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Jan 20, 1981: Iran Hostage Crisis ends
Minutes after Ronald Reagan's inauguration as the 40th president of the United States, the 52 U.S. captives held at the U.S. embassy in Teheran, Iran, are released, ending the 444-day Iran Hostage Crisis.
On November 4, 1979, the crisis began when militant Iranian students, outraged that the U.S. government had allowed the ousted shah of Iran to travel to New York City for medical treatment, seized the U.S. embassy in Teheran. The Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran's political and religious leader, took over the hostage situation, refusing all appeals to release the hostages, even after the U.N. Security Council demanded an end to the crisis in an unanimous vote. However, two weeks after the storming of the embassy, the Ayatollah began to release all non-U.S. captives, and all female and minority Americans, citing these groups as among the people oppressed by the government of the United States. The remaining 52 captives remained at the mercy of the Ayatollah for the next 14 months.
President Jimmy Carter was unable to diplomatically resolve the crisis, and on April 24, 1980, he ordered a disastrous rescue mission in which eight U.S. military personnel were killed and no hostages rescued. Three months later, the former shah died of cancer in Egypt, but the crisis continued. In November 1980, Carter lost the presidential election to Republican Ronald Reagan. Soon after, with the assistance of Algerian intermediaries, successful negotiations began between the United States and Iran. On the day of Reagan's inauguration, the United States freed almost $8 billion in frozen Iranian assets, and the hostages were released after 444 days. The next day, Jimmy Carter flew to West Germany to greet the Americans on their way home.
Jan 20, 1980: President Carter calls for Olympics to be moved from Moscow
On January 20, 1980, in a letter to the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and a television interview, U.S. President Jimmy Carter proposes that the 1980 Summer Olympics be moved from the planned host city, Moscow, if the Soviet Union failed to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan within a month.
"It’s very important for the world to realize how serious a threat the Soviets’ invasion of Afghanistan is," Carter declared. He argued that continued aggressive action by the Soviets would endanger athletes and spectators who traveled to Moscow for the games, and declared that if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) declined to move the competition, American athletes should boycott the games. Lord Killanin, president of the IOC, reacted quickly to Carter’s statement, saying it was impossible to move the games from Moscow.
After the IOC denied Carter’s request, the USOC later voted to boycott the Moscow games, a decision that Carter announced on March 21, 1980. The boycott devastated the hopes of many U.S. athletes, especially after Carter backed it up with the law, promising to revoke the passports of American athletes who traveled to the games in violation of the boycott. For his part, Killanin called the U.S. boycott a violation of the Olympic charter, pointing out that Moscow had been awarded the games in the mid-1970s as part of a binding contract--one that could only be broken if the Soviets breached their own responsibilities first.
The United States was one of some 60 countries that eventually boycotted the Moscow Olympics, though some countries that didn’t officially send teams took no action against individual athletes who chose to go. Among U.S. allies, Great Britain, Sweden, France and Italy sent teams. The Soviet Union dominated the other 80 participating nations, winning 195 medals (80 gold) in 1980, in one of the most lopsided Olympics ever. Four years later, the Soviets returned the slight with a boycott of the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, saying they were worried about the safety of their athletes given the strongly anti-Communist environment that existed in the United States. In an interesting contrast, Communist-led China decided to attend the games for the first time in 32 years, bringing the total number of participating countries to a record high 140.
Jan 20, 1942: The Wannsee Conference
On this day, Nazi officials meet to discuss the details of the "Final Solution" of the "Jewish question."
In July 1941, Herman Goering, writing under instructions from Hitler, had ordered Reinhard Heydrich, SS general and Heinrich Himmler's number-two man, to submit "as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative, material, and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question."
Heydrich met with Adolf Eichmann, chief of the Central Office of Jewish Emigration, and 15 other officials from various Nazi ministries and organizations at Wannsee, a suburb of Berlin. The agenda was simple and focused: to devise a plan that would render a "final solution to the Jewish question" in Europe. Various gruesome proposals were discussed, including mass sterilization and deportation to the island of Madagascar. Heydrich proposed simply transporting Jews from every corner Europe to concentration camps in Poland and working them to death. Objections to this plan included the belief that this was simply too time-consuming. What about the strong ones who took longer to die? What about the millions of Jews who were already in Poland? Although the word "extermination" was never uttered during the meeting, the implication was clear: anyone who survived the egregious conditions of a work camp would be "treated accordingly."
Months later, the "gas vans" in Chelmno, Poland, which were killing 1,000 people a day, proved to be the "solution" they were looking for--the most efficient means of killing large groups of people at one time.
The minutes of this conference were kept with meticulous care, which later provided key evidence during the Nuremberg war crimes trials.
Jan 20, 1841: Hong Kong ceded to the Britis
During the First Opium War, China cedes the island of Hong Kong to the British with the signing of the Chuenpi Convention, an agreement seeking an end to the first Anglo-Chinese conflict.
In 1839, Britain invaded China to crush opposition to its interference in the country's economic and political affairs. One of Britain's first acts of the war was to occupy Hong Kong, a sparsely inhabited island off the coast of southeast China. In 1841, China ceded the island to the British, and in 1842 the Treaty of Nanking was signed, formally ending the First Opium War.
Britain's new colony flourished as an East-West trading center and as the commercial gateway and distribution center for southern China. In 1898, Britain was granted an additional 99 years of rule over Hong Kong under the Second Convention of Peking. In September 1984, after years of negotiations, the British and the Chinese signed a formal agreement approving the 1997 turnover of the island in exchange for a Chinese pledge to preserve Hong Kong's capitalist system. On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong was peaceably handed over to China in a ceremony attended by numerous Chinese and British dignitaries. The chief executive under the new Hong Kong government, Tung Chee Hwa, formulated a policy based upon the concept of "one country, two systems," thus preserving Hong Kong's role as a principal capitalist center in Asia.
Jan 20, 1945: FDR inaugurated to fourth term
On January 20, 1945, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the only president to be elected to three terms in office, is inaugurated to his fourth term.
At the height of the Great Depression, Roosevelt, then governor of New York, was elected the 32nd president of the United States. In his inaugural address in 1933, President Roosevelt promised Americans that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" and outlined his "New Deal"--an expansion of the federal government as an instrument of employment opportunity and welfare. Although criticized by the business community, Roosevelt's progressive legislation improved America's economic climate, and in 1936 he swept to reelection.
During his second term, he became increasingly concerned with German and Japanese aggression and began a long campaign to awaken America from its isolationist slumber. In 1940, with World War II raging in Europe and the Pacific, Roosevelt agreed to run for an unprecedented third term. Reelected by Americans who valued his strong leadership, he proved a highly effective commander in chief during World War II. Under his guidance, America became, in his own words, the "great arsenal of democracy" and succeeded in shifting the balance of power in World War II firmly in the Allies' favor. In 1944, with the war not yet won, Roosevelt was reelected to a fourth term. Three months after his inauguration, he died. Roosevelt's unparalleled 13 years as president led to the 1947 passing of the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, limiting future presidents to a maximum of two elected terms in office, or one elected term if the president already served more than two years of another president's elected term.
Jan 20, 1961: John F. Kennedy inaugurated
On January 20, 1961, on the newly renovated east front of the United States Capitol, John Fitzgerald Kennedy is inaugurated as the 35th president of the United States. It was a cold and clear day, and the nation's capital was covered with a snowfall from the previous night. The ceremony began with a religious invocation and prayers, and then African-American opera singer Marian Anderson sang "The Star-Spangled Banner," and Robert Frost recited his poem "The Gift Outright." Kennedy was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice Earl Warren. During his famous inauguration address, Kennedy, the youngest candidate ever elected to the presidency and the country's first Catholic president, declared that "the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans" and appealed to Americans to "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1917, Kennedy was the son of Joseph Patrick Kennedy, a wealthy businessman. Both of his grandfathers were politicians, and his father served appointed positions in the Roosevelt administration, most prominently as U.S. ambassador to Britain. Kennedy volunteered to fight in World War II and was decorated for an August 1943 action in which he saved several of his men after the PT torpedo boat he was commanding was sunk in the South Pacific. In 1944, Kennedy's older brother, Joseph, was killed in a bombing mission over Belgium. Joseph had planned to make a career in politics, and Kennedy, discharged and working as a reporter, decided to enter politics in his place.
He won the Democratic nomination for the 11th Congressional District of Massachusetts, defeated his Republican opponent, and became a U.S. congressman at the age of 29. Twice reelected, he was known in Congress for his foreign policy expertise, often taking a bipartisan stance when it came to issues of national security. In the election of 1952, in which the Republicans won the White House and majorities in Congress, Kennedy captured the Senate seat of Republican Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. after an intensive campaign.
In 1956, he nearly became the running mate of Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson, winning Kennedy wide national exposure and leading him to consider a bid for the 1960 presidential nomination. In 1957, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his book of biographical essays, Profiles in Courage, and in 1958, he was reelected to the Senate by the largest margin in Massachusetts history. By that time, Kennedy's presidential campaign was in full swing.
The press embraced the young, idealistic senator and his glamorous wife, Jackie, and Kennedy's father bought a 40-passenger Convair aircraft to transport the candidate and his staff around the country. By the time the 1960 Democratic National Convention convened, Kennedy had won seven primary victories. On July 13, he was nominated on the first ballot, and the next day Senate majority leader Lyndon Johnson was chosen as his running mate. Opposed by Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., Kennedy performed well in televised debates with Nixon, a new addition to presidential politics. On November 8, he was elected president.
Kennedy, his wife, and family seemed fitting representatives of the youthful spirit of America during the early 1960s, and the Kennedy White House was idealized by admirers as a modern-day "Camelot." In foreign policy, Kennedy actively fought communism in the world, ordering the controversial Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and sending thousands of U.S. military "advisors" to Vietnam. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, he displayed firmness and restraint, exercising an unyielding opposition to the placement of Soviet missiles in Cuba but also demonstrating a level-headedness during negotiations for their removal. On the domestic front, he introduced his "New Frontier" social legislation, calling for a rigorous federal desegregation policy and a sweeping new civil rights bill. On November 22, 1963, after less than three years in office, Kennedy was assassinated while riding in an open-car motorcade with his wife in Dallas, Texas.
Jan 20, 1961: Robert Frost reads at JFK's inauguration
On this day, 87-year-old Robert Frost recited his poem "The Gift Outright" at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. Although Frost had written a new poem for the occasion, titled "Dedication," faint ink in his typewriter made the words difficult to read, so he recited "The Gift Outright" from memory.
Frost was born in California in 1874, the son of a journalist who died when Frost was 11. Frost's mother brought him to Massachusetts, where he graduated as co-valedictorian of his high school class. He attended Dartmouth and Harvard but didn't complete a degree at either school. Three years after high school, her married his fellow high school valedictorian, Elinor White.
Frost tried unsuccessfully to run a New England farm, and the family, which soon included four children, struggled with poverty for two decades. Increasingly depressed, Frost moved his family to England to make a fresh start in 1912. There, he published a poetry collection called A Boy's Will in 1913, which won praise from English critics and helped him win a U.S. publishing contract for his second book, North of Boston (1914). The American public took a liking to the 40-year-old Frost, who returned to the United States when World War I broke out and bought another farm in New Hampshire. He continued to publish books, and taught and lectured at Amherst, University of Michigan, Harvard, and Dartmouth. He endured personal tragedy when a son committed suicide and a daughter had a mental breakdown. While Frost never graduated from a university, he had collected 44 honorary degrees before he died in 1963.
Jan 20, 1777: Battle of Millstone, New Jersey
On this day in 1777, Brigadier General Philemon Dickinson leads 400 raw men from the New Jersey militia and 50 Pennsylvania riflemen under Captain Robert Durkee in an attack against a group of 500 British soldiers foraging for food led by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Abercromby near Van Nest's Mills in Millstone, New Jersey.
The mills lay at a strategic point between New Brunswick and Princeton, New Jersey, where General George Washington had defeated the British on January 3. After that victory, Washington had decided to divide his forces in order to harass British installments in the New Jersey towns of New Brunswick and Amboy.
The British, who were stealing flour and supplies from Van Nest's Mills with which to supply their troops in New Brunswick, had set up small cannon defenses at a bridge crossing the Millstone River. The Patriots caught the British forces by surprise when they, avoiding the cannons, forded the deep and icy water.
In the ensuing 20-minute battle, Dickinson reported that the Patriots captured 107 horses, 49 wagons, 115 cattle, 70 sheep, 40 barrels of flour—106 bags and many other things. They also took 49 prisoners. General Washington reported to John Hancock that the British removed a good many dead and wounded in light Waggons, estimated to be 24 or 25 in total compared to the 4 or 5 losses sustained by the Patriots.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
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 - 1st English Parliament called into session by Earl of
Leicester
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/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 the
viceroy Don Martín Enríquez de Almansa.
1613 - Peace of Knarodends 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,
Cambridge, Mass
1781 - 1st edition of Pieter It Hoens "Post of
Neder-Rhijn" published
1783 - Hostilities cease in Revolutionary War
1785 - Samuel Ellis advertises to sell Oyster Island (Ellis
Is), no takers
1788 - Pioneer African Baptist church organizes in Savannah,
Ga
1801 - John Marshall appointed US chief justice
1807 - Napoleon convenes great Sanhedrin, Paris
1809 - 1st US geology book published by William Maclure
1839 - In the 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 British
1850 - Investigator, 1st ship to effect northwest passage,
leaves England
1860 - Dutch troops conquer Watampone in Celebes
1866 - Prim's Insurrection in Spain ends
1868 - Florida constitutional convention meets in Tallahassee
Women's Rights Activist Elizabeth Cady StantonWomen's Rights
Activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton 1869 - Elizabeth Cady Stanton becomes 1st woman
to testify before US Congress
1870 - "City of Boston" vanishes at sea with all
177 aboard
1870 - Hiram R. Revels elected to fill unexpired term of
Jefferson Davis
1872 - California Stock Exchange Board organized
1879 - British troops under Lord Chelmsford set camp at
Isandlwana
1883 - Billy Barnes takes a hat-trick, England v Aust MCG
1887 - US Senate approves naval base lease of Pearl Harbor
1892 - 1st basketball game played (Mass)
1910 - Ottawa Senators sweep Edmonton in 2 for Stanley Cup
(2nd of 1910)
1920 - Dutch 2nd Chamber passes school laws
1920 - The American Civil Liberties Union is founded.
1921 - British submarine K5 leaves with man & mouse
1921 - Dagestan ASSR forms in RSFSR
1921 - Mountain Autonomous Republic established in RSFSR
1921 - Turkey declared in remnants of Ottoman Empire
Minister and US Senator Hiram R. RevelsMinister and US Senator
Hiram R. Revels 1922 - Arthur Honegger's ballet "Skating Rink"
premieres, Paris
1925 - USSR & Japan sign treaty of Peking, Seychelles
back to USSR
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
1936 - Edward VIII succeeds British king George V
1937 - -45°F (-43°C), Boca, California
(state record)
1937 - 1st Inauguration day on Jan 20th, (held every 4th
years there-after)
1939 - Charles Ives' 1st Sonate "Concord,"
premieres
1939 - Hitler proclaims to German parliament to exterminate
all European Jews
1941 - Bela Bartok's 6th string quartet, premieres in NYC
1942 - Japanese air raid on Rabaul New Britain
1942 - Japanese invade Burma
1942 - Nazi officials hold notorious Wannsee conference in
Berlin deciding on "final solution" calling for extermination of
Europe's Jews
Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf HitlerDictator of Nazi
Germany Adolf Hitler 1943 - Lead SD, temp is 52°F, while 1.5 miles away
Deadwood SD records -16°F
1943 - Operation-Weiss: Assault of German, Italian,
Bulgarian & Croatian
1944 - RAF drops 2300 ton bombs on Berlin
1945 - FDR sworn-in for an unprecedented 4th term as
president
1945 - Hungary ends its involvement in the Second World War,
agreeing to an armistice with the Allies.
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 - J. Edgar Hoover gives Shirley Temple a tear gas
fountain pen
1949 - Pres Harry Truman announces his point 4 program
1950 - "Dance Me a Song" opens at Royale Theater
NYC for 35 performances
1950 - Suriname becomes independent part in Realm of
Netherlands
1952 - British army occupies Ismailiya, Suez Canal Zone
1952 - Louise Suggs wins LPGA Tampa Golf Open
1953 - 1st US telecast transmitted to Canada-from Buffalo NY
1953 - 1st live coast-to-coast inauguration address
(Eisenhower)
33rd US President Harry Truman33rd US President Harry Truman
1954 - -70°F (-57°C), Rogers Pass, Montana (US 48 state record)
1954 - Dmitri Sjostakovitsj' "Concertino opus 94,"
premieres
1954 - The National Negro Network is established with 40
charter member radio stations.
1955 - 1st atomic sub, USS Nautilus, launched at Groton Conn
1956 - Buddy Holly records "Blue Days Black Night"
in Nashville
1957 - Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Tampa Golf Open
1957 - Gomulka wins Poland's parliamentary election
1957 - Morton Gould's "Declaration," premieres in
Washington, DC
1958 - Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Tampa Golf Open
1958 - KUED TV channel 7 in Salt Lake City, UT (PBS) begins
broadcasting
1959 - Dmitri Sjostakovitsj' Moscow-Tsjerjomoesjki, premieres
in Moscow
1960 - Patrice Lumumba sentenced to 6 months in Belgian
Congo
1961 - Arthur M Ramsay becomes archbishop of Canterbury
1961 - Francis Poulenc's "Gloria," premieres in
Boston
1961 - Robert Frost recites "Gift Outright" at
JFK's inauguration
Poet Robert FrostPoet Robert Frost 1961 - Yugoslav
ex-vice-president Milovan Djilas flees
1962 - "Kean" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after
92 performances
1964 - "Meet The Beatles" album released in US
1965 - Beatles appear on Shindig (ABC-TV)
1965 - Byrds record "Mr Tambourine Man"
1965 - JPL proposes modified Apollo flight to fly around
Mars & return
1965 - Generalissimo Francisco Franco meets with Jewish
representatives to discuss legitimizing Jewish communities in Spain
1968 - Houston ends UCLA's 47-game basketball winning
streak, 71-69
1968 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Peggy
Fleming
1968 - US male Figure Skating championship won by Tim Wood
1968 - The Houston Cougars defeat the UCLA Bruins 71-69 to
win the Game of the Century.
1969 - Richard M Nixon inaugurated as president
1969 - U of Az reports 1st optical id of pulsar (in Crab
Nebula)
1970 - 20th NBA All-Star Game: East beats West 142-135 at
Philadelphia
1970 - 23rd NHL All-Star Game: East beat West 4-1 at St
Louis
Spanish Dictator Francisco FrancoSpanish Dictator Francisco
Franco 1970 - Super Fight, computer mock championship between Ali &
Marciano
1971 - Ard Schenk skates world record 1000m (1:18.8)
1971 - John Lennon meets Yoko Ono's parents in Japan
1974 - 4th NFL Pro Bowl: AFC beats NFC 15-13
1974 - 7th ABA All-Star Game: East 128 beats West 112 at
Virginia
1974 - A college basketball game ends 210-67
1974 - Essex Comm College beats Englewood Cliffs 210-67 in
basketball
1975 - 5th NFL Pro Bowl: NFC beats AFC 17-10
1975 - Terrence McNally's "Ritz," premieres in NYC
1976 - 29th NHL All-Star Game: Wales beat Campbell 7-5 at
Phila
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 - President Jimmy Carter announces US boycott of
Olympics in Moscow
1980 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Linda
Fratianne
Artist & Musician Yoko OnoArtist & Musician Yoko Ono
1980 - US male Figure Skating championship won by Charles Tickner
1980 - Super Bowl XIV: Pittsburgh Steelers beat LA Rams,
31-19 in Pasadena, MVP: Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh, QB
1981 - 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days freed
1981 - Adm Stansfield Turner, USN (Ret), ends term as 12th
director of CIA
1981 - Frank C Carlucci, ends term as deputy director of CIA
1981 - Islander Glenn Resch's 25th & last shut-out
opponent-Flames 5-0
1981 - Ronald Reagan inaugurated as 40th US President
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)
1985 - Super Bowl XIX: SF 49ers beat Miami Dolphins, 38-16
in Stanford Super Bowl MVP: Joe Montana, San Francisco, QB
1986 - 1st federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr
1986 - Chunnel announced (railroad tunnel under Canal)
Clergyman and Civil Rights Activist Martin Luther King
Jr.Clergyman and Civil Rights Activist Martin Luther King Jr. 1986 - Milt coup
in Lesotho under gen-mjr Lekhanya & premier Leabua Jonathan
1987 - Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite taken hostage in
Beirut, Lebanon
1987 - Rhino Records 1st #1-Billy Vera & Beaters'
"At This Moment"
1988 - Andre Hoffman skates world record 1500m (1:52.06)
1988 - Arizona committee opens hearing on impeachment of Gov
Evan Mecham
1989 - George H W Bush inaugurated as 41st US President
& Dan Quayle becomes 44th Vice President
1989 - Wayne Holdsworth takes a wicket 1st ball in 1st-class
cricket
1989 - Reagan becomes 1st pres elected in a "0"
year, since 1840, to leave office alive
1990 - 47th Golden Globes: Born on 4th of July, Driving Miss
Daisy win
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 perfs
1991 - 13th UCP Telethon
1991 - Buffalo Bills beat LA Raiders 51-3 for AFC title
1991 - Jane Geddes wins LPGA Jamaica Golf Classic
1991 - US Patriot missiles begins shooting down Iraqi
missiles
1991 - Matt Barr's field goal with no time left gives NY
Giant 15-13 Victory over defending champs SF 49ers, for NFC title
1991 - Sudan's government imposes Islamic law nationwide,
worsening the civil war between the country's Muslim north and Christian south.
1992 - Australia beat India 2-0 to win the World Series Cup
1992 - Score begins selling international soccer cards
1993 - Adm Studeman, serves as acting director of CIA
42nd US President Bill Clinton42nd US President Bill Clinton
1993 - Bill Clinton inaugurated as 42nd US President
1995 - "Love! Valor! Compassion!" opens at Walter
Kerr NYC for 276 perfs
1995 - 1994-95 NHL Season begin after a lengthy strike
1995 - Russian ruble drops to 3,947 per dollar (record)
1996 - 46th NHL All-Star Game: East beat West 5-4 at Fleet
Center Boston
1996 - Australia defeat Sri Lanka 2-0 to win 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
1998 - Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducts Mama & Papas
& Eagles
1998 - Warner Brothers TV Network begins Tueday night
programming
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 the
EDSA II Revolution and is succeeded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
44th US President Barack Obama44th US President Barack Obama
2009 - Barack Obama, inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of
America, becomes the United States' first African-American president
2013 - Austria votes to maintain compulsory military service
in a referendum
2013 - The San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens win
the NFC and AFC championship games to reach Super Bowl XLVII
1265 - The first English parliament met in Westminster Hall. 1801 - John Marshall was appointed chief justice of the United States. 1839 - Chile defeated a confederation of Peru and Bolivia in the Battle of Yungay. 1841 - The island of Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain. It returned to Chinese control in July 1997. 1885 - The roller coaster was patented by L.A. Thompson. 1886 - The Mersey Railway Tunnel was officially opened by the Prince of Wales. 1887 - The U.S. Senate approved an agreement to lease Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as a naval base. 1891 - James Hogg took office as the first native-born governor of Texas. 1892 - The first official basketball game was played by students at the Springfield, MA, YMCA Training School. 1929 - The movie "In Old Arizona" was released. The film was the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors. 1937 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the first U.S. President to be inaugurated on January 20th. The 20th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution officially set the date for the swearing in of the President and Vice President. 1942 - Nazi officials held the Wannsee conference, during which they arrived at their "final solution" that called for exterminating Europe's Jews. 1944 - The British RAF dropped 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin. 1952 - In Juarez, Mexico, Patricia McCormick debuted as the first professional woman bullfighter from the United States. 1953 - "Studio One" became the first television show to be transmitted from the United States to Canada. 1954 - The National Negro Network was formed on this date. Forty radio stations were charter members of the network. 1961 - Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller were divorced. They were married on June 29, 1956. 1972 - The number of unemployed in Britain exceeded 1 million. 1981 - Iran released 52 Americans that had been held hostage for 444 days. The hostages were flown to Algeria and then to a U.S. base in Wiesbaden, West Germany. The release occurred minutes after the U.S. presidency had passed from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan. 1985 - The most-watched Super Bowl game in history was seen by an estimated 115.9 million people. The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Miami Dolphins, 38-16. Super Bowl XIX marked the first time that TV commercials sold for a million dollars a minute. 1986 - The U.S. observed the first federal holiday in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. 1986 - Britain and France announced their plans to build the Channel Tunnel. 1986 - New footage of the 1931 "Frankenstein" was found. The footage was originally deleted because it was considered to be too shocking. 1987 - Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite was kidnapped in Beirut, Lebanon. He was there attempting to negotiate the release of Western hostages. He was not freed until November 1991. 1994 - Shannon Faulkner became the first woman to attend classes at The Citadel in South Carolina. Faulkner joined the cadet corps in August 1995 under court order but soon dropped out. 1996 - Yasser Arafat was elected president of the Palestinian Authority and his supporters won two thirds of the 80 seats in the Legislative Council. 1997 - Bill Clinton was inaugurated for his second term as president of the United States. 1998 - American researchers announced that they had cloned calves that may produce medicinal milk. 1998 - In Chile, a judge agreed to hear a lawsuit that accused Chile's former dictator Augusto Pinochet with genocide. 1999 - The China News Service announced that the Chinese government was tightening restrictions on internet use. The rules were aimed at 'Internet Bars.' 2000 - Greece and Turkey signed five accords aimed to build confidence between the two nations. 2002 - Michael Jordan (Washington Wizards) played his first game in Chicago as a visiting player. The Wizards beat the Bulls 77-69.
1801 John Marshall was appointed Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1841 As a result of the First Opium War, Hong Kong was ceded to the British. 1942 The Nazis formulated their "Final Solution" regarding the Jews at the Wannsee Conference. 1964 The Beatles released their first album in the United States, Meet the Beatles. 1981 52 American hostages seized from the American Embassy in Tehran were released after 444 days in captivity. 1981 President Reagan became the oldest president to take office (69 years and 349 days). 1986 Martin Luther King, Jr., day was celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time. 2009 Hundreds of thousands of people watched in front of the Capitol as President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are sworn into office. Obama makes history as the first African-American U.S. president. 2012 Singer Etta James died less than a week before her 74th birthday. Read more: This Day in History: January 20 | Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory#ixzz2qwUMgNJw1265 - The first English parliament met in Westminster Hall. 1801 - John Marshall was appointed chief justice of the United States. 1839 - Chile defeated a confederation of Peru and Bolivia in the Battle of Yungay. 1841 - The island of Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain. It returned to Chinese control in July 1997. 1885 - The roller coaster was patented by L.A. Thompson. 1886 - The Mersey Railway Tunnel was officially opened by the Prince of Wales. 1887 - The U.S. Senate approved an agreement to lease Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as a naval base. 1891 - James Hogg took office as the first native-born governor of Texas. 1892 - The first official basketball game was played by students at the Springfield, MA, YMCA Training School. 1929 - The movie "In Old Arizona" was released. The film was the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors. 1937 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the first U.S. President to be inaugurated on January 20th. The 20th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution officially set the date for the swearing in of the President and Vice President. 1942 - Nazi officials held the Wannsee conference, during which they arrived at their "final solution" that called for exterminating Europe's Jews. 1944 - The British RAF dropped 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin. 1952 - In Juarez, Mexico, Patricia McCormick debuted as the first professional woman bullfighter from the United States. 1953 - "Studio One" became the first television show to be transmitted from the United States to Canada. 1954 - The National Negro Network was formed on this date. Forty radio stations were charter members of the network. 1961 - Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller were divorced. They were married on June 29, 1956. 1972 - The number of unemployed in Britain exceeded 1 million. 1981 - Iran released 52 Americans that had been held hostage for 444 days. The hostages were flown to Algeria and then to a U.S. base in Wiesbaden, West Germany. The release occurred minutes after the U.S. presidency had passed from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan. 1985 - The most-watched Super Bowl game in history was seen by an estimated 115.9 million people. The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Miami Dolphins, 38-16. Super Bowl XIX marked the first time that TV commercials sold for a million dollars a minute. 1986 - The U.S. observed the first federal holiday in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. 1986 - Britain and France announced their plans to build the Channel Tunnel. 1986 - New footage of the 1931 "Frankenstein" was found. The footage was originally deleted because it was considered to be too shocking. 1987 - Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite was kidnapped in Beirut, Lebanon. He was there attempting to negotiate the release of Western hostages. He was not freed until November 1991. 1994 - Shannon Faulkner became the first woman to attend classes at The Citadel in South Carolina. Faulkner joined the cadet corps in August 1995 under court order but soon dropped out. 1996 - Yasser Arafat was elected president of the Palestinian Authority and his supporters won two thirds of the 80 seats in the Legislative Council. 1997 - Bill Clinton was inaugurated for his second term as president of the United States. 1998 - American researchers announced that they had cloned calves that may produce medicinal milk. 1998 - In Chile, a judge agreed to hear a lawsuit that accused Chile's former dictator Augusto Pinochet with genocide. 1999 - The China News Service announced that the Chinese government was tightening restrictions on internet use. The rules were aimed at 'Internet Bars.' 2000 - Greece and Turkey signed five accords aimed to build confidence between the two nations. 2002 - Michael Jordan (Washington Wizards) played his first game in Chicago as a visiting player. The Wizards beat the Bulls 77-69.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/jan20.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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