Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 345 days remaining (346 in leap years). In astrology, it is the cusp day, between Aquarius and Capricorn. Table of contents 1 Events 2 Births 3 Deaths 4 Holidays and observances Events 1156 - According to legend, freeholder Lalli slays English crusader Bishop Henry with an axe on the ice of the lake Köyliönjärvi in Finland. 1265 - In Westminster, the first English parliament conducts its first meeting. 1320 - Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland 1356 - Edward Balliol resigns as King of Scotland 1513 - Christian II becomes King of Denmark and Norway 1667 - Poland cedes Kiev, Smolensk, and eastern Ukraine to Russia 1801 - John Marshall is appointed Chief Justice of the United States. 1839 - In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeats a Peruvian and Bolivian alliance. 1840 - Dumont D'Urville discovers Adélie Land, Antarctica 1840 - Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands 1885 - L.A. Thompson patents the roller coaster. 1887 - The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base. 1891 - James Hogg becomes the first native Texan to be governor of that state. 1892 - At the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, the first official basketball game is played. 1921 - Republic of Turkey is declared 1929 - The movie In Old Arizona was released. The film was the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors. 1936 - Edward VIII becomes King of the United Kingdom 1937 - Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States. 1941 - Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated for a third term as President of the United States, becoming the only President to be elected to three terms. 1942 - World War II: Nazis at the Wannsee conference in Berlin decide the "final solution to the Jewish problem" is relocation. 1944 - World War II: The Royal Air Force drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin. 1945 - Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated for a fourth term as President of the United States, becoming the only President to be elected to four terms. 1949 - Harry S. Truman is re-inaugurated as the 33rd President of the United States. 1952 - Edgar Faure becomes Prime Minister of France 1953 - Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated as the 34th President of the United States. 1954 - The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations. 1957 - Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States. 1958 - Elvis Presley receives his draft notice 1961 - John F. Kennedy is inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States. 1964 - Meet the Beatles, the first Beatles album in the United States, is released 1965 - Lyndon B. Johnson is re-inaugurated as the 36th President of the United States. 1969 - The first pulsar is discovered, in the Crab Nebula 1969 - Richard M. Nixon is inaugurated as the 37th President of the United States. 1973 - Supreme Court legalizes abortion in the decision Roe v. Wade 1973 - Richard M. Nixon is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States. 1975 - Michael Ovitz founds Creative Artists Agency 1977 - Jimmy Carter is inaugurated as the 39th President of the United States 1981 - Ronald W. Reagan is inaugurated as the 40th President of the United States and becomes the oldest to take office (69 years and 349 days). 1981 - Iran releases 52 American hostages that were captive for 444 days minutes after Ronald Reagan becomes president. 1985 - Super Bowl XIX becomes the most watched game in history when an estimated 115.9 million people see the San Francisco 49ers beat the Miami Dolphins, 38-16. This game also was the first time television commercials ran for a million dollars a minute. 1985 - Ronald W. Reagan is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States. 1986 - Martin Luther King, Jr, day was celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time. 1986 - The United Kingdom and France announce plans to construct the Channel Tunnel. 1989 - George H. W. Bush is inaugurated as the 41st President of the United States. 1993 - Bill Clinton is inaugurated as the 42nd President of the United States. 1994 - In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female student to attend The Citadel but soon drops out. 1996 - Yasser Arafat is elected president of the Palestinian Authority. 1997 - Bill Clinton starts his second term as President of the United States. 1999 - The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use aimed especially at Internet bars. 2001 - George W. Bush is inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States. 2002 - Michael Jordan, now of the Washington Wizards, plays his first game in Chicago since rejoining the NBA. The Wizards beat the Chicago Bulls, 77-69. 2002 - Inauguration of Churches Uniting in Christ Births 225 - Gordian III, Roman emperor 1812 - Thomas Meik, engineer († 1896) 1856 - Harriot Eaton Stanton Blatch, women's rights activist († 1940) 1878 - Ruth St. Denis, dancer († 1968) 1894 - Walter Piston, composer 1895 - George Burns, actor, comedian († 1996) 1902 - Nazim Hikmet, lyricist and dramatist († 1963) 1907 - Paula Wessley, actress († 2000) 1915 - C. W. Ceram, author († 1972) 1918 - Esquivel, musician († 2002) 1920 - Federico Fellini, film director († 1993) 1920 - DeForest Kelly, actor († 1999) 1920 - John O'Connor, Cardinal of New York City († 2000) 1921 - Bernt Engelmann, author († 1994) 1925 - Ernesto Cardenal, theologian, author and politician 1926 - Patricia Neal, actress 1926 - David Tudor, pianist and composer († 1996) 1930 - Buzz Aldrin, astronaut 1940 - Carol Heiss, Olympic figure skating gold medalist 1946 - David Lynch, film director 1949 - Göran Persson, Prime Minister of Sweden 1952 - Paul Stanley, musician, of the rock band KISS 1956 - Bill Maher, actor, comedian, political analyst 1958 - Lorenzo Lamas, actor 1969 - Skeet Ulrich, actor Deaths 1156 - Bishop Henry, patron saint of Finland 1779 - David Garrick, actor 1848 - Christian VIII of Denmark 1850 - Adam Oehlenschlager, Danish poet 1904 - Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev, Russian chemist and inventor of the Periodic table 1936 - King George V of the United Kingdom 1944 - James McKeen Cattell, first professor of Psychology in U.S. 1962 - Robinson Jeffers, poet 1965 - Alan Freed, disk jockey 1971 - Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, actor, director, writer, producer 1984 - Johnny Weissmuller, Olympic swimming gold medalist, actor 1993 - Audrey Hepburn, actress 1990 - Barbara Stanwyck, actress 1996 - Gerry Mulligan, musician 1997 - Curt Flood, baseball star Holidays and observances Presidential Inauguration Day in the United States See Also: January 19 - January 21 - December 20 - February 20 -- listing of all days January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.