January 21
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is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 344 days remaining (345 in leap years).
Events
- 1189 - Philip II of France and Richard I of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade.
- 1276 - Innocent V becomes Pope.
- 1287 - The treaty of San Agayz is signed. Minorca is conquered by King Alfons III of Aragon.
- 1525 - The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.
- 1643 - Abel Tasman discovers Tonga.
- 1720 - Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm.
- 1789 - The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth, is printed in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1793 - After being found guilty of treason by the French Convention, Louis XVI of France is guillotined.
- 1793 - Russia and Prussia partition Poland.
- 1853 - Russell L. Hawes patents the envelope-folding machine.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.
- 1864 - The Tauranga Campaign starts during the Maori Wars.
- 1887 - The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is formed.
- 1887 - Brisbane receives a daily rainfall of 465 millimetres (18.3 inches), a record for any Australian capital city.
- 1899 - Opel Motors opens for business.
- 1908 - New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor.
- 1911 - The first Monte Carlo Rally.
- 1915 - Kiwanis International founded in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1919 - Meeting of the First Dáil Éireann in the Mansion House Dublin, Sinn Féin adopts Ireland's first constitution. The first engagement of Irish War of Independence, Sologhead Beg, County Tipperary.
- 1924 - Vladimir Lenin dies and Joseph Stalin begins to purge his rivals to clear way for his leadership.
- 1925 - Albania declares itself a republic.
- 1941 - World War II: Australian and British forces attack Tobruk, Libya.
- 1950 - Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.
- 1954 - The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, then the First Lady of the United States.
- 1958 - The last Fokker C.X in military service, the FAF FK-111 target tower, crashed killing the pilot and winch-operator.
- 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.
- 1968 - One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the Vietnam War war begins the Battle of Khe Sanh.
- 1969 - An experimental underground nuclear reactor at Lucens Vad, Switzerland, released radiation into a cavern, which was then sealed.
- 1976 - The first commercial service Concorde flight took off.
- 1977 - President Jimmy Carter pardons nearly all American Vietnam War draft evaders, some of whom had emigrated to Canada.
- 1985 - Because January 20 had fallen on a Sunday, Ronald Reagan's public inaugural ceremony (for his second term as President) was moved to Monday, January 21. Due to bad weather, the ceremony was held indoors in the United States Capital Rotunda.[link]
- 1997 - Newt Gingrich becomes the first leader of the United States House of Representatives to be internally disciplined for ethical misconduct.
- 1999 - War on Drugs: In 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.
- 2002 - Canadian Dollar sets all-time low against the US Dollar (US$0.6179).
- 2004 - Canada: The residence of reporter Juliet O'Neill is searched by the RCMP investigating leaks concerning the deportation of Maher Arar.
- 2004 - NASA's MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies with Flash Memory management and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6th.
- 2005 - In Belize's capital city, the unrest over the government's new taxes erupts into riots.
Births
- 1804 - Eliza Roxcy Snow, American poet (d. 1887)
- 1824 - Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, American Confederate Army general (d. 1863)
- 1825 - Imre Madách, Hungarian writer (d. 1864)
- 1829 - King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway (d. 1907)
- 1848 - Henri Duparc, French composer (d. 1933)
- 1855 - John Moses Browning, American inventor (d. 1926)
- 1860 - Karl Staaff, Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1915)
- 1867 - Ludwig Thoma, German writer (d. 1921)
- 1867 - Maxime Weygand, French general (d. 1965)
- 1883 - Olav Aukrust, Norwegian poet (d. 1929)
- 1884 - Roger Baldwin, American social activist (d. 1981)
- 1885 - Leadbelly, American blues and folk musician (d. 1949)
- 1885 - Umberto Nobile, Italian politician and airship designer (d. 1978)
- 1887 - Georges Vezina, Canadian ice hockey goalie and innovator (d. 1926)
- 1895 - Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish couturier (d. 1972)
- 1905 - Christian Dior, French fashion designer (d. 1957)
- 1905 - Karl Wallenda, German acrobat (d. 1978)
- 1906 - Igor Moiseyev, father of balletic folk dance
- 1912 - Konrad Emil Bloch, German-born biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2000)
- 1918 - Richard D. Winters, War hero
- 1921 - Howard Unruh, American mass murderer
- 1922 - Telly Savalas, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1922 - Paul Scofield, English actor
- 1923 - Lola Flores, Spanish singer (d. 1995)
- 1924 - Benny Hill, British actor, comic and singer (d. 1992)
- 1926 - Steve Reeves, American actor (d. 2000)
- 1936 - Koji Hashimoto, Japanese film director (d. 2005)
- 1938 - Altair Gomes de Figueiredo, Brazilian football player
- 1939 - Wolfman Jack, disk jockey and actor (d. 1995)
- 1940 - Jack Nicklaus, American golfer
- 1941 - Plácido Domingo, Spanish-born tenor
- 1941 - Richie Havens, American musician
- 1941 - Ivan Putski, Polish professional wrestler
- 1942 - Mac Davis, American musician
- 1942 - Edwin Starr, American singer (d. 2003)
- 1946 - Johnny Oates, baseball player and manager (d. 2004)
- 1950 - Billy Ocean, West Indian musician
- 1953 - Paul Allen, American entrepreneur
- 1955 - Jeff Koons, American artist
- 1956 - Robby Benson, American actor
- 1956 - Geena Davis, American actress
- 1956 - Lewis Berman, American computer scientist, composer, and pianist.
- 1958 - Michael Wincott, Canadian actor
- 1962 - Marie Trintignant, French actress (d. 2003)
- 1963 - Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigerian-born basketball player
- 1963 - Detlef Schrempf, German basketball player
- 1965 - Jam Master Jay, American disc jockey (d. 2002)
- 1968 - Charlotte Ross, American actress
- 1971 - Alan McManus, Scottish snooker player
- 1971 - Doug Weight, American ice hockey player
- 1972 - Chan Marshall, American musician (Cat Power)
- 1972 - Alan Benes, Professional baseball player
- 1975 - Nicky Butt, English footballer
- 1976 - Emma Bunton, English singer (Spice Girls)
- 1977 - Al Baxter, Australian rugby player
- 1977 - Philip Neville, English footballer
- 1978 - Andrei Zyuzin, Russian ice hockey player
- 1979 - Brian O'Driscoll, Irish rugby player
- 1979 - Byung-Hyun Kim, Korean baseball player
- 1981 - Andy Lee, rapper in the korean group Shinhwa
- 1981 - Jamie Dalrymple, English Cricketer
- 1981 - Dany Heatley, Canadian hockey player
- 1981 - Izabella Miko, Polish-born actress and model
- 2004 - Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway
Deaths
- 304 - Saint Agnes (martyred)
- 1118 - Pope Paschal II
- 1519 - Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Spanish explorer
- 1527 - Juan de Grijalva, Spanish conquistador
- 1546 - Azai Sukemasa, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1491)
- 1609 - Joseph Justus Scaliger, French protestant scholar (b. 1540)
- 1638 - Ignazio Donati, Italian composer
- 1683 - Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, British politician (b. 1621)
- 1699 - Obadiah Walker, English writer (b. 1616)
- 1706 - Adrien Baillet, French scholar and critic (b. 1649)
- 1710 - Johann Georg Gichtel, German mystic (b. 1638)
- 1722 - Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, English supporter of William III of England (b. 1661)
- 1731 - Thomas Woolston, English theologian (b. 1669)
- 1766 - James Quin, English actor (b. 1693)
- 1773 - Alexis Piron, French writer (b. 1689)
- 1774 - Mustafa III, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1717)
- 1793 - King Louis XVI of France (executed) (b. 1754)
- 1795 - Samuel Wallis, English navigator
- 1814 - Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, French writer and botanist (b. 1737)
- 1831 - Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet (b. 1781)
- 1851 - Albert Lortzing, German composer (b. 1801)
- 1870 - Alexander Herzen, Russian writer (b. 1812)
- 1872 - Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer (b. 1791)
- 1881 - Wilhelm Matthias Naeff, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1802)
- 1891 - Calixa Lavallée, Canadian composer (b. 1842)
- 1901 - Elisha Gray, American inventor (b. 1835)
- 1914 - Theodor Kittelsen, Norwegian artist (b. 1857)
- 1919 - Gojong of Joseon, Emperor of Korea (b. 1852)
- 1924 - Vladimir Lenin, Russian Revolutionary (b. 1870)
- 1926 - Camillo Golgi, Italian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1843)
- 1928 - George Goethals, American army engineer (b. 1858)
- 1931 - Felix Blumenfeld, Russian composer and conductor (b. 1863)
- 1932 - Giles Lytton Strachey British writer (b. 1880)
- 1933 - George A. Moore, Irish novelist (b. 1852)
- 1948 - Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (b. 1876)
- 1950 - George Orwell, British writer (b. 1903)
- 1955 - Archie Hahn, American athlete (b. 1880)
- 1956 - Sam Langford, Canadian boxer (b. 1883)
- 1959 - Cecil B. DeMille, American director (b. 1881)
- 1959 - Carl Switzer, American actor (b. 1927)
- 1961 - Blaise Cendrars, Swiss writer (b. 1887)
- 1967 - Ann Sheridan, American actress (b. 1915)
- 1968 - Will Lang Jr., Chief Bureau Director of LIFE Magazine (b. 1914)
- 1977 - Sandro Penna, Italian poet (b. 1906)
- 1984 - Jackie Wilson, American musician (b. 1934)
- 1985 - James Beard, American chef and author (b. 1903)
- 1987 - Charles Goodell, American politician (b. 1926)
- 1989 - Billy Tipton, American musician (b. 1914)
- 1993 - Charlie Gehringer, baseball player (b. 1903)
- 1997 - Colonel Tom Parker, American manager of Elvis Presley (b. 1909)
- 1998 - Jack Lord, American actor (b. 1920)
- 1999 - Susan Strasberg, American actress (b. 1938)
- 2001 - Byron De La Beckwith, American white supremacist (b. 1921)
- 2001 - Chung Ju-yung, Korean industrialist (b. 1915)
- 2002 - Peggy Lee, American singer (b. 1920)
- 2004 - Yordan Radichkov, Bulgarian writer (b. 1929)
- 2005 - Parveen Babi, Indian actress (b. 1955)
- 2005 - John L. Hess, American journalist (b. 1917)
- 2005 - Theun de Vries, Dutch writer (b. 1907)
- 2006 - Ibrahim Rugova, President of Kosovo and historical leader of the Kosovo Albanian people (b. 1944)
Holidays and observances
- Catholicism - Feast day of Saint Agnes.
- Mauritius - Thaipoosam Cavadee.
- National Hugging Day
- UN Arms Day
External links
January 20 - January 22 - December 21 - February 21 — listing of all days
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