What happened on January 21? There are more than 284 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About January 21
January 21 is the 21st day of the year 2024. There are 345 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Sunday. This day falls under the 3rd week of the year 2024.
On this day in Fremont, Wisconsin 54940 sunrise occured at 07:22 AM and sunset occured at 04:51 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Aquarius. The modern birthstone for this month is Garnet while the mystical birthstone is Emerald.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 20 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (February 10, 2024).
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Historical Events For January 21
- 1525The 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.
- 1643Abel Tasman becomes the first European to reach Tonga.
- 1720Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm.
- 1749The Verona Philharmonic Theatre is destroyed by fire. It is rebuilt in 1754.
- 1789The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth, is printed in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1793After being found guilty of treason by the French Convention, Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine.
- 1840Jules Dumont d'Urville discovers Adélie Land, Antarctica.
- 1861American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.
- 1864The Tauranga Campaign begins during the Maori Wars.
- 1887465 mm of rain falls in Brisbane, a record for any Australian capital city.
- 1893The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, is formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana.
- 1899Opel manufactures its first automobile.
- 1908New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor.
- 1911The first Monte Carlo Rally takes place.
- 1915Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1919Meeting 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.
- 1925Albania declares itself a republic.
- 1931Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia.
- 1948The 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.
- 1950Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.
- 1954The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, the First Lady of the United States.
- 1958The last Fokker C.X in military service, the Finnish Air Force FK-111 target tower, crashes, killing the pilot and winch-operator.
- 1960Avianca Flight 671 crashes and burns upon landing at Montego Bay, Jamaica, killing 37. It is the worst air disaster in Jamaica’s history and the first for Avianca.
- 1960Little Joe 1B, a Mercury spacecraft, lifts off from Wallops Island, Virginia with Miss Sam, a female rhesus monkey on board.
- 1966New Year’s Day in Chinese calendar. Start of the year of the Fire Horse in Chinese astrology.
- 1968A 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.
- 1968Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh – One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins.
- 1971The current Emley Moor transmitting station, the tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, begins transmitting UHF broadcasts.
- 1976Commercial service of Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.
- 1977President Jimmy Carter pardons nearly all American Vietnam War draft evaders, some of whom had emigrated to Canada.
- 1981Production of the iconic DeLorean DMC-12 sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland.
- 1985The inauguration of President Ronald Reagan to a second term, already postponed a day because January 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.
- 1997Newt Gingrich becomes the first leader of the United States House of Representatives to be internally disciplined for ethical misconduct.
- 1999War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 4300 kg of cocaine on board.
- 2000Ecuador: 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.
- 2003A 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes the Mexican state of Colima, killing 29 and leaving approximately 10,000 people homeless.
- 2004NASA’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.
- 2005In Belmopan, Belize, the unrest over the government’s new taxes erupts into riots.
- 2008Black 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 14%.
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Who Were Born On January 21?
- 1338King Charles V of France (d. 1380)
- 1610Elizabeth Fones, English-born colonial American pioneer (d. 1673)
- 1721James Murray, British military officer, governor of Quebec (d. 1794)
- 1804Eliza Roxcy Snow, American poet (d. 1887)
- 1813John C. Frémont, American army officer, explorer and presidential candidate (d. 1890)
- 1815John Bingham, American politician and lawyer (d. 1900)
- 1824Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, American, Confederate army general (d. 1863)
- 1825Imre Madách, Hungarian writer (d. 1864)
- 1827Ivan Mikheevich Pervushin, Russian mathematician (d. 1900)
- 1829King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway (d. 1907)
- 1848Henri Duparc, French composer (d. 1933)
- 1860Karl Staaff, Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1915)
- 1864Paul Troje, German politician (d. 1942)
- 1867Ludwig Thoma, German writer (d. 1921)
- 1867Maxime Weygand, French general (d. 1965)
- 1881Arch McCarthy, American baseball player (d. unknown)
- 1882Pavel Florensky (O.S. January 9), Russian Orthodox theologian and mathematician (d. 1937)
- 1883Amang Rodriguez, Filipino politician (d. 1964)
- 1883Olav Aukrust, Norwegian poet (d. 1929)
- 1884Roger Baldwin, American social activist (d. 1981)
- 1885Umberto Nobile, Italian aeronautical engineer (d. 1978)
- 1887Georges Vézina, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1926)
- 1887Maude Farris-Luse, American supercentenarian who was the oldest living person at the age of 115. (d. 2002)
- 1895Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish couturier (d. 1972)
- 1897René Iché, French sculptor (d. 1954)
- 1899Alexander Tcherepnin, Russian born American composer (d. 1977)
- 1901Ricardo Zamora, Spanish footballer (d. 1978)
- 1905Christian Dior, French fashion designer (d. 1957)
- 1905Karl Wallenda, German acrobat (d. 1978)
- 1906Igor Moiseyev, Russian choreographer (d. 2007)
- 1909Todor Skalovski, Macedonian composer (d. 2004)
- 1910Albert Rosellini, American politician and 15th Governor of Washington (d. 2011)
- 1910Eua Sunthornsanan, Thai composer and bandleader (d. 1981)
- 1912Konrad Emil Bloch, German-born biochemist, Nobel laureate (d. 2000)
- 1918Chichay, Filipino actress (d. 1993)
- 1918Richard D. Winters, American war hero (d. 2011)
- 1919Eric “Winkle” Brown, Scottish test pilot
- 1921Howard Unruh, American mass murderer (d. 2009)
- 1922Paul Scofield, English actor (d. 2008)
- 1922Telly Savalas, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1923Lola Flores, Spanish singer (d. 1995)
- 1924Benny Hill, English actor, comedian, and singer (d. 1992)
- 1926Brian Brockless, English organist (d. 1995)
- 1926Steve Reeves, American actor (d. 2000)
- 1927Clive Churchill, Australian rugby league footballer (d. 1985)
- 1928Gene Sharp, American political theorist and pacifist
- 1932John Chaney, American basketball coach
- 1933Joseph W. Eschbach, American doctor (d. 2007)
- 1934Audrey Dalton, Irish actress
- 1935Ann Wedgeworth, American actress
- 1936Koji Hashimoto, Japanese film director (d. 2005)
- 1936Plácido Domingo, Spanish tenor
- 1937Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria
- 1938John Savident, British actor
- 1938Wolfman Jack, American disk jockey and actor (d. 1995)
- 1940Jack Nicklaus, American golfer
- 1941Ivan Putski, Polish-born American professional wrestler
- 1941Mike Medavoy, American film producer
- 1941Richie Havens, American musician
- 1941Stathis Giallelis, Greek actor
- 1942Edwin Starr, American singer (d. 2003)
- 1942Mac Davis, American musician
- 1943Dimitris Poulikakos, Greek actor, songwriter and singer
- 1945Martin Shaw, British actor
- 1946Johnny Oates, American baseball player and manager (d. 2004)
- 1947Jill Eikenberry, American actress
- 1947Michel Jonasz, French singer and composer
- 1947Pye Hastings, English singer and musician (Caravan)
- 1950Billy Ocean, West Indian musician
- 1950Gary Locke, American politician, 21st Governor of Washington, and 36th United States Secretary of Commerce
- 1951Eric Holder, American jurist, and 82nd United States Attorney General
- 1952Cyril and Libbye Hellier, identical-twin sopranos
- 1952Louis Menand, American writer and critic
- 1952Marco Camenisch, Swiss environmental activist
- 1953Paul Allen, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Microsoft
- 1954Idrissa Ouedraogo, Burkinabé filmmaker
- 1954Phil Thompson, English footballer and coach
- 1955Jeff Koons, American artist
- 1956Geena Davis, American actress
- 1956Robby Benson, American actor
- 1957Greg Ryan, American soccer coach
- 1958Frank Ticheli, American composer
- 1958Michael Wincott, Canadian actor
- 1959Alex McLeish, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1962Marie Trintignant, French actress (d. 2003)
- 1962Tyler Cowen, American economist
- 1963Detlef Schrempf, German basketball player
- 1963Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigerian-born American basketball player
- 1965Jam Master Jay, American disc jockey (d. 2002)
- 1966Candi Milo, American voice actress
- 1966Robert Del Naja, English musician
- 1967Artashes Minasian, Armenian chess Grandmaster
- 1968Charlotte Ross, American actress
- 1968Ulrica Messing, Swedish politician
- 1969Eduard Hämäläinen, Finnish-Belarusian decathlete
- 1969Karina Lombard, American actress
- 1969M. K. Hobson, American speculative fiction and fantasy writer
- 1969Tsubaki Nekoi, Japanese manga artist
- 1970Ken Leung, American actor
- 1970Mark Trojanowski, American musician (Sister Hazel)
- 1971Alan McManus, Scottish snooker player
- 1971Doug Weight, American ice hockey player
- 1971Tweet, American singer
- 1972Alan Benes, American baseball player
- 1972Cat Power (Chan Marshall), American musician
- 1972Rick Falkvinge, Swedish politician
- 1972Yasunori Mitsuda, Japanese composer
- 1973Duane Lee Chapman, II, American bounty hunter
- 1974Alex Sperafico, Brazilian racing driver
- 1974Rove McManus, Australian television host and comedian
- 1975Ito, Spanish footballer
- 1975Nicky Butt, English footballer
- 1975Thomas Castaignede, French rugby player
- 1975Yuji Ide, Japanese racing driver
- 1976Emma Bunton, English singer (Spice Girls)
- 1977Al Baxter, Australian rugby union footballer
- 1977Jerry Trainor, American comedic actor (iCarly)
- 1977Matt Perry, English rugby player
- 1977Phil Neville, English footballer
- 1978Andrei Zyuzin, Russian ice hockey player
- 1978Bryan Gilmore, National Football League player
- 1978Faris al-Sultan, German-Iraqi triathlete
- 1978Phil Stacey, American Idol finalist
- 1978Tamir “Nokio” Ruffin, American singer
- 1979Brian O'Driscoll, Irish rugby union footballer
- 1979Byung-Hyun Kim, Korean baseball player
- 1979Spider Loc, American rapper, member of G-Unit
- 1980Dave Kitson, English footballer
- 1980Mari Possa, Salvadorian-American pornographic actress
- 1980Nana Mizuki, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1981Andy Lee, Korean singer (Shinhwa)
- 1981Dany Heatley, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981Gillian Chung Yan-tung, Hong Kong singer (Twins)
- 1981Ivan Ergić, Serbian footballer
- 1981Izabella Miko, Polish actress and model
- 1981Jamie Dalrymple, English cricketer
- 1982Dean Whitehead, English footballer
- 1982Go Shiozaki, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1982Nicolas Mahut, French tennis player
- 1982Simon Rolfes, German footballer
- 1983Alex Acker, American basketball player
- 1983Maryse Ouellet, Canadian model and professional wrestler
- 1983Moritz Volz, German footballer
- 1983Peter Philipakos, American/Greek soccer player
- 1984Raymond Gutierrez, Filipino actor and television host
- 1984Richard Gutierrez, Filipino actor and television host
- 1984Robert Ray, American baseball player
- 1985Adrian Lewis, English darts player
- 1985Alex Pérez, Spanish footballer
- 1985Matt Unicomb, Australian basketball player
- 1985Salvatore Giunta, Medal of Honor recipient
- 1985Sasha Pivovarova, Russian model
- 1986Peyton Hillis, American football player
- 1986Sushant Singh Rajput, Indian actor
- 1987Joe Ledley, Welsh footballer
- 1988Vanessa Hessler, Italian model
- 1988William C. Woxlin, Swedish composer
- 1990Jacob Smith, American actor
- 1994BooBoo Stewart, American actor and singer
- 1994Laura Robson, British tennis player
- 2001Jackson Brundage, American actor
- 2004Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway
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Who Died On January 21?
- 304Saint Agnes (martyred) (b. 291)
- 917Erchanger, Duke of Swabia (b. c. 880)
- 1118Pope Paschal II
- 1519Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Spanish explorer (b. 1475)
- 1527Juan de Grijalva, Spanish conquistador (b. c. 1489)
- 1546Azai Sukemasa, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1491)
- 1609Joseph Justus Scaliger, French Protestant scholar (b. 1540)
- 1638Ignazio Donati, Italian composer (b. c. 1570)
- 1683Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, British politician (b. 1621)
- 1699Obadiah Walker, English writer (b. 1616)
- 1706Adrien Baillet, French scholar and critic (b. 1649)
- 1710Johann Georg Gichtel, German mystic (b. 1638)
- 1722Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, English supporter of William III of England (b. 1661)
- 1731Ignjat Đurđević, baroque poet and translator from the Republic of Ragusa (b. 1675)
- 1731Thomas Woolston, English theologian (b. 1669)
- 1766James Quin, English actor (b. 1693)
- 1773Alexis Piron, French writer (b. 1689)
- 1774Mustafa III, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1717)
- 1775Yemelyan Pugachev, Russian rebel
- 1793King Louis XVI of France (executed) (b. 1754)
- 1795Samuel Wallis, English navigator (b. 1728)
- 1809Josiah Hornblower, American statesman (b. 1729)
- 1814Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, French writer and botanist (b. 1737)
- 1823Cayetano José Rodríguez, Argentine cleric, journalist and poet (b. 1761)
- 1831Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet (b. 1781)
- 1851Albert Lortzing, German composer (b. 1801)
- 1862Božena Němcová, Czech writer (b. 1820)
- 1870Alexander Herzen, Russian writer (b. 1812)
- 1872Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer (b. 1791)
- 1881Wilhelm Matthias Naeff, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1802)
- 1891Calixa Lavallée, Canadian composer (b. 1842)
- 1901Elisha Gray, American inventor (b. 1835)
- 1914Theodor Kittelsen, Norwegian artist (b. 1857)
- 1919Gojong of Joseon, Emperor of Korea (b. 1852)
- 1924Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary (b. 1870)
- 1926Camillo Golgi, Italian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1843)
- 1928George Goethals, American army engineer (b. 1858)
- 1931Felix Blumenfeld, Russian composer (b. 1863)
- 1932Giles Lytton Strachey, British writer (b. 1880)
- 1933George A. Moore, Irish novelist (b. 1852)
- 1937Marie Prevost, Canadian actress (b. 1898)
- 1938Georges Méliès, French filmmaker and innovator (b. 1861)
- 1948Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (b. 1876)
- 1950George Orwell, British writer (b. 1903)
- 1955Archie Hahn, American athlete (b. 1880)
- 1956Sam Langford, Canadian boxer (b. 1883)
- 1959Carl Switzer, American actor (b. 1927)
- 1959Cecil B. DeMille, American director (b. 1881)
- 1961Blaise Cendrars, Swiss writer (b. 1887)
- 1967Ann Sheridan, American actress (b. 1915)
- 1968Will Lang Jr., American magazine executive (b. 1914)
- 1977Sandro Penna, Italian poet (b. 1906)
- 1978Freda Utley, British scholar and author. (b. 1898)
- 1984Giannis Skaribas, Greek writer, dramatist, and poet (b. 1893)
- 1984Jackie Wilson, American musician (b. 1934)
- 1985Eddie Graham, American professional wrestler and promoter (b. 1930)
- 1985James Beard, American chef and author (b. 1903)
- 1987Charles Goodell, American politician (b. 1926)
- 1989Billy Tipton, American musician (b. 1914)
- 1989Carl Furillo, American baseball player (b. 1922)
- 1993Charlie Gehringer, American baseball player (b. 1903)
- 1994Bassel al-Assad, son of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad (b. 1962)
- 1996René Marc Jalbert, sergeant-at-Arms at the National Assembly of Quebec (b. 1921)
- 1997Colonel Tom Parker, American manager of Elvis Presley (b. 1909)
- 1998Jack Lord, American actor (b. 1920)
- 1999Charles Brown, American blues singer and pianist (b. 1920)
- 1999Susan Strasberg, American actress (b. 1938)
- 2001Byron De La Beckwith, American white supremacist (b. 1921)
- 2002Peggy Lee, American singer (b. 1920)
- 2003Paul Haines, American-born Canadian poet (b. 1933)
- 2004Yordan Radichkov, Bulgarian writer (b. 1929)
- 2005John L. Hess, American journalist (b. 1917)
- 2005Theun de Vries, Dutch writer (b. 1907)
- 2006Bedanand Jha, Nepalese politician
- 2006Ibrahim Rugova, President of Kosovo (b. 1944)
- 2007Maria Cioncan, Romanian athlete (b. 1977)
- 2007U;Nee, Korean pop artist (b. 1981)
- 2008Kenneth Parnell, American convicted sex offender (b. 1931)
- 2008Marie Smith Jones, last native speaker of the Eyak language (b. 1918)
- 2008Pam Barrett, Canadian politician (b. 1953)
- 2009Veatrice Rice, American television personality (b. 1949)
- 2010Paul Quarrington, Canadian novelist, playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, musician and educator (b. 1953)
- 2011Dennis Oppenheim, American conceptual artist (b. 1938)
- 2011E. V. V. Satyanarayana, Indian film director and producer (b. 1958)
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