On This Day in History - January 21st - Almanac

Today is Sunday, Jan. 21, the 21st day of 2024 with 345 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include soldier/Vermont folk hero Ethan Allen in 1738; explorer/historian John Fremont in 1813; Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in 1824; Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin in 1869; Roger Nash Baldwin, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, in 1884; blues musician Lead Belly, born Huddie William Ledbetter, in 1888; 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 84); opera star Placido Domingo in 1941 (age 83); folk musician Richie Havens in 1941; singer Mac Davis in 1942; singer Edwin Starr in 1942; actor Jill Eikenberry in 1947 (age 77); singer Billy Ocean in 1950 (age 74); former U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke in 1950 (age 74); former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in 1951 (age 73); Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 1953; artist Jeff Koons in 1955 (age 69); actor Robby Benson in 1956 (age 68); actor Geena Davis in 1956 (age 68); basketball Hall of Fame member Hakeem Olajuwon in 1963 (age 61); singer Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton in 1976 (age 48); actor Jerry Trainor in 1977 (age 47); actor Luke Grimes in 1984 (age 40); actor Nick Gehlfuss in 1985 (age 39).

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, resigned 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, in odd news, a Connecticut man obtained a divorce on grounds of desertion after concluding his wife wasn't coming back. She left 45 years before.

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 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. She took the oath of office later that day.

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 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 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.

In 2019, a private airplane carrying Argentine soccer star Emiliano Sala disappeared near the Channel Islands. Searchers recovered his body from the wreckage of the plane at the bottom of the English Channel in February.

In 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the United States' first known case of novel coronavirus -- what would later come to be known as COVID-19.

In 2021, Avril Haines was sworn in as the first female director of national intelligence one day after the Senate confirmed her nomination.

In 2023, a 72-year-old man opened fire at a ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park, Calif., killing 11 people and injuring another nine. Police found the gunman dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound the next day.

A thought for the day: "Music is the major form of communication. It's the commonest vibration, the people's news broadcast, especially for kids." -- American musician Richie Havens