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 .
1525 - The Swiss Anabaptist Movement was born when Conrad Grebel , Felix Manz , George Blaurock , and about a dozen others baptized each other in the home of Manz's mother on Neustadt-Gasse , 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 for 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.
1899 - Opel Motors opens for business.
1908 - New York City passes a law, the Sullivan Ordinance , making it illegal for women to smoke in public only to be 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 .
1968 - Simon & Garfunkel release the Original Soundtrack to The Graduate Simon a Grammy for Best Original Score .
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 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.
2003 - The terms of Kevin Mitnick 's parole allow him to use a computer again.
2004 - Canada : The residence of reporter , Juliet O'Neill was searched by the RCMP investigating leaks concerning the deportation of Maher Arar .
2004 - NASA 's MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit ) ceased communication with mission control. The problem was with Flash Memory management and fixed remotely from Earth on Feb 6th.
2005 - In Belize's capital city , the unrest over the government's new taxes erupts into riots .
Births
1738 - Ethan Allen , American patriot (d. 1789 )
1804 - Eliza Roxcy Snow , American poet (d. 1887 )
1824 - Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson , Confederate Army general (d. 1863 )
1829 - Oscar II , King of Sweden and Norway (d. 1907 )
1850 - Paul Vinzenz Busch , ringmaster (d. 1927 )
1855 - John Moses Browning , inventor (d. 1926 )
1867 - Ludwig Thoma , narrator, dramatist and lyricist (d. 1921 )
1867 - Maxime Weygand , French General (d. 1965 )
1883 - Olav Aukrust , Norwegian poet (d. 1929 )
1884 - Roger Baldwin , ACLU president, social activist (d. 1981 )
1885 - Umberto Nobile , politician and airship designer (d. 1978 )
1895 - Cristóbal Balenciaga , couturier (d. 1972 )
1905 - Karl Wallenda , German acrobat (d. 1978 )
1905 - Christian Dior , fashion designer (d. 1957 )
1919 - Jinx Falkenburg , American fashion model (d. 2003 )
1921 - Howard Unruh , mass murderer
1921 - Barney Clark heart transplant recipient (d. 1983 )
1922 - Paul Scofield , actor
1924 - Telly Savalas , actor (d. 1994 )
1924 or 1925 - Benny Hill , comedian, actor (d. 1992 )
1926 - Steve Reeves , actor (d. 2000 )
1936 - Koji Hashimoto , Japanese film director (d. 2005 )
1936 - Snooks Eaglin , American blues musician
1939 - Wolfman Jack , disk jockey , actor (d. 1995 )
1940 - Jack Nicklaus ,professional golfer
1941 - Plácido Domingo , opera singer
1941 - Richie Havens , musician
1942 - Edwin Starr , American singer (d. 2003 )
1942 - Mac Davis , American musician
1946 - Johnny Oates , baseball player and manager (d. 2004 )
1948 - Trey Wilson , American actor (d. 1989 )
1950 - Billy Ocean , musician
1953 - Paul Allen , entrepreneur
1955 - Jeff Koons , artist
1956 - Geena Davis , actress
1956 - Robby Benson , American actor
1963 - Hakeem Olajuwon , basketball player
1963 - Detlef Schrempf , basketball player
1965 - Jam Master Jay , DJ (d. 2002 )
1968 - Charlotte Ross , American actress
1971 - Alan McManus , Scottish snooker player
1976 - Emma Bunton , AKA "Baby Spice ," singer
1979 - Brian O'Driscoll , rugby player
1981 - Dany Heatley , NHL hockey player
1981 - Izabella Miko , Polish actress
1988 - Victoria Watson , British actress
2004 - Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway
Deaths
304 - Martyrdom of Saint Agnes , under emperor Diocletianus
1118 - Pope Paschal II
1519 - Vasco Núñez de Balboa , Spanish explorer (b. ca. 1475 )
1546 - Azai Sukemasa , Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1491 )
1609 - Joseph Justus Scaliger , Protestant scholar (b. 1540 )
1793 - King Louis XVI of France executed (b. 1754 )
1831 - Achim von Arnim , German poet (b. 1781 )
1881 - Wilhelm Matthias Näff , member of the Swiss Federal Council (b. 1802 )
1891 - Calixa Lavallée , composer (b. 1842 )
1901 - Elisha Gray , American inventor and founder of Western Electric (b. 1835 )
1924 - Vladimir Lenin , first leader of the USSR (b. 1870 )
1928 - George Goethals , American army engineer (b. 1858 )
1932 - Giles Lytton Strachey British writer and biographer (b. 1880 )
1933 - George Moore , novelist (b. 1852 )
1948 - Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari , composer (b. 1876 )
1950 - George Orwell , writer (b. 1903 )
1955 - Archie Hahn , American athlete (b. 1880 )
1959 - Cecil B. DeMille , director (b. 1881 )
1959 - Carl Switzer , American actor
1961 - Blaise Cendrars , writer (b. 1887 )
1967 - Ann Sheridan , American actress
1985 - James Beard , chef, author
1984 - Jackie Wilson , American musician
1989 - Billy Tipton , jazz musician (b. 1914 )
1993 - Charlie Gehringer , Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1903 )
1997 - Colonel Tom Parker , Elvis Presley 's manager (b. 1909 )
1998 - Jack Lord , actor (b. 1920 )
1999 - Susan Strasberg , actress (b. 1938 )
2001 - Byron De La Beckwith , white supremacist (b. 1921 )
2001 - Chung Ju-yung , Korean industrialist (b. 1915 )
2002 - Peggy Lee , singer (b. 1920 )
2004 - Yordan Radichkov , Bulgarian writer and playwright (b. 1929 )
2005 - Parveen Babi , Indian actress (b. 1955 )
2005 - John L. Hess , journalist (b. 1917 )
2005 - Don Poier , NBA basketball announcer for the Memphis Grizzlies
2005 - Carl Schlettwein , founder of Basler Afrika Bibliographien1925 )
2005 - Theun de Vries , Dutch writer (b. 1907 )
Holidays and observances
External links
January 20 - January 22 - December 21 - February 21 -- listing of all days
Top Encyclopedia Articles
