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Today January 20th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
250 – Emperor Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. Pope Fabian was martyred. Afterwards the Donatist controversy over readmitting lapsed Christians disaffects many in North Africa.
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 abdicates as King of Scotland.
1502 – The present-day location of Rio de Janeiro is 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 – The 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 – The 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 is 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 – The American Civil Liberties Union is founded.
1921 – The first Constitution of Turkey is adopted, making 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 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 agree on 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 ends its involvement in the Second World War, agreeing to an armistice with the Allies.
1954 – The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
1960 – Hendrik Verwoerd announces a plebiscite on whether South Africa should become a Republic.
1968 – The Houston Cougars defeat the UCLA Bruins 71-69 to win the Game of the Century.
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 is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
1987 – Church of England envoy Terry Waite is kidnapped in Lebanon.
1990 – Black January – crackdown of Azerbaijani 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 a nonviolent 4-day revolution, and is 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)
1834 – George D. Robinson, 34th Governor of Massachusetts (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, American dancer (d. 1968)
1880 – Walter W. Bacon, American politician (d. 1962)
1889 – Allan Haines Loughead, American aviation executive (d. 1969)
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)
1912 – Walter Briggs, Jr., American sports executive (d. 1970)
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)
1921 – Telmo Zarraonaindía, Spanish footballer (d. 2006)
1922 – Ray Anthony, American trumpeter, bandleader and actor
1922 – Graham Stark, British actor
1923 – Nora Brockstedt, Norwegian singer
1924 – Slim Whitman, American singer
1925 – Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan theologian and politician
1926 – Jamiluddin Aali, Pakistani poet, essayist and columnist
1926 – Qurratulain Hyder, Pakistani novelist (d. 2007)
1926 – Patricia Neal, American actress
1926 – David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
1929 – Jimmy Cobb, American jazz drummer
1929 – Arte Johnson, American actor
1929 – Glenn Roberts, American race car driver (d. 1964)
1930 – Buzz Aldrin, American astronaut
1931 – David Lee, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate
1931 – Hachidai Nakamura, Japanese songwriter and pianist (d. 1992)
1932 – Lou Fontinato, Canadian ice hockey player
1933 – Ron Townson, American singer (The Fifth Dimension) (d. 2001)
1934 – Tom Baker, British actor
1935 – Joan Weston, Roller Derby Queen (d. 1997)
1937 – Dorothy Provine, American singer, dancer and actress
1938 – William Berger, Austrian actor (d. 1993)
1938 – Derek Dougan, Northern Irish footballer (d. 2007)
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
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
1948 – Nancy Kress, American writer
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
1955 – Hiromi Ota, Japanese singer
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
1963 – James Denton, American actor
1962 – IKKO, Japanese make-up artist
1963 – Firebreaker Chip, American professional wrestler
1964 – Ozzie Guillén, Venezuelan-born baseball player and manager
1964 – Ron Harper, American basketball player
1964 – Kazushige Nojima, Japanese game scenario writer
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 – Stacey Dash, American actress
1966 – Tracii Guns, American guitarist
1968 – Melissa Rivers, American reporter and actress
1968 – Nick Anderson, American basketball player
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 – Gary Barlow, English singer (Take That)
1971 – Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson, American drummer (The Roots)
1971 – Brian Giles, American baseball player
1973 – Princess Mathilde, Duchess of Brabant
1974 – David Dei, Italian footballer
1975 – David Eckstein, American baseball player
1975 – Norberto Fontana, Argentine racing driver
1976 – Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater
1977 – Melody, Belgian singer
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 – Philippe Cousteau Jr., Freanch oceanographer; grandson of Jacques Cousteau
1980 – Brigitte Olivier, Belgian judoka
1980 – Matthew Tuck, Welsh guitarist (Bullet for My Valentine)
1981 – Freddy Guzmán, Dominican baseball player
1981 – Jason Richardson, American basketball player
1981 – Christine Bleakley, British television presenter
1981 – Owen Hargreaves, English footballer
1981 – Daniel Cudmore, Canadian actor
1981 – Crystal Lowe, Canadian actress
1982 – Joe Swash, English actor
1983 – Geovany Soto, Puerto Rican baseball player
1983 – Paula Taylor, English-Thai actress, model and presenter
1983 – Mari Yaguchi, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
1984 – Olivia Hallinan, English actress
1984 – Toni Gonzaga, Filipina actress and singer
Deaths
287 – St. Sebastian
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)
1913 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican engraver and illustrator (b. 1852).
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)
2002 – Carrie Hamilton, actress and singer (b. 1963)
2003 – Al Hirschfeld, American caricaturist (b. 1903)
2003 – Craig Kelly, American snowboarder (b. 1966)
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-Jezioranski, Polish journalist, writer, and politician (b. 1913)
2005 – Miriam Louisa Rothschild, British zoologist, entomologist, and author (b. 1908)
Holidays and observances
United States presidential inauguration, held every four years since 1937 (with 2 exceptions By Eisenhower & Reagan, on January 21st). The incoming/reelected President traditionally swears-in as close to 12-Noon as possible.
Astrology: First day of sun sign Aquarius.
Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
Saint Fabian
Euthymius the Great
St. Sebastian
January 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Abadios
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