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
   * 1643 - Abel Tasman discovers Tonga
   * 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
   * 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 motor rally
   * 1915 - Kiwanis International founded in Detroit, Michigan
   * 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.
   * 1968 - Simon & Garfunkel release the Original Soundtrack to The
     Graduate, which quickly goes to #1 on the pop charts and which will
     bring Simon a Grammy for Best Original Score.
   * 1976 - The first commercial service Concorde flight took off.
   * 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.
   * 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 of cocaine aboard. The ship was headed to Houston,
     Texas.
   * 2003 - Kevin Mitnick is finally allowed to use a computer again.

Births

   * 1738 - Ethan Allen, American patriot (+ 1789)
   * 1824 - Thomas Stonewall Jackson, Confederate Army general
   * 1850 - Paul Vinzenz Busch, ringmaster (+ 1927)
   * 1855 - John Moses Browning, inventor (+ 1926)
   * 1867 - Ludwig Thoma, narrator, dramatist and lyricist (+ 1921)
   * 1867 - Maxime Weygand, French General
   * 1884 - Roger Baldwin, ACLU president, social activist (+ 1981)
   * 1885 - Umberto Nobile, politician and airship designer (+ 1978)
   * 1905 - Christian Dior, couturier (+ 1957)
   * 1922 - Paul Scofield, actor
   * 1924 - Telly Savalas, actor (+ 1994)
   * 1925 - Benny Hill, comedian, actor (+ 1992)
   * 1926 - Steve Reeves, actor (+ 2000)
   * 1939 - Wolfman Jack, disk jockey, actor (+ 1995)
   * 1941 - Richie Havens, musician
   * 1941 - Placido Domingo, opera singer
   * 1953 - Paul Allen, entrepreneur
   * 1956 - Geena Davis, actress
   * 1950 - Billy Ocean, musician

Deaths

   * 1519 - Vasco Nu–ez de Balboa, Spanish explorer
   * 1609 - Joseph Justus Scaliger, protestant scholar
   * 1793 - King Louis XVI of France, executed
   * 1891 - Calixa LavallŽe, composer
   * 1924 - Vladimir Lenin, first leader of the USSR
   * 1948 - Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, composer
   * 1950 - George Orwell, writer
   * 1959 - Cecil B. DeMille, director
   * 1961 - Blaise Cendrars, writer
   * 1997 - Colonel Tom Parker, celebrity manager
   * 1998 - Jack Lord, actor
   * 1999 - Susan Strasberg, actress
   * 2002 - Peggy Lee, singer

Holidays and observances

   * Catholicism - Feast day of Saint Agnes.