January 21

January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 344 days remaining until the end of the year (345 in leap years).

Events

• 1189 – Philip II of France and Richard I of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade.
• 1287 – The treaty of San Agayz is signed. Minorca is conquered by King Alfons III of Aragon.
• 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded 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 becomes the first European to reach Tonga.
• 1720 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm.
• 1749 – The Verona Philharmonic Theatre is destroyed by fire. It is rebuilt in 1754.
• 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 executed by guillotine.
• 1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.
• 1864 – The Tauranga Campaign begins during the Maori Wars.
• 1887 – 465 millimetres (18.3 in) of rain falls in Brisbane, a record for any Australian capital city.
• 1893 – The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, is formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana.
• 1899 – Opel manufactures its first automobile.
• 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 takes place.
• 1915 – Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit, Michigan.
• 1919 – Meeting of the First Dáil Éireann in the Mansion House Dublin. Sinn Féin adopts Ireland's first constitution. The first engagement of Irish War of Independence, Sologhead Beg, County Tipperary.
• 1921 – The Italian Communist Party is founded at Livorno.
• 1925 – Albania declares itself a republic.
• 1948 – The Flag of Quebec is adopted and flown for the first time over the National Assembly of Quebec. The day is marked annually as Quebec Flag Day.
• 1950 – Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.
• 1954 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, the First Lady of the United States.
• 1958 – The last Fokker C.X in military service, the Finnish Air Force FK-111 target tower, crashes, killing the pilot and winch-operator.
• 1960 – Little Joe 1B, a Mercury spacecraft, lifts off from Wallops Island, Virginia with Miss Sam, a female rhesus monkey on board.
• 1968 – Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh – One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins.
• 1968 – A B-52 bomber crashes near Thule Air Base, contaminating the area after its nuclear payload ruptures. One of the four bombs remains unaccounted for after the cleanup operation is complete.
• 1976 – Commercial service of Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.
• 1977 – President Jimmy Carter pardons nearly all American Vietnam War draft evaders, some of whom had emigrated to Canada.
• 1981 – Tehran releases American hostages after 444 days.
• 1985 – The inauguration of President Ronald Reagan to a second term, already postponed a day because Jan. 20 fell on a Sunday, becomes the second inauguration in history moved indoors because of freezing temperatures and high winds. The parade is cancelled altogether.
• 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 largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 4,300 kilograms (9,500 lb) of cocaine on board.
• 2000 – Ecuador: After the Ecuadorian Congress is seized by indigenous organizations, Col. Lucio Gutierrez, Carlos Solorzano and Antonio Vargas depose President Jamil Mahuad. Gutierrez is later replaced by Gen. Carlos Mendoza, who resigns and allows Vice-President Gustavo Noboa to succeed Mahuad.
• 2002 – The Canadian Dollar sets all-time low against the US Dollar (US$0.6179).
• 2004 – NASA's MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies in the management of its flash memory and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6.
• 2005 – In Belmopan, Belize, the unrest over the government's new taxes erupts into riots.
• 2008 – Black Monday in worldwide stock markets. FTSE 100 had its biggest ever one-day points fall, European stocks closed with their worst result since 11 September 2001, and Asian stocks drop as much as 15%.

Births

• 1338 – King Charles V of France (d. 1380)
• 1721 – James Murray, British military officer, governor of Quebec (d. 1794)
• 1804 – Eliza Roxcy Snow, American poet (d. 1887)
• 1813 – John C. Frémont, American army officer, explorer and presidential candidate (d. 1890)
• 1815 – John Bingham, American politician and lawyer (d. 1900)
• 1824 – Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, American, Confederate army general (d. 1863)
• 1825 – Imre Madách, Hungarian writer (d. 1864)
• 1827 – Ivan Mikheevich Pervushin, Russian mathematician (d. 1900)
• 1829 – King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway (d. 1907)
• 1848 – Henri Duparc, French composer (d. 1933)
• 1860 – Karl Staaff, Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1915)
• 1867 – Ludwig Thoma, German writer (d. 1921)
• 1867 – Maxime Weygand, French general (d. 1965)
• 1881 – Arch McCarthy, American baseball player (d. unknown)
• 1882 – Pavel Florensky (O.S. January 9), Russian Orthodox theologian and mathematician (d. 1937)
• 1883 – Amang Rodriguez, Filipino politician (d. 1964)
• 1883 – Olav Aukrust, Norwegian poet (d. 1929)
• 1884 – Roger Baldwin, American social activist (d. 1981)
• 1885 – Umberto Nobile, Italian aeronautical engineer (d. 1978)
• 1887 – Georges Vézina, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1926)
• 1895 – Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish couturier (d. 1972)
• 1897 – René Iché, French sculptor (d. 1954)
• 1899 – Alexander Tcherepnin, Russian born American composer (d. 1977)
• 1901 – Ricardo Zamora, Spanish footballer (d. 1978)
• 1905 – Christian Dior, French fashion designer (d. 1957)
• 1905 – Karl Wallenda, German acrobat (d. 1978)
• 1906 – Igor Moiseyev, Russian choreographer (d. 2007)
• 1909 – Todor Skalovski, Macedonian composer (d. 2004)
• 1910 – Eua Sunthornsanan, Thai composer and bandleader (d. 1981)
• 1910 – Albert Rosellini, American politician
• 1912 – Konrad Emil Bloch, German-born biochemist, Nobel laureate (d. 2000)
• 1918 – Richard D. Winters, American war hero
• 1918 – Chichay, Filipino actress (d. 1993)
• 1921 – Howard Unruh, American mass murderer (d. 2009)
• 1922 – Telly Savalas, American actor (d. 1994)
• 1922 – Paul Scofield, English actor (d. 2008)
• 1923 – Lola Flores, Spanish singer (d. 1995)
• 1924 – Benny Hill, English actor, comedian, and singer (d. 1992)
• 1926 – Steve Reeves, American actor (d. 2000)
• 1926 – Brian Brockless, English organist (d. 1995)
• 1927 – Clive Churchill, Australian rugby league footballer (d. 1985)
• 1928 – Gene Sharp, American political theorist and pacifist
• 1932 – John Chaney, American basketball coach
• 1933 – Joseph W. Eschbach, American doctor (d. 2007)
• 1934 – Audrey Dalton, Irish actress
• 1936 – Koji Hashimoto, Japanese film director (d. 2005)
• 1937 – Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria
• 1938 – Wolfman Jack, American disk jockey and actor (d. 1995)
• 1938 – John Savident, British actor
• 1940 – Jack Nicklaus, American golfer
• 1941 – Plácido Domingo, Spanish tenor
• 1941 – Stathis Giallelis, Greek actor
• 1941 – Richie Havens, American musician
• 1941 – Mike Medavoy, American film producer
• 1941 – Ivan Putski, Polish-born American professional wrestler
• 1942 – Edwin Starr, American singer (d. 2003)
• 1942 – Mac Davis, American musician
• 1943 – Dimitris Poulikakos, Greek actor, songwriter and singer
• 1946 – Johnny Oates, American baseball player and manager (d. 2004)
• 1947 – Jill Eikenberry, American actress
• 1947 – Pye Hastings, English singer and musician (Caravan)
• 1947 – Michel Jonasz, French singer and composer
• 1950 – Billy Ocean, West Indian musician
• 1950 – Gary Locke, American Secretary of Commerce
• 1951 – Eric Holder, American Attorney General (2009-)
• 1952 – Marco Camenisch, Swiss environmental activist
• 1952 – Cyril and Libbye Hellier, identical-twin sopranos
• 1952 – Louis Menand, American writer and critic
• 1953 – Paul Allen, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Microsoft
• 1954 – Phil Thompson, English footballer and coach
• 1955 – Jeff Koons, American artist
• 1956 – Robby Benson, American actor
• 1956 – Geena Davis, American actress
• 1957 – Greg Ryan, American soccer coach
• 1958 – Frank Ticheli, American composer
• 1958 – Michael Wincott, Canadian actor
• 1959 – Alex McLeish, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1962 – Marie Trintignant, French actress (d. 2003)
• 1962 – Tyler Cowen, American economist
• 1963 – Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigerian-born American basketball player
• 1963 – Detlef Schrempf, German basketball player
• 1965 – Jam Master Jay, American disc jockey (d. 2002)
• 1966 – Robert Del Naja, English musician
• 1966 – Candi Milo, American voice actress
• 1967 – Artashes Minasian, Armenian chess Grandmaster
• 1968 – Ulrica Messing, Swedish politician
• 1968 – Charlotte Ross, American actress
• 1969 – Eduard Hämäläinen, Finnish-Belarusian decathlete
• 1969 – Karina Lombard, American actress
• 1969 – Tsubaki Nekoi, Japanese manga artist
• 1969 – M. K. Hobson, American speculative fiction and fantasy writer
• 1970 – Ken Leung, American actor
• 1970 – Mark Trojanowski, American musician (Sister Hazel)
• 1971 – Tweet, American singer
• 1971 – Alan McManus, Scottish snooker player
• 1971 – Doug Weight, American ice hockey player
• 1972 – Alan Benes, American baseball player
• 1972 – Rick Falkvinge, Swedish politician
• 1972 – Yasunori Mitsuda, Japanese composer
• 1972 – Cat Power (Chan Marshall), American musician
• 1973 – Duane Lee Chapman, II, American bounty hunter
• 1974 – Rove McManus, Australian television host and comedian
• 1974 – Alex Sperafico, Brazilian racing driver
• 1975 – Ito, Spanish footballer
• 1975 – Nicky Butt, English footballer
• 1975 – Casey FitzRandolph, American speed skater
• 1975 – Thomas Castaignede, French rugby player
• 1975 – Yuji Ide, Japanese racing driver
• 1976 – Emma Bunton, English singer (Spice Girls)
• 1977 – Al Baxter, Australian rugby union footballer
• 1977 – Phil Neville, English footballer
• 1977 – Matt Perry, English rugby player
• 1977 – Jerry Trainor, American comedic actor (iCarly)
• 1978 – Bryan Gilmore, National Football League player
• 1978 – Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin, American singer
• 1978 – Faris al-Sultan, German-Iraqi triathlete
• 1978 – Phil Stacey, American Idol finalist
• 1978 – Andrei Zyuzin, Russian ice hockey player
• 1979 – Byung-Hyun Kim, Korean baseball player
• 1979 – Spider Loc, American rapper, member of G-Unit
• 1979 – Brian O'Driscoll, Irish rugby union footballer
• 1980 – Dave Kitson, English footballer
• 1980 – Nana Mizuki, Japanese voice actress and singer
• 1980 – Mari Possa, Salvatorian-American pornographic actress
• 1981 – Gillian Chung Yan-tung, Hong Kong singer (Twins)
• 1981 – Jamie Dalrymple, English cricketer
• 1981 – Ivan Ergić, Serbian footballer
• 1981 – Dany Heatley, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1981 – Andy Lee, Korean singer (Shinhwa)
• 1981 – Izabella Miko, Polish actress and model
• 1981 – Alex Ubago, Spanish singer-songwriter
• 1982 – Dean Whitehead, English footballer
• 1982 – Go Shiozaki, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1982 – Simon Rolfes, German footballer
• 1983 – Katie Griffiths, English actress
• 1983 – Maryse Ouellet, Canadian model and professional wrestler
• 1983 – Peter Philipakos, American/Greek soccer player
• 1983 – Moritz Volz, German footballer
• 1984 – Raymond Gutierrez, Filipino actor and television host
• 1984 – Richard Gutierrez, Filipino actor and television host
• 1984 – Robert Ray, American baseball player
• 1985 – Alex Pérez, Spanish footballer
• 1985 – Sasha Pivovarova, Russian model
• 1985 – Adrian Lewis, English dart player
• 1985 – Matt Unicomb, Australian basketball player
• 1986 – Peyton Hillis, American football player
• 1987 – Joe Ledley, Welsh footballer
• 1988 – William C. Woxlin, Swedish composer
• 1990 – Jacob Smith, American actor
• 1994 – BooBoo Stewart, American actor and singer
• 1994 – Laura Robson, Australian/British tennis player
• 2001 – Jackson Brundage, American actor.
• 2004 – Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

Deaths

• 304 – Saint Agnes (martyred) (b. 291)
• 917 – Erchanger, Duke of Swabia (b. c. 880)
• 1118 – Pope Paschal II
• 1519 – Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Spanish explorer (b. 1475)
• 1527 – Juan de Grijalva, Spanish conquistador (b. c. 1489)
• 1546 – Azai Sukemasa, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1491)
• 1609 – Joseph Justus Scaliger, French Protestant scholar (b. 1540)
• 1638 – Ignazio Donati, Italian composer (b. c. 1570)
• 1683 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, British politician (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)
• 1775 – Yemelyan Pugachev, Russian rebel
• 1793 – King Louis XVI of France (executed) (b. 1754)
• 1795 – Samuel Wallis, English navigator (b. 1728)
• 1809 – Josiah Hornblower, American statesman (b. 1729)
• 1814 – Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, French writer and botanist (b. 1737)
• 1823 – Cayetano José Rodríguez, Argentine cleric, journalist and poet (b. 1761)
• 1831 – Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet (b. 1781)
• 1851 – Albert Lortzing, German composer (b. 1801)
• 1862 – Božena Němcová, Czech writer (b. 1820)
• 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 (b. 1863)
• 1932 – Giles Lytton Strachey, British writer (b. 1880)
• 1933 – George A. Moore, Irish novelist (b. 1852)
• 1937 – Marie Prevost, Canadian actress (b. 1898)
• 1948 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (b. 1876)
• 1950 – George Orwell, British writer (b. 1903)
• 1955 – Archie Hahn, American athlete (b. 1880)
• 1956 – Sam Langford, Canadian boxer (b. 1883)
• 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., American magazine executive (b. 1914)
• 1977 – Sandro Penna, Italian poet (b. 1906)
• 1978 – Freda Utley, British scholar and author. (b. 1898)
• 1984 – Giannis Skaribas, Greek writer, dramatist, and poet (b. 1893)
• 1984 – Jackie Wilson, American musician (b. 1934)
• 1985 – James Beard, American chef and author (b. 1903)
• 1985 – Eddie Graham, American professional wrestler and promoter (b. 1930)
• 1987 – Charles Goodell, American politician (b. 1926)
• 1989 – Billy Tipton, American musician (b. 1914)
• 1989 – Carl Furillo, American Baseball player (b. 1922)
• 1993 – Charlie Gehringer, American baseball player (b. 1903)
• 1996 – René Marc Jalbert, sergeant-at-Arms at the National Assembly of Quebec (b. 1921)
• 1997 – Colonel Tom Parker, American manager of Elvis Presley (b. 1909)
• 1998 – Jack Lord, American actor (b. 1920)
• 1999 – Charles Brown, American blues singer and pianist (b. 1920)
• 1999 – Susan Strasberg, American actress (b. 1938)
• 2001 – Byron De La Beckwith, American white supremacist (b. 1921)
• 2002 – Peggy Lee, American singer (b. 1920)
• 2003 – Paul Haines, American-born Canadian poet (b. 1933)
• 2004 – Yordan Radichkov, Bulgarian writer (b. 1929)
• 2005 – Theun de Vries, Dutch writer (b. 1907)
• 2005 – John L. Hess, American journalist (b. 1917)
• 2005 – Parveen Babi, Indian actress (b. 1955)
• 2006 – Ibrahim Rugova, President of Kosovo (b. 1944)
• 2006 – Bedanand Jha, Nepalese politician
• 2007 – Maria Cioncan, Romanian athlete (b. 1977)
• 2007 – U;Nee, Korean pop artist (b. 1981)
• 2008 – Pam Barrett, Canadian politician (b. 1953)
• 2008 – Marie Smith Jones, last native speaker of the Eyak language (b. 1918)
• 2009 – Veatrice Rice, Security guard, television personality on Jimmy Kimmel Live (b. 1949)
• 2010 – Paul Quarrington, Canadian novelist, playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, musician and educator (b. 1953)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day
  • Agnes
  • Fructuosus
  • Meinrad of Einsiedeln
  • January 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Flag Day (Quebec)
• Lady of Altagracia Day (Dominican Republic)
• National Hug Day (United States)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On this day in Canada