell becomes President of Liberia (20 Jan 1883 to 7 Jan 1884).
• 1885 - Leadbelly (Huddie Ledbetter) was born (d. 1949). American Blues Singer.
• 1885 - L.A. Thompson patents the roller coaster.
• 1887 - The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.
• 1889 - Gerta-Luise von Einem was born († 3 Mar 1964). As the wife of major general William von Einem, Gerta-Luise was the grand dame of high society.
• 1890 - O Hino Nacional do Brasil, composto por Francisco Manuel da Silva, é oficializado.
• 1891 - James Hogg becomes the first native Texan to be governor of that state.
• 1891 - Mischa Elman was born (d. 1967). Ukrainian born violinist.
• 1891 - David Kalakaua dies (b. 1836). King of Hawaii.
• 1892 - At the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, the first official basketball game is played.
• 1896 - George Burns was born (d. 1996). American actor, comedian.
• 1900 - Colin Clive was born (d. 1937). British actor.
• 1901 - Zénobe Gramme dies (b. 1826). Belgian engineer.
• 1902 - Nâzim Hikmet was born (d. 1963). Poet who was one of the most important figures in 20th century Turkish literature.
• 1906 - Aristotle Sócrates Onassis was born. Greek industrialist.
• 1907 - Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev dies (b.1834). Russian chemist and inventor of the Periodic table .
• 1910 - Joy Adamson was born (d. 1980). Austrian Naturalist, conservationalist and author of the best-selling book "Born Free," was killed in Northern Kenya by a servant in a wage dispute.
• 1915 - Ghulam Ishaq Khan was born. President of Pakistan.
• 1916 - Chacrinha (José Abelardo Barbosa de Medeiros) was born in Surubim, PE (d. 30 Jul 1988). Brazilian TV presenter and radialist.
• 1917 - Fernando Rey was born. Spanish actor.
• 1918 - Juan Garcia Esquivel was born (d. 2002). Mexican musician.
• 1920 - Federico Fellini was born (d. 1993). Italian film director.
• 1920 - DeForest Kelley was born (d. 1999). American actor.
• 1920 - John O'Connor was born (d. 2000). American Catholic cardinal.
• 1920 - Georg Lurich dies (b. 1876). Estonian wrestler.
• 1921 - The first constitution of Turkey was adopted, which made fundamental change in the source and exercise of sovereignty.
• 1921 - Francisco José Tenreiro was born (d. 1963). San Tomean poet.
• 1922 - Camille Jordan dies (b. 5 Jan 1838). French mathematician and engineer who prepared a foundation for group theory and built on the prior work of Évariste Galois (died 1832).
• 1923 - Nora Brockstedt was born. Norwegian singer.
• 1924 - Slim Whitman was born. American singer.
• 1925 - Ernesto Cardenal was born. Nicaraguan theologian and author and politician.
• 1926 - Patricia Neal was born. American actress .Her role as Halma in Hud back in 1962 was unforgettable
• 1926 - David Tudor was born (d. 1996). American pianist and composer.
• 1929 - The movie In Old Arizona was released. The film was the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors.
• 1929 - Trotski é expulso da URSS e deportado à Turquia.
• 1929 - Jimmy Cobb was born. American jazz drummer
• 1929 - Bob Denard was born. French mercenary.
• 1929 - Arte Johnson was born. American actor.
• 1929 - Glenn "Fireball" Roberts was born (d. 1964). American race car driver.
• 1930 - Buzz Aldrin was born. American astronaut.
• 1931 - David M. Lee was born. American physicist who, with Robert C. Richardson and Douglas D. Osheroff, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1996 for their joint discovery of superfluidity in the isotope helium-3.
• 1933 - Inauguración de la plaza de toros de Maracay (Venezuela), ahora denominada maestranza "César Girón".
• 1934 - Tom Baker was born. British actor.
• 1936 - King George V of the United Kingdom dies (b. 1865) and Edward VIII becomes King.
• 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.
• 1937 - The coldest temperature in California is recorded by Boca station at -45° Fahrenheit.
• 1938 - William Berger was born (d. 1993). Austrian actor.
• 1939 - Paul Coverdell was born (d. 2000). American politician.
• 1939 - King Farouk is declared the spiritual leader, or Caliph of Islam.
• 1940 - Jorge Peixinho was born in Montijo (d. 30 Jun 1995). Portuguese composer.
• 1940 - Carol Heiss was born. American figure skater
• 1941 - Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated for a third term as President of the United States, becoming the only President to be elected to three terms.
• 1942 - World War II: Nazis at the Wannsee conference in Berlin decide the "final solution to the Jewish problem".
• 1942 -The Nazis formulated their "Final Solution" regarding the Jews at the Wannsee Conference.
• 1944 - World War II: The Royal Air Force drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin.
• 1944 - James McKeen Cattell dies (b. 1860). American psychologist.
• 1945 - Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated for a fourth term as President of the United States, becoming the only President to be elected to four terms.
• 1945 - Hungary drops out of the Second World War, agreeing an armistice with the Allies.
• 1946 - David Lynch was born. American film director .
• 1948 - Natan Sharansky was born. Russian-born physicist and politician.
• 1948 - Mahatma Gandhi dies assassinated. India's pacifist.
• 1949 - Göran Persson was born. Prime Minister of Sweden.
• 1949 - Harry S. Truman is re-inaugurated as the 33rd President of the United States.
• 1950 - Mahamane Ousmane was born. President of Niger.
• 1951 - Ian Hill was born. British musician (Judas Priest)
• 1952 - Paul Stanley was born. American musician (KISS)
• 1952 - Edgar Faure becomes Prime Minister of France.
• 1953 - Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated as the 34th President of the United States.
• 1954 - The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
• 1955 - Wyatt Knight was born. American actor.
• 1956 - Bill Maher was born. American actor, comedian, and political analyst.
• 1957 - Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United
• States.
• 1958 - Elvis Presley receives his draft notice.
• 1958 - Lorenzo Lamas was born. American actor.
• 1960 - Will Wright was born. American computer game designer
• 1960 - Michael Hutchence was born (d. 1997). Australian Singer (INXS).
• 1960 - Hendrik Verwoerd announced a plebiscite on whether South Africa should become a Republic.
• 1961 - John F. Kennedy is inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States.
• 1962 - Robinson Jeffers dies (b. 1887). American poet, one of the most controversial American poets of the 20th century.
• 1963 - James Denton was born. American actor.
• 1964 - The Beatles released their first album in the United States, Meet the Beatles.
• 1964 - Aníbal Machado dies (b. 1894). Brazilian writer.
• 1965 - Lyndon B. Johnson is re-inaugurated as the 36th President of the United States.
• 1965 - Greg Kriesel was born. American bassist (The Offspring)
• 1965 - John Michael Montgomery was born. American singer.
• 1965 - Alan Freed dies (b. 1922). American disk jockey.
• 1966 - Tia Carrere was born in Honolulu HI, actress (Wayne's World, General Hospital) .
• 1968 - Melissa Rivers, American reporter and actress
• 1969 - The first pulsar is discovered, in the Crab Nebula.
• 1969 - Richard M. Nixon is inaugurated as the 37th President of the United States.
• 1969 - Patrick K. Kroupa was born. American writer, hacker.
• 1969 - Skeet Ulrich was born. American actor.
• 1971 - Derrick Green was born. American singer (Sepultura).
• 1971 - Gilbert M. "Broncho Bill" Anderson dies (b. 1880). American actor, director, writer, and producer
• 1972 - Dimite el Gobierno de Chile en pleno para facilitar a Salvador Allende su reorganización.
• 1973 - Richard M. Nixon is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States.
• 1973 - Amílcar Cabral dies assassinated in Conakry (b. 12 Sep 1924, in Bafatá, Guinea). Activist of liberation struggles in Guinea-Bissau.
• 1975 - Michael Ovitz founds Creative Artists Agency.
• 1976 - Gretha Smit was born. Dutch speed skater.
• 1977 - Jimmy Carter is inaugurated as the 39th President of the United States.
• 1979 - Rob Bourdon was born. American musician (Linkin Park)
• 1980 - Super Bowl XIV sees the coronation of the Pittsburgh Steelers as the team of the 1970s as they defeat the Los Angeles Rams, 31-19.
• 1980 - Os Estados Unidos anunciam o boicote às Olimpíadas de Moscovo em virtude de conflitos políticos entre os dois países.
• 1981 - President Reagan became the oldest president to take office (69 years and 349 days).
• 1981 - 52 American hostages seized from the American Embassy in Tehran were released after 444 days in captivity.
• 1983 - Mané Garrincha dies (b. 1933). Brazilian footballer, two times World Champion (1958/1962).
• 1984 - Johnny Weissmuller dies (b. 1904). Olympic swimming gold medalist and actor (Tarzan).
• 1985 - Super Bowl XIX becomes the most watched game in history. Television commercials ran for a million dollars a minute.
• 1985 - Ronald W. Reagan is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States.
• 1986 - The United Kingdom and France announce plans to construct the Channel Tunnel.
• 1986 - Martin Luther King, Jr., day was celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
• 1987 - Church of England envoy Terry Waite is kidnapped in the Lebanon.
• 1998 - American researchers announced they have cloned calves that may produce medicinal milk.
• 1988 - Maria Elisa Domingues, Portuguese journalist receive in Brussels the Annual Prize from The Association of European Journalists (AEJ)
• 1989 - George H. W. Bush is inaugurated as the 41st President of the United States.
• 1990 - Hayedeh dies (b. 1942). Persian singer.
• 1990 - Barbara Stanwyck dies (b. 1907). American actress.
• 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 the 42nd President of the United States.
• 1993 - Audrey Hepburn dies in Switzerland (b. 1929). Belgian actress .
• 1994 - Death of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenyan independence leader and key opposition figure to President Daniel Moi's regime.
• 1994 - In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet to attend The Citadel but soon drops out.
• 1996 - Yasser Arafat is elected president of the Palestinian Authority with 88% of the votes in the first Palestinian elections.
• 1996 - Gerry Mulligan dies (b. 1927). American musician.
• 1996 - Madonna llega Buenos Aires para protagonizar la película Evita, de Alan Parker.
• 1997 - Bill Clinton starts his second term as President of the United States.
• 1997 - O Governo de Zaire declara guerra aos rebeldes tutsis, que controlam militarmente o leste do país apoiados por Ruanda y Burundi. 200 mil refugiados seguem perdidos, sem alimento algum.
• 1997 - Curt Flood dies (b. 1938). Baseball player.
• 1998 - Bobo Brazil dies (b. 1924). American professional wrestler.
• 1999 - The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use aimed especially at Internet bars.
• 2001 - George W. Bush is inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States.
• 2001 - Philippine president Joseph Estrada is ousted in the EDSA II Revolution, succeeded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
• 2002 - Michael Jordan, now of the Washington Wizards, plays his first game in Chicago since rejoining the NBA.
• 2002 - Inauguration of Churches Uniting in Christ.
• 2003 - North Korea announced that it was withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
• 2003 - Nedra Volz dies of complications from Alzheimer’s Disease at age 94. Ms. Volz made a career out of playing "Old Ladies." Ms. Volz was a regular on several TV series including "Different Strokes," "The Dukes of Hazzard," "The Fall Guy," "Filthy Rich" and "Babes."
• 2003 - Al Hirschfeld dies (b. 1903). American caricaturist.
• 2003 - Bill Werbeniuk dies (b. 1947). Canadian snooker player.
• 2004 - Guinn Smith dies (b. 1920). American athlete.
• 2005 - George W. Bush will be inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States.
• 2005 - Ireland completes metrication.