January 21
January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 344 days remaining (345 in leap years).
Events
- 1189 - Philip II of France and Richard I of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade.
- 1276 - Innocent V becomes Pope.
- 1287 - The treaty of San Agayz is signed. Minorca is conquered by King Alfons III of Aragon.
- 1525 - The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.
- 1643 - Abel Tasman discovers Tonga.
- 1720 - Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm.
- 1789 - The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth, is printed in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1793 - After being found guilty of treason by the French Convention, Louis XVI of France is guillotined.
- 1793 - Russia and Prussia partition Poland.
- 1853 - Russell L. Hawes patents the envelope-folding machine.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.
- 1864 - The Tauranga Campaign starts during the Maori Wars.
- 1887 - The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is formed.
- 1887 - Brisbane receives a daily rainfall of 465 millimetres (18.3 inches), a record for any Australian capital city.
- 1899 - Opel Motors opens for business.
- 1908 - New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor.
- 1911 - The first Monte Carlo Rally.
- 1915 - Kiwanis International founded in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1919 - Meeting in the Mansion House Dublin, the Sinn Féin adopts Ireland's first constitution.
- 1924 - Vladimir Lenin dies and Joseph Stalin begins to purge his rivals to clear way for his leadership.
- 1925 - Albania declares itself a republic.
- 1941 - World War II: Australian and British forces attack Tobruk, Libya.
- 1950 - Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.
- 1954 - The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, then the First Lady of the United States.
- 1958 - The last Fokker C.X in military service, the FAF FK-111 target tower, crashed killing the pilot and winch-operator.
- 1968 - Simon & Garfunkel release the Original Soundtrack to The Graduate, which quickly goes to #1 on the pop charts and which will bring Simon a Grammy for Best Original Score.
- 1968 - One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the Vietnam War war begins the Battle of Khe Sanh.
- 1969 - An experimental underground nuclear reactor at Lucens Vad, Switzerland, released radiation into a cavern, which was then sealed.
- 1976 - The first commercial service Concorde flight took off.
- 1977 - President Jimmy Carter pardons nearly all Vietnam War draft evaders.
- 1994 - Lorena Bobbitt is found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity for severing the penis of her husband John Bobbitt.
- 1997 - Newt Gingrich becomes the first leader of the United States House of Representatives to be internally disciplined for ethical misconduct.
- 1999 - War on Drugs: In one of the one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 9,500 pounds (4,300 kg) of cocaine on board.
- 2002 - Canadian Dollar sets all-time low against the US Dollar (US$0.6179).
- 2003 - The terms of Kevin Mitnick's parole allow him to use a computer again.
- 2004 - Canada: The residence of reporter Juliet O'Neill is searched by the RCMP investigating leaks concerning the deportation of Maher Arar.
- 2004 - NASA's MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies with Flash Memory management and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6th.
- 2005 - In Belize's capital city, the unrest over the government's new taxes erupts into riots.
Births
- 1804 - Eliza Roxcy Snow, American poet (d. 1887)
- 1824 - Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, American Confederate Army general (d. 1863)
- 1825 - Imre Madách, Hungarian writer (d. 1864)
- 1829 - King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway (d. 1907)
- 1848 - Henri Duparc, French composer (d. 1933)
- 1855 - John Moses Browning, American inventor (d. 1926)
- 1860 - Karl Staaff, Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1915)
- 1867 - Ludwig Thoma, German writer (d. 1921)
- 1867 - Maxime Weygand, French general (d. 1965)
- 1883 - Olav Aukrust, Norwegian poet (d. 1929)
- 1884 - Roger Baldwin, American social activist (d. 1981)
- 1885 - Umberto Nobile, Italian politician and airship designer (d. 1978)
- 1887 - Georges Vezina, Canadian ice hockey goalie and innovator (d. 1926)
- 1895 - Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish couturier (d. 1972)
- 1905 - Christian Dior, French fashion designer (d. 1957)
- 1905 - Karl Wallenda, German acrobat (d. 1978)
- 1906 - Igor Moiseyev, father of balletic folk dance
- 1912 - Konrad Emil Bloch, German-born biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2000)
- 1918 - Richard D. Winters, War hero
- 1921 - Howard Unruh, American mass murderer
- 1922 - Paul Scofield, English actor
- 1923 - Lola Flores, Spanish singer (d. 1995)
- 1924 - Telly Savalas, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1924 - Benny Hill, British actor, comic and singer (d. 1992)
- 1926 - Steve Reeves, American actor (d. 2000)
- 1936 - Koji Hashimoto, Japanese film director (d. 2005)
- 1938 - Altair Gomes de Figueiredo, Brazilian football player
- 1939 - Wolfman Jack, disk jockey and actor (d. 1995)
- 1940 - Jack Nicklaus, American golfer
- 1941 - Plácido Domingo, Spanish-born tenor
- 1941 - Richie Havens, American musician
- 1941 - Ivan Putski, Polish professional wrestler
- 1942 - Mac Davis, American musician
- 1942 - Edwin Starr, American singer (d. 2003)
- 1946 - Johnny Oates, baseball player and manager (d. 2004)
- 1950 - Billy Ocean, West Indian musician
- 1953 - Paul Allen, American entrepreneur
- 1955 - Jeff Koons, American artist
- 1956 - Robby Benson, American actor
- 1956 - Geena Davis, American actress
- 1962 - Marie Trintignant, French actress (d. 2003)
- 1963 - Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigerian-born basketball player
- 1963 - Detlef Schrempf, German basketball player
- 1965 - Jam Master Jay, American disc jockey (d. 2002)
- 1968 - Charlotte Ross, American actress
- 1971 - Alan McManus, Scottish snooker player
- 1971 - Doug Weight, American ice hockey player
- 1972 - Chan Marshall, American musician (Cat Power)
- 1975 - Nicky Butt, English footballer
- 1976 - Emma Bunton, English singer (Spice Girls)
- 1977 - Al Baxter, Australian rugby player
- 1977 - Philip Neville, English footballer
- 1979 - Brian O'Driscoll, Irish rugby player
- 1981 - Dany Heatley, Canadian hockey player
- 1981 - Izabella Miko, Polish-born actress and model
- 1994 - Sémantha-Rae, German-English model and musician.
Deaths
- 304 - Saint Agnes (martyred)
- 1118 - Pope Paschal II
- 1519 - Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Spanish explorer
- 1527 - Juan de Grijalva, Spanish conquistador
- 1546 - Azai Sukemasa, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1491)
- 1609 - Joseph Justus Scaliger, French protestant scholar (b. 1540)
- 1638 - Ignazio Donati, Italian composer
- 1683 - Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, British politican (b. 1621)
- 1699 - Obadiah Walker, English writer (b. 1616)
- 1706 - Adrien Baillet, French scholar and critic (b. 1649)
- 1710 - Johann Georg Gichtel, German mystic (b. 1638)
- 1722 - Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, English supporter of William III of England (b. 1661)
- 1731 - Thomas Woolston, English theologian (b. 1669)
- 1766 - James Quin, English actor (b. 1693)
- 1773 - Alexis Piron, French writer (b. 1689)
- 1774 - Mustafa III, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1717)
- 1793 - King Louis XVI of France (executed) (b. 1754)
- 1795 - Samuel Wallis, English navigator
- 1814 - Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, French writer and botanist (b. 1737)
- 1831 - Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet (b. 1781)
- 1851 - Albert Lortzing, German composer (b. 1801)
- 1870 - Alexander Herzen, Russian writer (b. 1812)
- 1872 - Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer (b. 1791)
- 1881 - Wilhelm Matthias Naeff, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1802)
- 1891 - Calixa Lavallée, Canadian composer (b. 1842)
- 1901 - Elisha Gray, American inventor (b. 1835)
- 1914 - Theodor Kittelsen, Norwegian artist (b. 1857)
- 1919 - Gojong of Joseon, Emperor of Korea (b. 1852)
- 1924 - Vladimir Lenin, Russian Revolutionary (b. 1870)
- 1926 - Camillo Golgi, Italian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1843)
- 1928 - George Goethals, American army engineer (b. 1858)
- 1931 - Felix Blumenfeld, Russian composer and conductor (b. 1863)
- 1932 - Giles Lytton Strachey British writer (b. 1880)
- 1933 - George A. Moore, Irish novelist (b. 1852)
- 1948 - Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (b. 1876)
- 1950 - George Orwell, British writer (b. 1903)
- 1955 - Archie Hahn, American athlete (b. 1880)
- 1959 - Cecil B. DeMille, American director (b. 1881)
- 1959 - Carl Switzer, American actor (b. 1927)
- 1961 - Blaise Cendrars, Swiss writer (b. 1887)
- 1967 - Ann Sheridan, American actress (b. 1915)
- 1968 - Will Lang Jr., Chief Bureau Director of LIFE Magazine (b. 1914)
- 1984 - Jackie Wilson, American musician (b. 1934)
- 1985 - James Beard, American chef and author (b. 1903)
- 1987 - Charles Goodell, American politician (b. 1926)
- 1989 - Billy Tipton, American musician (b. 1914)
- 1993 - Charlie Gehringer, baseball player (b. 1903)
- 1997 - Colonel Tom Parker, American manager of Elvis Presley (b. 1909)
- 1998 - Jack Lord, American actor (b. 1920)
- 1999 - Susan Strasberg, American actress (b. 1938)
- 2001 - Byron De La Beckwith, American white supremacist (b. 1921)
- 2001 - Chung Ju-yung, Korean industrialist (b. 1915)
- 2002 - Peggy Lee, American singer (b. 1920)
- 2004 - Yordan Radichkov, Bulgarian writer (b. 1929)
- 2005 - Parveen Babi, Indian actress (b. 1955)
- 2005 - John L. Hess, American journalist (b. 1917)
- 2005 - Theun de Vries, Dutch writer (b. 1907)
- 2006 - Ibrahim Rugova, President of Kosovo and historical leader of the Kosovo Albanian people (b. 1944)
- 2006 - The River Thames whale, received great affection from the public after becoming stranded in the River Thames.
Holidays and observances
- Catholicism - Feast day of Saint Agnes.
- Mauritius - Thaipoosam Cavadee.
- National Hugging Day.
External links
January 20 - January 22 - December 21 - February 21 — listing of all days