UPI Almanac for Monday, Jan. 20, 2025

Today is Monday, Jan. 20, the 20th day of 2025 with 345 to follow.

This is Inauguration Day in the United States.

This is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include physicist Andre-Marie Ampere in 1775; comic creator Harold Gray in 1894; comedian George Burns in 1896; businessman Aristotle Onassis in 1906; filmmaker Federico Fellini in 1920; actor DeForest Kelley in 1920; actor Patricia Neal in 1926; comedian Arte Johnson in 1929; astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin in 1930 (age 95); actor Tom Baker in 1934 (age 91); musician Eric Stewart (Mindbenders) in 1945 (age 80); filmmaker David Lynch in 1946; musician Paul Stanley (Kiss) in 1952 (age 73); musician Ian Hill (Judas Priest) in 1952 (age 73); TV personality Bill Maher in 1956 (age 69); actor Lorenzo Lamas in 1958 (age 67); actor James Denton in 1963 (age 62); Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame member Ozzie Guillén in 1964 (age 61); musician Greg K. (Offspring) in 1965 (age 60); actor Rainn Wilson in 1966 (age 59); actor/TV personality Stacey Dash in 1967 (age 58); actor Reno Wilson in 1969 (age 56); musician Edwin McCain in 1970 (age 55); actor Skeet Ulrich in 1970 (age 55); musician/filmmaker Questlove (Roots) in 1971 (age 54); musician Gary Barlow (Take That) in 1971 (age 54); musician Sid Wilson (Slipknot) in 1977 (age 48); musician Rob Bourdon (Linkin Park) in 1979 (age 46); musician Brantley Gilbert in 1985 (age 40); actor Evan Peters in 1987 (age 38).

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 1778, James Cook became the first European to step foot on the Hawaiian Islands. He called them the Sandwich Islands.

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 1937, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt took the oath of office for his second term as president. It was the first Inauguration Day held on January 20, a result of the 20th Amendment.

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 1981, Ronald Reagan took the oath of office to become the 40th president of the United States.

In 1989, George H.W. Bush took the oath of office to become the 41st president of the United States.

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 1993, Bill Clinton took the oath of office to become the 42nd president of the United States.

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

In 2001, George W. Bush took the oath of office to become the 43rd president of the United States.

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 Black chief executive.

In 2010, senior Hamas Commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh 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 2017, Donald Trump took the oath of office to become the 45th president of the United States, the first person to hold the title without prior military or political experience.

In 2021, Joe Biden took the oath of office to become the 46th president of the United States, while Kamala Harris became the first woman to be sworn in as vice president.

In 2024, protests erupted across Germany with about 250,000 demonstrating against the far-right Alternative for Germany party's plans for widespread deportations.

A thought for the day: "There is probably no thrill in life to compare with that of turning the key in one's first house or apartment." -- American writer Belle Livingstone