On This Day in History - January 20th - Almanac

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 20, the 20th day of 2016 with 346 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Venus, Mars and Saturn. Evening stars are Jupiter and Uranus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include Harold Gray, creator of the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie," in 1894; comedian George Burns in 1896; Greek businessman Aristotle Onassis in 1906; Austrian naturalist Joy Adamson in 1910; Italian film director Federico Fellini in 1920; actor DeForest Kelley in 1920; country singer Ottis "Slim" Whitman in 1924; actor Patricia Neal in 1926; actor Tom Baker in 1934 (age 82); comic Arte Johnson in 1929 (age 87); astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the moon, in 1930 (age 86); director David Lynch in 1946 (age 70); singer-musician Paul Stanley (Kiss) in 1952 (age 64); TV host Bill Maher in 1956 (age 60); actor Lorenzo Lamas in 1958 (age 58); former Major League Baseball manager and player Ozzie Guillen in 1964 (age 52).

On this date in history:

In 1265, Britain's House of Commons, which became a model for parliamentary bodies, met for the first time.

In 1783, U.S. and British representatives signed a preliminary "Cessation of Hostilities," which ended the fighting in the Revolutionary War.

In 1801, John Marshall was appointed chief justice of the United States.

In 1892, the first officially recognized basketball game was played at the YMCA gym in Springfield, Mass.

In 1936, Edward Albert, Prince of Wales, was formally proclaimed King Edward VIII.

In 1945, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the only president to be elected to four terms in office, was inaugurated to his final term. ( FDR died three months later and was succeeded by Harry S. Truman.)

In 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy began his presidency with inauguration ceremonies on the newly renovated east front of the Capitol.

In 1981, 52 American hostages were released by Iran after 444 days in captivity.

In 1991, Iraq launched missile attacks on Saudi Arabia and paraded on television what Iraqi officials identified as seven captured allied airmen, including three Americans.

In 1993, Oscar-winning actress Audrey Hepburn died of cancer at her home in Switzerland. She was 63.

In 1996, Yasser Arafat was elected president of the Palestinian Authority with 88 percent of the vote.

In 2006, Lawrence Franklin, a former U.S. State Department analyst and Iran expert, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for passing classified information to Israel and two pro-Israeli lobbyists. (The sentence was later reduced to probation and 10 months of home confinement.)

In 2007, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., became the first former first lady to seek the U.S. presidency when she entered the race for the 2008 Democratic nomination.

In 2009, Barack Obama was sworn in as the United States' 44th president and the nation's first African-American chief executive.

In 2010, senior Hamas Commander Mahmoud al-Mabbouh was assassinated in his hotel room while on a visit to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

In 2011, U.S. and local law officers arrested more than 100 suspected mobsters among seven families in New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island on a variety of charges, including murder, racketeering and extortion.

In 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters joined presidential aides, veterans and others at the non-profit D.C. Central Kitchen on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to help prepare meals for shelters in the Washington area.

A thought for the day: "Children must be taught how to think, not what to think." -- Margaret Mead