January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 345 days remaining (346 in leap years).
- 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.
- 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 becomes 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
- 1856 - Harriot Eaton Stanton Blatch[?], women's rights activist (+ 1940)
- 1878 - Ruth St. Denis[?], dancer (+ 1968)
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
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