On This Day in History - January 21st - Almanac

Today is Sunday, Jan. 21, the 21st day of 2018 with 344 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include soldier and Vermont folk hero Ethan Allen in 1738; explorer and historian John Fremont in 1813; Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in 1824; Roger Nash Baldwin, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, in 1884; French fashion designer Christian Dior in 1905; German high-wire walker Karl Wallenda in 1905; actor Telly Savalas in 1922; actor Paul Scofield in 1922; British comedian Benny Hill in 1924; disc jockey Robert "Wolfman Jack" Smith in 1938; golfer Jack Nicklaus in 1940 (age 78); opera star Placido Domingo in 1941 (age 77); folk musician Richie Havens in 1941; singer Mac Davis in 1942 (age 76); singer Edwin Starr in 1942; actor Jill Eikenberry in 1947 (age 71); singer Billy Ocean in 1950 (age 68); former U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke in 1950 (age 68); former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in 1951 (age 67); Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 1953 (age 65); actor Robby Benson in 1956 (age 62); actor Geena Davis in 1956 (age 62); basketball Hall of Fame member Hakeem Olajuwon in 1963 (age 55); singer Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton in 1976 (age 42); actor Booboo Stewart in 1994 (age 24).

On this date in history:

In 1793, French King Louis XVI was executed in Paris, ending more than a thousand years of continuous French monarchy.

In 1861, Mississippi Sen. Jefferson Davis resigned from the U.S. Senate, 12 days before Mississippi seceded from the Union. He later became president of the Confederate States of America.

In 1915, the English steamer Durward, traveling from Leith to Rotterdam, was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine near the mouth of the Meuse. The crew was rescued by a Dutch pilot boat and landed at the Hook.

In 1924, Vladimir Lenin, architect of the Bolshevik Revolution and the first leader of the Soviet Union, died of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 54.

In 1949, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek headed for exile, resigning his position as president of Nationalist China to clear the way for negotiations with the Chinese Communists to end China's three-year civil war.

In 1954, the world's first atomic-powered submarine, the Nautilus, was launched at Groton, Conn.

In 1976, the supersonic Concorde airplane was put into service by Britain and France.

In 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter pardoned American Vietnam War-era draft evaders and ordered a case-by-case study of deserters.

In 1990, U.S. tennis star John McEnroe became the first player to be disqualified from the Australian Open after an outburst in which he broke his racquet, yelled at a linesman and erupted into a string of curses.

In 1996, an overloaded ferry, the Gurita, capsized during a storm off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, killing 340 people.

In 1997, the full U.S. House of Representatives voted 395-28 to reprimand Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., for violating House rules and misleading congressional investigators looking into his possible misuse of tax-exempt donations for political purposes.

In 1998, Pope John Paul II arrived in Havana for his first visit to Cuba.

In 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau said Hispanics had moved past African Americans as the largest minority group in the United States.

In 2009, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., won near-unanimous Senate confirmation as U.S. secretary of state.

In 2009, Toyota overtook General Motors in annual sales to become the largest automaker on the planet.

In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a far-reaching and controversial 5-4 decision, ruled that the government cannot restrict the spending of corporations and unions for political campaigns.

In 2012, signaling what observers believed to be a new political era in Egypt, Islamist parties won 47 percent of the seats in parliamentary elections.

In 2014, a report from three former war-crimes prosecutors said they found evidence of widespread killings and torture by forces of the government of Syria. The report, which included thousands of photographs apparently smuggled out of the war-torn country, told of killings that were "systematic, ordered and directed from above."

In 2017, millions of people gathered in worldwide for the "Women's March" protesting the election of President Donald Trump, who was inaugurated the day before. Up to 500,000 attended the Washington, D.C. event.

A thought for the day: "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." -- Henry David Thoreau