January 20

de: 20. Januares: 20 de enero
In astrology, it is the cusp day between Capricorn and Aquarius.

Events :

  • 250 - Emperor Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. Pope Fabian is martyred. Afterwards the Donatist controversy over readmitting lapsed Christians disaffects many in North Africa.
  • 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.
  • 1502 - The present-day location of Rio de Janeiro 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 Almansa.
  • 1649 - Charles I of England goes on trial for treason and other "high crimes"
  • 1667 - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth cedes Kiev, Smolensk, and left-bank Ukraine to Imperial Russia in the treaty of Andrusovo.
  • 1783 - The Kingdom of Great Britain signs a peace treaty with France and Spain, officially ending hostilities in the Revolutionary War.
  • 1788 - Third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decides Botany Bay is unsuitable for 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 a Peruvian and Bolivian alliance.
  • 1840 - Dumont D'Urville discovers Adélie Land, Antarctica.
  • 1840 - Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.
  • 1841 - Hong Kong Island 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.
  • 1892 - At the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, the first official basketball game is played.
  • 1920 - American Civil Liberties Union founded.
  • 1921 - The first Constitution of Turkey was adopted, which made 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 film filmed outdoors, is released.
  • 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.
  • 1954 - The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
  • 1960 - Hendrik Verwoerd announced a plebiscite on whether South Africa should become a Republic.
  • 1968 - Game of the Century, influential in college sports broadcasting.
  • 1969 - The first pulsar is discovered, in the Crab Nebula.
  • 1981 - Iran releases 52 American hostages twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as U.S. President.
  • 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 Lebanon.
  • 1990 - Black January - bloody crackdown of Azerbaijani peaceful pro-independence 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.
  • 1992 - Air Inter Flight 148 crashes near Strasbourg, France, killing 82 passengers and 5 crew.
  • 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 the EDSA II Revolution, succeeded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

    • Births :

    • 225 - Gordian III, Roman Emperor (d. 244)
    • 1292 - Elisabeth I of Bohemia (d. 1330)
    • 1358 - Eleanor of Aragon, wife of John I of Castile (d. 1382)
    • 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 - King Charles III of Spain (d. 1788)
    • 1716 - Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French writer and numismatist (d. 1795)
    • 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)
    • 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, dancer (d. 1968)
    • 1880 - Walter W. Bacon, Governor of Delaware (d. 1962)
    • 1891 - Mischa Elman, Ukrainian born violinist (d. 1967)
    • 1893 - Georg Åberg, Swedish athlete (d. 1946)
    • 1894 - Walter Piston, American composer (d. 1976)
    • 1896 - George Burns, American actor, comedian (d. 1996)
    • 1896 - Isabel Withers, American actress (d. 1968)
    • 1898 - U Razak, Burmese politician (d. 1947)
    • 1899 - Kenjiro Takayanagi, Japanese development of television (d. 1990)
    • 1900 - Colin Clive, British actor (d. 1937)
    • 1902 - Leon Ames, American actor (d. 1993)
    • 1907 - Paula Wessely, Austrian actress (d. 2000)
    • 1910 - Joy Adamson, Austrian naturalist and writer (d. 1980)
    • 1915 - Ghulam Ishaq Khan, President of Pakistan (d. 2006)
    • 1919 - Juan García Esquivel, Mexican bandleader (d. 2002)
    • 1920 - Federico Fellini, Italian film director (d. 1993)
    • 1920 - DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
    • 1920 - Thorleif Schjelderup, Norwegian author and ski jumper (d. 2006)
    • 1922 - Ray Anthony, American trumpeter, bandleader, songwriter and actor
    • 1923 - Nora Brockstedt, Norwegian singer
    • 1924 - Slim Whitman, American singer
    • 1925 - Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan theologian and author and politician
    • 1926 - Jamiluddin Aali, Pakistani poet, essayist and columnist
    • 1926 - Qurratulain Hyder, Indian novelist (d. 2007)
    • 1926 - Patricia Neal, American actress
    • 1926 - David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
    • 1929 - Jimmy Cobb, American jazz drummer
    • 1929 - Bob Denard, French mercenary
    • 1929 - Arte Johnson, American actor
    • 1929 - Glenn "Fireball" Roberts, American race car driver (d. 1964)
    • 1930 - Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr., astronaut
    • 1931 - David Lee, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate
    • 1932 - Lou Fontinato, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1934 - Tom Baker, British actor
    • 1937 - Dorothy Provine, American singer, dancer and actress
    • 1938 - William Berger, Austrian actor (d. 1993)
    • 1938 - Derek Dougan, Northern Irish footballer
    • 1939 - Paul Coverdell, American politician (d. 2000)
    • 1940 - Carol Heiss, American figure skater
    • 1940 - Krishnam Raju, Indian actor and politician
    • 1941 - Pierre Lalonde, Quebec singer and television host
    • 1941 - Ron Townson, American singer (The Fifth Dimension) (d. 2001)
    • 1943 - Farhad Mehrad, Iranian musician
    • 1944 - José Luis Garci, Spanish filmmaker
    • 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 - Natan Sharansky, Russian-born physicist and politician
    • 1949 - Göran Persson, Prime Minister of Sweden
    • 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)
    • 1955 - Wyatt Knight, American actor
    • 1955 - Joe Doherty, Provisional Irish Republican Army member
    • 1956 - Maria Larsson, Swedish politician
    • 1956 - Bill Maher, American actor, comedian, and political analyst
    • 1958 - Lorenzo Lamas, American actor
    • 1960 - Scott Thunes, American musician (Frank Zappa)
    • 1960 - Will Wright, American computer game designer
    • 1965 - Colin Calderwood, Scottish footballer
    • 1965 - Greg Kriesel, American bassist (The Offspring)
    • 1965 - Sophie, The Countess of Wessex, the wife of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
    • 1965 - John Michael Montgomery, American singer
    • 1965 - Anton Weissenbacher, Romanian footballer
    • 1966 - Tracii Guns, American guitarist
    • 1968 - Melissa Rivers, American reporter and actress
    • 1968 - Rainn Wilson, American actor
    • 1969 - Patrick K. Kroupa, American computer hacker
    • 1969 - Nicky Wire, British Musician (Manic Street Preachers)
    • 1970 - Mitch Benn, UK comedian, songwriter, actor
    • 1970 - Kerri Kenney-Silver, American actress
    • 1970 - Skeet Ulrich, American actor
    • 1971 - Derrick Green, American singer (Sepultura)
    • 1971 - Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, American drummer (The Roots)
    • 1971 - Brian Giles, American baseball player
    • 1973 - Princess Mathilde, Duchess of Brabant
    • 1975 - David Eckstein, American baseball player
    • 1975 - Norberto Fontana, Argentine racing driver
    • 1976 - Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater
    • 1978 - Joy Giovanni, American actress and glamour model
    • 1978 - Sonja Kesselschläger, German heptathlete
    • 1978 - Allan Søgaard, Danish footballer
    • 1979 - Rob Bourdon, American musician (Linkin Park)
    • 1979 - Asaka Kubo, Japanese gravure idol of 20th Century
    • 1979 - Will Young, British singer
    • 1980 - Matthew Tuck, Welsh guitarist (Bullet for My Valentine)
    • 1980 - Philippe Cousteau Jr. Oceanographer/Environmentalist, grandson of Jacques Cousteau
    • 1981 - Owen Hargreaves, English international footballer
    • 1981 - Jason Richardson, American basketball player (Golden State Warriors)
    • 1981 - Crystal Lowe, Canadian actress
    • 2002 - Prince Tassilo of Bulgaria

    Deaths :

    • 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)
    • 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)
    • 1848 - Christian VIII of Denmark (b. 1786)
    • 1850 - Adam Oehlenschläger, Danish poet (b. 1779)
    • 1873 - The Venerable Father Basil Anthony Marie Moreau, Founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross (b. 1799)
    • 1875 - Jean-François Millet, French painter (b. 1814)
    • 1891 - David Kalakaua, King of Hawaii (b. 1836)
    • 1900 - John Ruskin, art critic (b. 1819)
    • 1901 - Zénobe Gramme, Belgian engineer (b. 1826)
    • 1920 - Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler (b. 1876)
    • 1936 - King George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865)
    • 1940 - Omar Bundy, U.S. army general (b. 1861)
    • 1944 - James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (b. 1860)
    • 1947 - Josh Gibson, African-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)
    • 1973 - Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician (b. 1885)
    • 1979 - Gustav Winckler, Danish singer (b. 1925)
    • 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, baseball player (b. 1938)
    • 1998 - Bobo Brazil, American professional wrestler (b. 1924)
    • 2003 - Al Hirschfeld, American caricaturist (b. 1903)
    • 2003 - Nedra Volz, American actress (b. 1908)
    • 2003 - Bill Werbeniuk, Canadian snooker player (b. 1947)
    • 2004 - Guinn Smith, American athlete (b. 1920)
    • 2005 - Per Borten, Prime Minister of Norway (b. 1913)
    • 2005 - Roland Frye, American literary critic and theologian (b. 1921)
    • 2005 - Jan Nowak-Jezioraski, Polish journalist, writer, and politician (b. 1913)
    • 2005 - Miriam Louisa Rothschild, British zoologist, entomologist, and author (b. 1908)

    Holidays and observances :

    • Presidential Inauguration Day in the United States, held every four years since 1937.
    • Astrology: First day of sun sign Aquarius.
    • Ati-Atihan Festival in the Philippines

    Religious feasts :

    • Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
    • * SebastianAttwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-140-51312-4.
    • * Saint Fabian
    • * Euthymius the Great
    • * Desiderius
    • * Meinrad
    • The Eve of St. Agnes.
    • January 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Abadios*Holweck, F. G. A Biographical Dictionary of the Saint. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co. 1924.

    References :

    External links :