Historical Events on January 20

Events 1 - 200 of 209

• 250 St Fabian ends his reign as Catholic Pope (236-50)
• 820 Book of mother, published
• 1045 Giovanni di Sabina elected Pope Sylvester III
• 1156 According to legend, freeholder Lalli slays English crusader Bishop Henry with an axe on the ice of Lake Köyliönjärvi in Finland
• 1265 First English Parliament summoned other than by royal command (in this instance by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester) mets in Westminster Hall
• 1320 Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes King of Poland
• 1356 Edward Balliol abdicates as King of Scots
• 1502 The present-day location of Rio de Janeiro is first explored
• 1503 Casa Contratacion (Board of Trade) found (Spain) to deal with American affairs
• 1513 Christian II succeeds Johan I as Danish and Norwegian king
• 1523 Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway.
• 1576 The Mexican city of León is founded by order of viceroy Don Martín Enríquez de Almansa.
• 1613 Peace of Knarod ends War of Kalmar between Denmark & Sweden
• 1648 Cornerstone of Amsterdam townhall laid
• 1667 Treaty of Andrussovo ends 13 year war between Poland & Russia
• 1778 1st American military court martial trial begins in Cambridge, Massachusetts


• 1781 1st edition of Pieter It Hoens "Post of Neder-Rhijn" published
• 1785 Samuel Ellis advertises to sell Oyster Island (Ellis Is), no takers
• 1788 Pioneer African Baptist church organizes in Savannah, Georgia

• 1809 1st US geology book published by William Maclure
• 1839 Battle of Yungay, Chile defeats a Peruvian and Bolivian alliance
• 1840 Dumont D'Urville discovers Adélie Land, Antarctica
• 1840 Dutch King Willem II crowned
• 1841 China cedes Hong Kong to the British during the 1st Opium War
• 1850 HMS Investigator headed by Robert McClure leaves England, 1st expedition to make a Northwest passage (though some over ice)
• 1860 Dutch troops conquer Watampone in Celebes
• 1866 Prim's Insurrection in Spain ends
• 1868 Florida constitutional convention meets in Tallahassee

• 1870 "City of Boston" vanishes at sea with all 177 aboard

• 1872 California Stock Exchange Board organized
• 1879 British troops under Lord Chelmsford make camp at Isandlwana
• 1883 Billy Barnes takes a hat-trick, England v Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
• 1887 US Senate approves naval base lease of Pearl Harbor

• 1910 Stanley Cup, Dey's Arena, Ottawa, ON: Ottawa Senators outclass Edmonton HC, 13-7 for a 2-0 sweep of challenge series
• 1914 The first group of Transvaal Indian women satyagrahis are released from Pietermaritzburg Prison in South Africa after three months imprisonment
• 1920 Dutch 2nd Chamber passes school laws


• 1920 The American Civil Liberties Union is founded
• 1921 British submarine HMS K5 (which was unusually equipped with steam turbines) sinks with 57 crew during exercises in the Bay of Biscay
• 1921 Dagestan ASSR forms in RSFSR
• 1921 Mountain Autonomous Republic established in RSFSR
• 1921 Republic of Turkey declared out of remnants of Ottoman Empire
• 1922 Arthur Honegger's ballet "Skating Rink" premieres, Paris
• 1925 The Soviet and Japan sign a convention resuming relations: Russia agrees to limit revolutionary activity of the Third Communist International, while Japan agrees to leave the Sakhalin
• 1926 2nd German government of Luther begins
• 1929 1st feature talking motion picture taken outdoors, "In Old Arizona"
• 1930 1st radio broadcast of "Lone Ranger" (WXYZ-Detroit)
• 1934 Japan sends Henry Pu Yi as regent to emperor of Manchuria

• 1937 -45°F (-43°C), Boca, California (state record)
• 1937 1st US Presidential Inauguration day held on Jan 20th, (previously March 4th)
• 1939 Charles Ives' 1st Sonata "Concord" premieres
• 1939 LPGA Titleholders Championship, Augusta CC: Patty Berg wins 3rd straight title by 2 strokes ahead of Dorothy Kirby
• 1941 Bela Bartok's 6th string quartet, premieres in NYC

• 1942 Japanese invade Burma
• 1942 Nazi officials hold notorious Wannsee conference in Berlin to organise the "final solution", the extermination of Europe's Jews
• 1943 Lead, South Dakota, temperature is 52°F, while 1.5 miles away Deadwood records -16°F

• 1944 RAF drops 2,300 ton of bombs on Berlin

• 1945 The Hungarian Provisional Government concludes an armistice with the USSR, US, and Britain, agree to pay reparations and to join the war against Germany
• 1946 F Gouin follows De Gaulle as temporary leader of French government
• 1947 Brigadier General Edwin K Wright, USA, becomes deputy director of CIA

• 1949 1st inaugural parade televised, for Harry Truman, watched by 10 million people
• 1950 "Dance Me a Song" opens at Royale Theater NYC for 35 performances
• 1950 Suriname becomes independent part in Realm of Netherlands
• 1950 1950 NFL Draft: Leon Hart from University of Notre Dame first pick by Detroit Lions
• 1952 British army occupies Ismailiya, Suez Canal Zone

• 1953 1st US telecast transmitted to Canada from Buffalo, New York

• 1954 -70°F (-57°C), Rogers Pass, Montana (US 48 state record)

• 1954 The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.

• 1957 Gomulka wins Poland's parliamentary election
• 1957 Morton Gould's "Declaration" premieres in Washington, D.C.
• 1958 KUED TV channel 7 in Salt Lake City, UT (PBS) begins broadcasting
• 1958 A group attempting the 1st surface crossing of Antarctic join up at the South Pole
• 1959 Dmitri Shostakovich's Moscow-Tsjerjomoesjki premieres in Moscow
• 1960 Patrice Lumumba sentenced to 6 months in Belgian Congo
• 1961 Francis Poulenc's "Gloria" premieres in Boston

• 1961 Yugoslav ex-vice-president Milovan Djilas flees
• 1961 The Democrat J.F. Kennedy is inaugurated as President of the United States, the youngest ever sworn in
• 1962 "Kean" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 92 performances
• 1964 "Meet The Beatles" album released in US
• 1965 The Beatles appear on Shindig (ABC-TV)
• 1965 The Byrds record "Mr Tambourine Man"
• 1965 The US Jet Propulsion Laboratory proposes modified Apollo flight to fly around Mars & return

• 1968 US female Figure Skating championship won by Peggy Fleming
• 1968 US male Figure Skating championship won by Tim Wood
• 1968 Houston Cougars defeat the UCLA Bruins 71-69 to win basketball's Game of the Century and end UCLA's 47 game winning streak
• 1969 Richard M Nixon inaugurated as US president
• 1969 U of Az reports 1st optical id of pulsar (in Crab Nebula)

• 1970 Super Fight, computer mock championship between Ali & Marciano; Marciano won.
• 1971 Ard Schenk skates world record 1000m (1:18.8)

• 1972 Six oil exporting countries conclude meetings with Western oil companies; an agreement is reached to raise the price of crude


• 1972 Number of people out of work and claiming unemployment benefit in UK rises to over 1 million
• 1973 A car bomb explodes in Sackville Place, Dublin, Republic of Ireland, killing 1 person and injuring 17 (no organisation claimed responsibility)

• 1974 24th NFL Pro Bowl, Arrowhead Stadium, KC, Missouri: AFC beats NFC, 15-13; MVP: Garo Yepremian, Miami Dolphins, PK
• 1974 7th ABA All-Star Game: East 128 beats West 112 at Virginia
• 1974 Essex Comm College beats Englewood Cliffs 210-67 in basketball
• 1975 25th NFL Pro Bowl, Miami Orange Bowl: NFC beats AFC, 17-10; MVP: James Harris, LA Rams, QB
• 1975 Terrence McNally's "Ritz" premieres in NYC
• 1976 29th NHL All-Star Game, Spectrum, Philadelphia: Wales Conference beats Campbell Conference, 7-5; MVP: Peter Mahovlich, Montreal, C
• 1977 George H. W. Bush ends term as 11th director of CIA
• 1977 Mr Knoche, serves as acting director of CIA
• 1978 Columbia Pictures pays $9.5 million for movie rights to "Annie"

• 1980 US female Figure Skating championship won by Linda Fratianne
• 1980 US male Figure Skating championship won by Charles Tickner
• 1980 Super Bowl XIV, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA: Pittsburgh Steelers beat LA Rams, 31-19; MVP: Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh, QB
• 1981 Adm Stansfield Turner, USN (Ret), ends term as 12th director of CIA
• 1981 Frank C. Carlucci, ends his term as deputy director of CIA
• 1981 Islander Glenn Resch's 25th & last shut-out opponent-Flames 5-0

• 1982 7 miners killed in an explosion in Craynor Ky
• 1982 Honduras constitution goes into effect
• 1982 Piet Dankert elected chairman of European Parliament

• 1984 US female Figure Skating championship won by Rosalynn Sumners
• 1985 Cold front strikes US, at least 40 die (-27°F (-33°C) in Chicago)

• 1986 Chunnel announced (railroad tunnel under Channel)
• 1986 Military coup in Lesotho under major general Lekhanya & premier Leabua Jonathan
• 1987 Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite taken hostage in Beirut, Lebanon by Islamic militia group
• 1987 Rhino Records 1st #1, Billy Vera & Beaters' "At This Moment"

• 1987 UK Police crackdown on soccer hooligans in biggest operation against violence around football stadiums
• 1988 Andre Hoffman skates world record 1,500m (1:52.06)


• 1988 Arizona committee opens hearing on impeachment of Gov Evan Mecham

• 1989 Wayne Holdsworth takes a wicket 1st ball in 1st-class cricket
• 1989 Reagan becomes 1st US President elected in a "0" year, since 1840, to leave office alive

• 1990 US 64th manned space mission STS 32 (Columbia 10) returns from space
• 1990 Black January - crackdown of Azerbaijani pro-independence demonstrations by Soviet army in Baku
• 1991 "Black & Blue" closes at Minskoff Theater NYC after 829 performances
• 1991 "Les Miserables" opens at Pantages Theatre, LA
• 1991 "Peter Pan" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC or 45 performances
• 1991 "Shogun - The Musical" closes at Marquis Theater NYC after 72 performances
• 1991 13th UCP Telethon
• 1991 US Patriot missiles begins shooting down Iraqi missiles
• 1991 Sudan's government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country's Muslim north and Christian south.
• 1991 AFC Championship, Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, NY: Buffalo Bills beat Los Angeles Raiders, 51-3
• 1991 NFC Championship, Candlestick Park, SF: New York Giants beat San Francisco 49ers, 15-13
• 1992 Australia beat India 2-0 to win cricket's World Series Cup, David Boon scores the most runs in the series (432)
• 1992 Score begins selling international soccer cards
• 1993 Adm Studeman, serves as acting director of CIA

• 1995 "Love! Valor! Compassion!" opens at Walter Kerr NYC for 276 performances
• 1995 1994-95 NHL Season begin after a lengthy strike
• 1995 Russian ruble drops to 3,947 per dollar (record)

• 1996 Australia defeat Sri Lanka 2-0 to win cricket's World Series Cup
• 1996 US female Figure Skating championship won by Michelle Kwan
• 1996 WPAT FM NYC radio station switches to English-Spanish format
• 1997 Comet Hale-Bopp crosses Mars' orbit
• 1997 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in New Orleans LA on KKND 106.7 FM
• 1997 Pakistan defeat West Indies 2-0 to win Aust one-day Series
• 1997 2nd Critics' Choice Movie Awards: Fargo wins Best Film
• 1998 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducts Mama & Papas & Eagles
• 1998 Warner Brothers TV Network begins Tueday night programming
• 1998 3rd Critics' Choice Movie Awards: L.A. Confidential wins Best Film

• 1999 The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use aimed especially at Internet cafés.

• 2002 Photographs showing al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects shackled and masked are published by the United States military

• 2002 18th Sundance Film Festival: "Personal Velocity: Three Portraits", directed by Rebecca Miller, wins Grand Jury Prize Dramatic

• 2007 Utah coach Jerry Sloan passes Larry Brown for 4th on the NBA's all-time win list (1,010) after the Jazz beat the Chicago Bulls, 95-85 at the United Center
• 2008 AFC Championship, Gillette Stadium, Foxborough: New England Patriots beat San Diego Chargers, 21-12
• 2008 NFC Championship, Lambeau Field, Green Bay: New York Giants beat Green Bay Packers, 23-20 (OT)

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