January 20: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

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 was released. The film was the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors.
• 1936 - Edward VIII becomes King of the United Kingdom.
• 1937 - The coldest temperature in California is recorded by Boca station at -45° Fahrenheit.
• 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.
• 1954 - The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
• 1958 - Elvis Presley receives his draft notice.
• 1960 - Hendrik Verwoerd announced a plebiscite on whether South Africa should become a Republic.
• 1961 - John F. Kennedy is inaugrated as 35th President of the United States.
• 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.
• 1981 - Iran releases 52 American hostages bare minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as U.S. President.
• 1985 - Super Bowl XIX: The San Francisco 49ers defeat the Miami Dolphins, 38-16.
• 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.
• 1989 - George H. W. Bush is inaugurated as the 41st President of the United States.
• 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.
• 1993- Bill Clinton is inaugurated as the 42nd President of the United States.
• 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.
• 2001 - Philippine president Joseph Estrada is ousted in the EDSA II Revolution, succeeded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
• 2001 - George W. Bush is inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States.
• 2002 - Inauguration of Churches Uniting in Christ.
• 2005 - Ireland completes metrication.

• 225 - Gordian III, Roman Emperor (d. 244)
• 1358 - Eleanor of Aragon, queen 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)
• 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 writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1950)
• 1876 - Józef Hofmann, Polish pianist (d. 1967)
• 1878 - Ruth St. Denis, dancer (d. 1968)
• 1880 - Walter W. Bacon, Governor of Delaware (d. 1962)
• 1891 - Mischa Elman, Ukrainian born violinist (d. 1967)
• 1894 - Walter Piston, American composer
• 1896 - George Burns, American actor, comedian (d. 1996)
• 1900 - Colin Clive, British actor (d. 1937)
• 1906 - Aristotle Onassis, Greek industrialist (d. 1975)
• 1910 - Joy Adamson, Austrian naturalist and writer (d. 1980)
• 1915 - Ghulam Ishaq Khan, President of Pakistan
• 1918 - Juan Garcia Esquivel, Mexican musician (d. 2002)
• 1920 - Federico Fellini, Italian film director (d. 1993)
• 1920 - DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
• 1920 - John O'Connor, American Catholic cardinal (d. 2000)
• 1924 - Slim Whitman, American singer
• 1925 - Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan theologian and author and politician
• 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 - Buzz Aldrin, astronaut
• 1931 - David Lee, American phyicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1934 - Tom Baker, British actor
• 1938 - William Berger, Austrian actor (d. 1993)
• 1939 - Paul Coverdell, American politician (d. 2000)
• 1940 - Carol Heiss, American figure skater
• 1946 - David Lynch, American film director
• 1948 - Natan Sharansky, Russian-born physicist and politician
• 1949 - Göran Persson, Prime Minister of Sweden
• 1950 - Mahamane Ousmane, President of Niger
• 1951 - Ian Hill, British musician (Judas Priest)
• 1952 - Paul Stanley, American musician (KISS)
• 1955 - Wyatt Knight, American actor
• 1956 - Bill Maher, American actor, comedian, and political analyst
• 1958 - Lorenzo Lamas, American actor
• 1960 - Will Wright, American computer game designer
• 1960 - Michael Hutchence, Australian Singer (INXS) (d.1997)
• 1963 - James Denton, American actor
• 1965 - Greg Kriesel, American bassist (The Offspring)
• 1965 - John Michael Montgomery, American singer
• 1968 - Melissa Rivers, American reporter and actress
• 1969 - Patrick K. Kroupa, American writer, hacker
• 1969 - Skeet Ulrich, American actor
• 1971 - Derrick Green, American singer (Sepultura)
• 1976 - Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater
• 1979 - Rob Bourdon, American musician (Linkin Park)

• 1156 - Bishop Henry, patron saint of Finland
• 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, queen 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)
• 1745 - Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1697)
• 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)
• 1891 - David Kalakaua, King of Hawaii (b. 1836)
• 1901 - Zénobe Gramme, Belgian engineer (b. 1826)
• 1907 - Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev, Russian chemist (b. 1834)
• 1920 - Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler (b. 1876)
• 1936 - King George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865)
• 1944 - James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (b. 1860)
• 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)
• 1983 - Garrincha, Brazilian footballer (b. 1933)
• 1984 - Johnny Weissmuller, American swimmer and actor (b. 1904)
• 1990 - Hayedeh, Persian singer (b. 1942)
• 1990 - Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (b. 1907)
• 1993 - Audrey Hepburn, Belgian actress (b. 1929)
• 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
• 2005 - Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, Polish journalist, writer, and politician (b. 1913)
• 2005 - Miriam Rothschild, British zoologist, entomologist, and author (b. 1908)

• The Eve of St. Agnes
• Presidential Inauguration Day in the United States

• Astrology: First day of sun sign Aquarius
• Christendom: Feast of St. Sebastian

January 19 - January 21 - December 20 - February 20 — listing of all days