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 Aquarius and Capricorn .
Events 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 was forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway .1667 - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth cedes Kyiv , Smolensk , and left-bank Ukraine to Imperial Russia in the treaty of Andrusiv .1783 - Britain signs a peace treaty with France and Spain , officially ending hostilities in the Revolutionary War .1801 - John Marshall is appointed 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 .1885 - L.A. Thompson patents the roller coaster .1887 - The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.1891 - James Hogg becomes the first native Texan to be governor of that state.1892 - At the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts , the first official basketball game is played.1921 - The first constitution of Turkey was adopted, which made fundamental change in the source and exercise of sovereignty.1929 - The movie In Old Arizona 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 .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 .1958 - Elvis Presley receives his draft notice.1964 - Meet the Beatles , the first Beatles album in the United States , is released.1969 - The first pulsar is discovered, in the Crab Nebula .1975 - Michael Ovitz founds Creative Artists Agency .1981 - Ronald W. Reagan is inaugurated as the 40th President of the United States . Minutes later, Iran releases 52 American hostages.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 in the Lebanon .1990 - Black January - bloody crackdown of Azeri protest 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.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 .1999 - The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use aimed especially at Internet bars.2002 - Inauguration of Churches Uniting in Christ .
Births 225 - Gordian III , Roman emperor (d. 244 )1435 - Ashikaga Yoshimasa , Ashikaga shogun (b. 1490 )1812 - Thomas Meik , engineer (d. 1896 )1837 - David Josiah Brewer , U.S. Supreme Court justice (d. 1910 )1856 - Harriot Eaton Stanton Blatch , women's rights activist (d. 1940 )1873 - Johannes Vilhelm Jensen , Danish author, Nobel prize winner (d. 1950)1876 - Jozef Hofmann , Polish pianist (d. 1967 )1878 - Ruth St. Denis , dancer (d. 1968 )1894 - Walter Piston , American composer1896 - George Burns , American actor, comedian (d. 1996 )1900 - Colin Clive , British Actor (d. 1937 )1906 - Aristotle Onassis , industrialist (d. 1975 )1907 - Paula Wessley , actress (d. 2000 )1910 - Joy Adamson , naturalist, writer (d. 1980 )1915 - C. W. Ceram , author (d. 1972 )1915 - Ghulam Ishaq Khan , President of Pakistan 1918 - Esquivel , musician (d. 2002 )1920 - Federico Fellini , film director (d. 1993 )1920 - DeForest Kelly , actor (d. 1999 ) 1920 - John O'Connor, Cardinal of New York City (d. 2000 ) 1921 - Bernt Engelmann , author (d. 1994 )1924 - Slim Whitman , American country music singer1925 - Ernesto Cardenal , theologian, author and politician1926 - Patricia Neal , actress1926 - David Tudor , pianist and composer (d. 1996 ) 1928 - Peter Donat , Canadian actor1929 - Arte Johnson , actor1929 - Glenn "Fireball" Roberts , NASCAR race car driver (d. 1964 ) 1929 - Bob Denard , French mercenary1930 - Buzz Aldrin , astronaut1934 - Tom Baker , British actor1937 - Dorothy Provine , American dancer, actress1939 - Paul Coverdell , American politician (d. 2000 )1940 - Carol Heiss , Olympic figure skating gold medalist1946 - David Lynch , film director1948 - Natan Sharansky - Soviet-Israeli physicist, politician1949 - Göran Persson , Prime Minister of Sweden 1950 - Mahamane Ousmane , former President of Niger1951 - Ian Hill , British musician (Judas Priest )1952 - Paul Stanley , musician, of the rock band KISS 1956 - Bill Maher , actor, comedian, political analyst1958 - Lorenzo Lamas , actor1963 - James Denton , American actor1968 - Melissa Rivers , American reporter, actress1969 - Skeet Ulrich , actor1976 - Gretha Smit , Olympic speed skating silver medalist1979 - Rob Bourdon , American musician (Linkin Park )
Deaths 1156 - Bishop Henry , patron saint of Finland 1612 - Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor 1779 - David Garrick , actor (b. 1717 )1848 - Christian VIII of Denmark (b. 1786 )1850 - Adam Oehlenschlager , Danish poet (b. 1779 )1907 - Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev , Russian chemist and inventor of the Periodic table (b. 1834 )1936 - King George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865 )1944 - James McKeen Cattell , first professor of Psychology in U.S. (b. 1860 )1962 - Robinson Jeffers , poet1965 - Alan Freed , disk jockey (b. 1922 )1971 - Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson , actor, director, writer, producer1984 - Johnny Weissmuller , Olympic swimming gold medalist, actor (b. 1904 )1990 - Barbara Stanwyck , actress (b. 1907 )1993 - Audrey Hepburn , actress (b. 1929 )1996 - Gerry Mulligan , musician (b. 1927 )1997 - Curt Flood , baseball star1998 - Bobo Brazil , professional wrestler2002 - Carrie Hamilton , American actress2003 - Al Hirschfeld , caricaturist2003 - Bill Werbeniuk , Canadian snooker player (b. 1947 ) 2003 - Nedra Volz, American actress 2004 - Guinn Smith , American athlete2005 - Jan Nowak-Jezioranski Polish journalist, writer, politician (b. 1913 )
Holidays and observances January 19 - January 21 - December 20 - February 20 -- listing of all days
Feeds |
Contact