250 – Fabianus, Pope (236-50)/saint, dies
287 – St. Sebastian Dies
1156 – According to legend, freeholder Lalli slays English crusader Bishop Henry with an axe on the ice of lake Köyliönjärvi in Finland.
1265 – The first English parliament to include not only nobles but also representatives of the major towns meets in the Palace of Westminster, now commonly known as the “Houses of Parliament”.
1649 – Charles I of England goes on trial for treason and other “high crimes”.
1732 – Richard H Lee, US farmer (signed Declaration of Independence) Born
1763 – Theobald Wolfe Tone, Irish patriot Born
1783 – The Kingdom of Great Britain signs a peace treaty with France and Spain, officially ending hostilities in the American Revolutionary War (also known as the American War of Independence).
1785 – Samuel Ellis advertises to sell Oyster Island (Ellis Is), no takers
1798 – Anson Jones, 5th and last President of Texas (d. 1858) Born
1841 – China cedes Hong Kong to the British during the 1st Opium War
1869 – Elizabeth Cady Stanton (Women’s rights activist) becomes 1st woman to testify before US Congress
1887 – The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.
1888 – Lead Belly, Louisiana, blues 12 string guitarist (Rock Island Line), (d. 1949) Born
1894 – Harold Gray, American cartoonist, created Little Orphan Annie (d. 1968) was born.
1896 – George Burns, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1996) was born.
1905 – The US begins supervision of the Dominican Republic’s national and international debts, testing Roosevelt’s ‘Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine
1920 – Federico Fellini, Rimini, Kingdom of Italy, film director and scriptwriter (8 1/2, La Dolce Vita) Born
1920 – The American Civil Liberties Union is founded.
1920 – Prohibition takes effect stopping the sale and consumption of alcohol when the 18th Amendment went into effect it ended in 1933
1921 – Republic of Turkey declared in remnants of Ottoman Empire
1923 – Slim Whitman, American singer, (d. 2013) Born
1929 – In Old Arizona, the first full-length talking motion picture filmed outdoors, is released.
1930 – Buzz Aldrin, American pilot and astronaut was born.
1933 – Ronald Townson, American singer and actor (The 5th Dimension) (d. 2001) was born.
1934 – Tom Baker, English actor, 4th Doctor Who, was born.
1936 – Edward VIII succeeds British king George V
1937 – 1st US Presidential Inauguration day held on Jan 20th, (previously March 4th)
1941 – The inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s third term is held.
1941 – A German officer is murdered in Bucharest, Romania, sparking a rebellion and pogrom by the Iron Guard, killing 125 Jews and 30 soldiers.
1942 – World War II: At the Wannsee Conference held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, senior Nazi German officials discuss the implementation of the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question”.
1945 – World War II: Germany begins the evacuation of 1.8 million people from East Prussia, a task which will take nearly two months.
1945 – Franklin D. Roosevelt sworn-in for an unprecedented (and never to be repeated) 4th term as US President
1946 – David Lynch, Missoula Montana, actor/director (Dune, Twin Peaks, Eraserhead) Born
1947 – Malcolm McLaren, founded rock group (Sex Pistols-God Save the Queen) Born
1947 – Josh Gibson, Negro League slugger, dies of a brain tumor at age 35
1949 – Point Four Program a program for economic aid to poor countries announced by United States President Harry S. Truman in his inaugural address for a full term as President.
1949 – J. Edgar Hoover gives Shirley Temple a tear gas fountain pen
1951 – Ian Hill, English bass player (Judas Priest) was born.
1952 – Paul Stanley, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (Kiss and Wicked Lester) was born.
1953 – Jeffrey Epstein, American financier and philanthropist was birthed
1954 – The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
1955 – The first nuclear powered submarine, USS Nautilus, launched at Groton, Connecticut
1956 – Bill Maher, New York New York, American comedian and political commentator (Real Time with Bill Maher, Politically Incorrect) Birthed
1958 – As President of the United States, Eisenhower had spoke out against excessive wage and price increases on this day. For instance, he proposed that businesses should avoid unjustified price increases.
1960 – Scott Thunes, American bass player (“new” Fear) was born. (Derf Scratch original)
1960 – Will Wright, American video game designer, co-founded Maxis was born.
1961 – John F. Kennedy, the nation’s youngest president (at this time), took the oath of office today. He was sworn in by Chief Justice Earl Warren. Vice-President Lyndon Johnson (who became president after JFK was assassinated), was sworn in on the same day as JFK. As part of the inauguration celebration on this day, Robert Frost himself recited from memory one of his own poem entitled “The Gift Outright”. He was originally going to read a poem that he wrote especially for this day called “Dedication”, but he could not read the ink from the page he was viewing.
1964 – “Meet The Beatles” album released in US
1965 – Greg Kriesel, American bass player (The Offspring) was born.
1965 – Alan Freed, DJ (Big Beat), dies at 42
1966 – Tracii Guns, rock guitarist (LA Guns-It’s Over Now) Born
1967 – Mark Stepnoski, NFL center (Houston/Tennessee Oilers) / 911 Truther, Marijuana Activist interviewed – Born
1968 – US female Figure Skating championship won by Peggy Fleming
1969 – East Pakistani police kill student activist Amanullah Asaduzzaman. The resulting outrage is in part responsible for the Bangladesh Liberation War.
1971 – Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, American drummer (The Roots) Born
1972 – Pakistan launched its Nuclear weapons program few weeks after its defeat in Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
1972 – Six oil exporting countries conclude meetings with Western oil companies; an agreement is reached to raise the price of crude
1977 – George H W Bush, ends term as 11th director of CIA
1978 – Sid Wilson,( Ratboy or DJ Starscream, #0 (or 0), Gazboy, DJ Moonboots, Killa, The Filth Epitome ) American DJ and pianist (Slipknot) was born
1980 – President Jimmy Carter announces US boycott of Olympics in Moscow
1981 – Twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated, at age 69 the oldest man ever to be inaugurated as U.S. President, Iran releases 52 American hostages.
1983 – American gangster Roy DeMeo is found murdered in his car trunk after disappearing a few days earlier
1986 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
1988 – Arizona committee opens hearing on impeachment of Gov Evan Mecham
1988 – Philippe de Rothschild dies in Paris at 86
1989 – Reagan becomes 1st pres elected in a “0” year, since 1840, to leave office alive (Barely)
1990 – Black January – crackdown of Azerbaijani pro-independence demonstrations by Soviet army in Baku. (Now run by Oil cartels)
1991 – Stan Szelest American keyboard player (The Band) (b. 1943) died.
1991 – Sudan’s government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country’s Muslim north and Christian south.
1993 – Audrey Hepburn, actress (Roman Holiday, Breakfast at Tiffany’s), dies of colon cancer at 63
1999 – The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use, aimed especially at Internet cafés.
2002 – Human rights activists including Amnesty International believe human rights of prisoners kept at camp X-Ray, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba are being abused with prisoners being shackled and kept in temporary eight-by-eight feet cells made of wire mesh and corrugated metal roofs and include them being handcuffed, wearing goggles, ear muffs, surgical masks and heavy gloves. The majority are held without charge and the International Committee of the Red Cross have started evaluating conditions at the US military camp and interviewing detainees to see if the captives are being treated humanely in accordance with the Geneva Conventions on prisoners of war.
2009 – A protest movement in Iceland culminates as the 2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests start.
2009 – Barack Obama, inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, becomes the United States’ first African-American president
2010 – Chinese authorities have banned the movie Avator from Chinese cinemas claiming the plot mirrors forced land evictions in China.
2012 – Celebrated soul singer Etta James died at the age of seventy three after being diagnosed with Leukemia.
2013 – Austria votes to maintain compulsory military service in a referendum
2014 – Credit cards of at least 20 million South Koreans are hacked