© Copyright 2022 Day 2 Day History.

Historical Events

20 Jan 1156
According to legend freeholder Lalli slays English crusader Bishop Henry with an axe on the ice of Lake Kylinjrvi in Finland
20 Jan 1265
First English Parliament summoned other than by royal command (in this instance by Simon de Montfort Earl of Leicester) mets in Westminster Hall
20 Jan 1320
Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes King of Poland
20 Jan 1502
The present-day location of Rio de Janeiro is first explored
20 Jan 1503
Casa Contratacion (Board of Trade) found (Spain) to deal with American affairs
20 Jan 1513
Christian II succeeds Johan I as Danish and Norwegian king
20 Jan 1523
Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway.
20 Jan 1576
The Mexican city of Len is founded by order of viceroy Don Martn Enrquez de Almansa.
20 Jan 1613
Peace of Knarod ends War of Kalmar between Denmark & Sweden
20 Jan 1667
Treaty of Andrussovo ends 13 year war between Poland & Russia
20 Jan 1778
1st American military court martial trial begins in Cambridge Massachusetts
20 Jan 1781
1st edition of Pieter It Hoens Post of Neder-Rhijn published
20 Jan 1785
Samuel Ellis advertises to sell Oyster Island (Ellis Is) no takers
20 Jan 1788
Pioneer African Baptist church organizes in Savannah Georgia
20 Jan 1809
1st US geology book published by William Maclure
20 Jan 1839
Battle of Yungay Chile defeats a Peruvian and Bolivian alliance
20 Jan 1840
Dumont DUrville discovers Adlie Land Antarctica
20 Jan 1841
China cedes Hong Kong to the British during the 1st Opium War
20 Jan 1850
HMS Investigator headed by Robert McClure leaves England 1st expedition to make a Northwest passage (though some over ice)
20 Jan 1868
Florida constitutional convention meets in Tallahassee
20 Jan 1870
City of Boston vanishes at sea with all 177 aboard
20 Jan 1879
British troops under Lord Chelmsford make camp at Isandlwana
20 Jan 1883
Billy Barnes takes a hat-trick England v Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
20 Jan 1887
US Senate approves naval base lease of Pearl Harbor
20 Jan 1910
Ottawa Senators sweep Edmonton in 2 for Stanley Cup (2nd of )
20 Jan 1914
The first group of Transvaal Indian women satyagrahis are released from Pietermaritzburg Prison in South Africa after three months imprisonment
20 Jan 1921
British submarine HMS K5 (which was unusually equipped with steam turbines) sinks with 57 crew during exercises in the Bay of Biscay
20 Jan 1921
Mountain Autonomous Republic established in RSFSR
20 Jan 1921
Republic of Turkey declared out of remnants of Ottoman Empire
20 Jan 1922
Arthur Honeggers ballet Skating Rink premieres Paris
20 Jan 1925
The Soviet and Japan sign a convention resuming relations Russia agrees to limit revolutionary activity of the Third Communist International while Japan agrees to leave the Sakhalin
20 Jan 1929
1st feature talking motion picture taken outdoors In Old Arizona
20 Jan 1930
1st radio broadcast of Lone Ranger (WXYZ-Detroit)
20 Jan 1934
Japan sends Henry Pu Yi as regent to emperor of Manchuria
20 Jan 1937
-45F (-43C) Boca California (state record)
20 Jan 1937
1st US Presidential Inauguration day held on Jan 20th (previously March 4th)
20 Jan 1941
Bela Bartoks 6th string quartet premieres in NYC
20 Jan 1942
Nazi officials hold notorious Wannsee conference in Berlin to organise the final solution the extermination of Europes Jews
20 Jan 1943
Lead South Dakota temperature is 52F while 1.5 miles away Deadwood records -16F
20 Jan 1943
Operation Weiss German Italian Bulgarian & Croatian troops attempt to retake land liberated by Titos partisans
20 Jan 1945
The Hungarian Provisional Government concludes an armistice with the USSR US and Britain agree to pay reparations and to join the war against Germany
20 Jan 1946
F Gouin follows De Gaulle as temporary leader of French government
20 Jan 1947
Brigadier General Edwin K Wright USA becomes deputy director of CIA
20 Jan 1949
1st inaugural parade televised for Harry Truman watched by 10 million people
20 Jan 1950
Dance Me a Song opens at Royale Theater NYC for 35 performances
20 Jan 1950
Suriname becomes independent part in Realm of Netherlands
20 Jan 1950
NFL Draft Leon Hart from University of Notre Dame first pick by Detroit Lions
20 Jan 1952
British army occupies Ismailiya Suez Canal Zone
20 Jan 1953
1st US telecast transmitted to Canada from Buffalo New York
20 Jan 1954
-70F (-57C) Rogers Pass Montana (US 48 state record)
20 Jan 1954
The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
20 Jan 1957
Morton Goulds Declaration premieres in Washington D.C.
20 Jan 1958
KUED TV channel 7 in Salt Lake City UT (PBS) begins broadcasting
20 Jan 1958
A group attempting the 1st surface crossing of Antarctic join up at the South Pole
20 Jan 1959
Dmitri Shostakovichs Moscow-Tsjerjomoesjki premieres in Moscow
20 Jan 1960
Patrice Lumumba sentenced to 6 months in Belgian Congo
20 Jan 1961
Francis Poulencs Gloria premieres in Boston
20 Jan 1961
Yugoslav ex-vice-president Milovan Djilas flees
20 Jan 1961
The Democrat J.F. Kennedy is inaugurated as President of the United States the youngest ever sworn in
20 Jan 1962
Kean closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 92 performances
20 Jan 1965
The US Jet Propulsion Laboratory proposes modified Apollo flight to fly around Mars & return
20 Jan 1968
US female Figure Skating championship won by Peggy Fleming
20 Jan 1968
US male Figure Skating championship won by Tim Wood
20 Jan 1968
Houston Cougars defeat the UCLA Bruins 71-69 to win basketballs Game of the Century and end UCLAs 47 game winning streak
20 Jan 1969
U of Az reports 1st optical id of pulsar (in Crab Nebula)
20 Jan 1970
Super Fight computer mock championship between Ali & Marciano Marciano won.
20 Jan 1970
Cincinnatis Tom Van Arsdale and Phoenixs Dick Van Arsdale become first brothers to play in same NBA All-Star Game Dick scores 8 points for the West and Tom 5 for the East which won 142-135
20 Jan 1980
Super Bowl XIV Rose Bowl Pasadena Pittsburgh Steelers beat LA Rams 31-19 MVP Terry Bradshaw Pittsburgh QB
20 Jan 1981
Adm Stansfield Turner USN (Ret) ends term as 12th director of CIA
20 Jan 1981
Frank C. Carlucci ends his term as deputy director of CIA
20 Jan 1981
Islander Glenn Reschs 25th & last shut-out opponent-Flames 5-0
20 Jan 1982
Piet Dankert elected chairman of European Parliament
20 Jan 1984
US female Figure Skating championship won by Rosalynn Sumners
20 Jan 1985
Cold front strikes US at least 40 die (-27F (-33C) in Chicago)
20 Jan 1986
Chunnel announced (railroad tunnel under Channel)
20 Jan 1972
Six oil exporting countries conclude meetings with Western oil companies an agreement is reached to raise the price of crude
20 Jan 1972
Number of people out of work and claiming unemployment benefit in UK rises to over 1 million
20 Jan 1973
A car bomb explodes in Sackville Place Dublin Republic of Ireland killing 1 person and injuring 17 (no organisation claimed responsibility)
20 Jan 1974
24th NFL Pro Bowl Arrowhead Stadium KC Missouri AFC beats NFC 15-13 MVP Garo Yepremian Miami Dolphins PK
20 Jan 1974
7th ABA All-Star Game East 128 beats West 112 at Virginia
20 Jan 1974
Essex Comm College beats Englewood Cliffs 210-67 in basketball
20 Jan 1975
25th NFL Pro Bowl Miami Orange Bowl NFC beats AFC 17-10 MVP James Harris LA Rams QB
20 Jan 1976
29th NHL All-Star Game Spectrum Philadelphia Wales Conference beats Campbell Conference 7-5 MVP Peter Mahovlich Montreal C
20 Jan 1977
George H. W. Bush ends term as 11th director of CIA
20 Jan 1978
Columbia Pictures pays 9.5 million for movie rights to Annie
20 Jan 1980
US female Figure Skating championship won by Linda Fratianne
20 Jan 1980
US male Figure Skating championship won by Charles Tickner
20 Jan 1986
Military coup in Lesotho under major general Lekhanya & premier Leabua Jonathan
20 Jan 1987
Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite taken hostage in Beirut Lebanon by Islamic militia group
20 Jan 1987
Rhino Records 1st 1 Billy Vera & Beaters At This Moment
20 Jan 1987
UK Police crackdown on soccer hooligans in biggest operation against violence around football stadiums
20 Jan 1988
Andre Hoffman skates world record 1500m (152.06)
20 Jan 1988
Arizona committee opens hearing on impeachment of Gov Evan Mecham
20 Jan 1989
Wayne Holdsworth takes a wicket 1st ball in 1st-class cricket
20 Jan 1989
Reagan becomes 1st US President elected in a 0 year since 1840 to leave office alive
20 Jan 1990
US 64th manned space mission STS 32 (Columbia 10) returns from space
20 Jan 1990
Black January - crackdown of Azerbaijani pro-independence demonstrations by Soviet army in Baku
20 Jan 1991
Black & Blue closes at Minskoff Theater NYC after 829 performances
20 Jan 1991
Les Miserables opens at Pantages Theatre LA
20 Jan 1991
Peter Pan closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC or 45 performances
20 Jan 1991
Shogun - The Musical closes at Marquis Theater NYC after 72 performances
20 Jan 1991
US Patriot missiles begins shooting down Iraqi missiles
20 Jan 1991
Sudans government imposes Islamic law nationwide worsening the civil war between the countrys Muslim north and Christian south.
20 Jan 1991
AFC Championship Rich Stadium Orchard Park NY Buffalo Bills beat Los Angeles Raiders 51-3
20 Jan 1991
NFC Championship Candlestick Park SF New York Giants beat San Francisco 49ers 15-13
20 Jan 1992
Australia beat India 2-0 to win crickets World Series Cup David Boon scores the most runs in the series (432)
20 Jan 1992
Score begins selling international soccer cards
20 Jan 1993
Adm Studeman serves as acting director of CIA
20 Jan 1995
Love Valor Compassion opens at Walter Kerr NYC for 276 performances
20 Jan 1995
1994-95 NHL Season begin after a lengthy strike
20 Jan 1995
Russian ruble drops to 3947 per dollar (record)
20 Jan 1996
Australia defeat Sri Lanka 2-0 to win crickets World Series Cup
20 Jan 1996
WPAT FM NYC radio station switches to English-Spanish format
20 Jan 1997
Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in New Orleans LA on KKND 106.7 FM
20 Jan 1997
Pakistan defeat West Indies 2-0 to win Aust one-day Series
20 Jan 1997
2nd Critics Choice Movie Awards Fargo wins Best Film
20 Jan 1998
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducts Mama & Papas & Eagles
20 Jan 1998
Warner Brothers TV Network begins Tueday night programming
20 Jan 1998
3rd Critics Choice Movie Awards L.A. Confidential wins Best Film
20 Jan 1999
The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use aimed especially at Internet cafs.
20 Jan 2002
Photographs showing al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects shackled and masked are published by the United States military
20 Jan 2002
18th Sundance Film Festival Personal Velocity Three Portraits directed by Rebecca Miller wins Grand Jury Prize Dramatic
20 Jan 2007
Utah coach Jerry Sloan passes Larry Brown for 4th on the NBAs all-time win list (1010) after the Jazz beat the Chicago Bulls 95-85 at the United Center
20 Jan 2008
AFC Championship Gillette Stadium Foxborough New England Patriots beat San Diego Chargers 21-12
20 Jan 2008
NFC Championship Lambeau Field Green Bay New York Giants beat Green Bay Packers 23-20 (OT)
20 Jan 1910
Stanley Cup Deys Arena Ottawa ON Ottawa Senators outclass Edmonton HC 13-7 for a 2-0 sweep of challenge series
20 Jan 1939
LPGA Titleholders Championship Womens Golf Augusta CC Patty Berg wins 3rd straight title by 2 strokes ahead of Dorothy Kirby
20 Jan 1980
Super Bowl XIV Rose Bowl Pasadena CA Pittsburgh Steelers beat LA Rams 31-19 MVP Terry Bradshaw Pittsburgh QB
20 Jan 1785
Samuel Ellis advertises to sell Oyster Island (Ellis Island) no takers
20 Jan 1919
International Lawn Tennis Challenge Double Bay Sydney Gerald Patterson beats Algernon Kingscote 6-4 6-4 8-6 to retain title for Australasia over the Great Britain 3-1 ends 4-1
20 Jan 1975
Terrence McNallys play Ritz premieres in NYC
20 Jan 1977
George H. W. Bush ends his term as 11th director of CIA replaced by E. Henry Knoche as acting director
20 Jan 1992
Australia beat India 2-0 to win crickets World Series Cup Australian opener David Boon scores the most runs in the series (432)
20 Jan 1503
Casa de Contratacin (House of Trade) established by the Crown of Castile in the port of Seville to deal with American affairs
20 Jan 1991
Musical Peter Pan starring Cathy Rigby closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC or 45 performances
20 Jan 1997
French electronic dance duo Daft Punk release their album Homework
20 Jan 1920
Russian Imperial Navy Admiral Alexander Kolchak leader of anti-communist White Movement surrenders to Bolshevik troops
20 Jan 1954
-70F measured at Rogers Pass Montana (record low temperature in the contiguous US)
20 Jan 1964
Capitol Records releases Meet The Beatles album by the Beatles in US
20 Jan 1973
A car bomb explodes in Sackville Place Dublin Republic of Ireland killing 1 person and injuring 17 (no group claimed responsibility)
20 Jan 1991
Les Miserables opens at Pantages Theatre Los Angeles California
20 Jan 1991
Revival of Leigh Charlap Styne Comden and Greens musical Peter Pan starring Cathy Rigby closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC after 45 performances
20 Jan 1995
Love Valor Compassion opens at Walter Kerr NYC runs for 276 performances
20 Jan 1265
First English Parliament summoned other than by royal command in this instance by Simon de Montfort Earl of Leicester. Meets in Westminster Hall.
20 Jan 1841
China cedes Hong Kong to the British during the First Opium War
20 Jan 1921
Republic of Turkey declared out of remnants of the Ottoman Empire
20 Jan 1947
Nova Scotia Supreme Court rules against case of black woman Viola Desmond - ejected from a cinema seat in New Glasgow reserved for whites and arrested in landmark case (pardoned 2010) [1]
20 Jan 1957
Wadysaw Gomuka wins Polands parliamentary election
20 Jan 1991
Paul Chihara and John Drivers musical Shogun - The Musical based on James Clavells novel closes at Marquis Theater NYC after 72 performances
20 Jan 2001
US President Bill Clinton issues 140 executive pardons on his last day in office recipients include Marc Rich Susan McDougall Patty Hearst and his brother Roger
20 Jan 2005
Philip Glass Symphony No. 7 (Toltec) premieres with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
20 Jan 1635
Convention of Goa signed between Portugal and England ending their ongoing conflict in Asia and opening Portuguese ports including China to English trade [1]
20 Jan 1921
Republic of Turkey is declared from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire
20 Jan 1973
A car bomb explodes in Sackville Place Dublin Ireland killing 1 person and injuring 17 no group claims responsibility
20 Jan 1980
Super Bowl XIV Rose Bowl Pasadena California Pittsburgh Steelers beat Los Angeles Rams 31-19 MVP Terry Bradshaw Pittsburgh QB
20 Jan 1981
Frank C. Carlucci ends his term as deputy director of the CIA
20 Jan 1997
Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in New Orleans Louisiana on KKND 106.7 FM
20 Jan 2008
Frenchman Francis Joyon becomes the fastest person to sail solo around the world taking 57 days 13 hours and 34 minutes
20 Jan 2009
Joe Biden assumes the office of the Vice President of the United States
20 Jan 2013
Austria votes to maintain compulsory military service in a referendum
20 Jan 2014
Credit cards of at least 20 million South Koreans are hacked
20 Jan 2017
Car ploughs into pedestrians in central Melbourne killing 6 and injuring 27
20 Jan 2021
Dan Campbell is appointed head coach of the Detroit Lions
20 Jan 2021
US President Joe Biden signs 15 executive orders on his first day in office including US re-joining the WHO affirming the Paris Climate Agreement revoking the Keystone XL Pipeline mandating masks on federal properties and halting construction of the southern border wall [1]
20 Jan 2022
19-year-old aviator Zara Rutherford becomes the youngest woman to fly solo around the world landing at Kortrijk-Wevelgem Airport Belgium [1]
20 Jan 2024
Japan is the fifth nation to land a spacecraft on the Moon with its SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) using pinpoint landing technology [1]
20 Jan 2024
Large weekend protests begin across Germany against far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) after groups master plan for mass deportation of migrants revealed [1]
20 Jan 1045
Giovanni di Sabina is elected Pope Sylvester III
20 Jan 1265
First English Parliament is summoned without royal command in this instance by Simon de Montfort Earl of Leicester. It meets in Westminster Hall.
20 Jan 1781
First edition of Pieter t Hoens Patriot magazine De Post van den Neder-Rhijn (The Post of the Nether Rhine) is published
20 Jan 1809
First US geology book published by William Maclure
20 Jan 1840
Dumont dUrville discovers Adlie Land in Antarctica
20 Jan 1841
China cedes Hong Kong Island to Britain during the First Opium War
20 Jan 1922
Arthur Honeggers ballet Skating Rink premieres at the Thtre des Champs-lyses in Paris France
20 Jan 1929
First feature talking motion picture taken outdoors In Old Arizona
20 Jan 1939
Charles Ives 1st piano sonata Concord premieres
20 Jan 1941
Bla Bartks 6th String Quartet premieres in NYC
20 Jan 1949
First inaugural parade televised for Harry Truman watched by 10 million people
20 Jan 1952
The NBAs first superstar George Mikan scores a career high 61 points leading the Minneapolis Lakers to a 91-81 double-overtime victory over the Rochester Royals
20 Jan 1954
Dmitri Shostakovichs Concertino opus 94 premieres
20 Jan 1957
Morton Goulds orchestral work Declaration premieres in Washington D.C.
20 Jan 1968
Houston Cougars defeat the UCLA Bruins 71-69 to win basketballs Game of the Century and end UCLAs 47-game winning streak
20 Jan 1969
University of Arizona reports 1st optical identification of a pulsar found in Crab Nebula
20 Jan 1973
Richard Nixons second inauguration as President of the United States takes place in Washington D.C. Flags are flown at half-staff in mourning for former President Harry Truman.
20 Jan 1978
Columbia Pictures pays 9.5 million for the movie rights to Annie
20 Jan 1982
Future Hockey Hall of Fame center Darryl Sittler is traded by the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Rich Costello a 2nd round draft pick and future considerations
20 Jan 1989
George H. W. Bush inaugurated as 41st US President Dan Quayle becomes 44th Vice President
20 Jan 1989
Pittsburgh center Mario Lemieux becomes just the second player in NHL history to score 50 goals in less than 50 games 50 in 44th game as the Penguins lose 7-3 to the Jets in Winnipeg
20 Jan 2020
Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports first laboratory-confirmed case of COVID in the US from samples taken on January 18 in Washington state
20 Jan 2025
Chinese startup DeepSeek launches the AI model R1 with capabilities similar to other AI models but at a fraction of the cost prompting experts to call it a Sputnik moment [1]
20 Jan 2025
In the first day of his return to office President Donald Trump issues pardons to over 1500 of his supporters charged in connection with the attack on the US Capitol on January 6 2021 declares a national emergency at the southern border and withdraws the US from the World Health Organization and the Paris Agreement on Climate [1] [2]
20 Jan 2025
Republican Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States of America and JD Vance as the 50th Vice-President Trump is oldest person to take the office and joins Grover Cleveland as only the second elected to non-consecutive White House terms the event is held indoors due to inclement weather
20 Jan 2025
US President Donald Trump issues a executive order halting all foreign aid programs for 90 days with some exceptions for humanitarian aid [1]
20 Jan 2025
US President Donald Trump issues an executive order for Federal agencies to slash diversity equity and inclusion initiatives throughout the Federal government [1]
20 Jan 2026
Fourth shark attack in New South Wales Australia in less than 48 hours three adults and one child are injured [1] [2]