Historical Events on Tuesday, 20th January

20/01/2025

Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States of America. He is currently the oldest person ever inaugurated.

Donald John Trump is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.

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20/01/2021

Joe Biden is inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States of America. At the time of his inauguration, he became the oldest person ever inaugurated. Kamala Harris became the first female and first non-white Vice President of the United States.

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Delaware in the United States Senate from 1973 to 2009 and also served as the 47th vice president under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017.

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20/01/2018

A group of four or five gunmen attack The Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, sparking a 12-hour battle. The attack kills 40 people and injures many others.

On 20 January 2018, a group of four or five gunmen attacked the Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, sparking a 12-hour battle. The attack left 40 people dead including 14 foreigners, while 14 others were injured.

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Syrian civil war: The Government of Turkey announces the initiation of the Afrin offensive and begins shelling Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) positions in Afrin Region.

The Syrian civil war was an armed conflict that began with the Syrian revolution in March 2011, when popular discontent with the Ba'athist regime ruled by Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring. The Assad regime responded to the protests with lethal force, which led to a series of defections, the emergence of armed opposition groups, and the civilian uprising descending into a civil war. The war lasted almost 14 years and culminated in the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. Many sources regard this as the end of the civil war. Post-war clashes and disputes have continued into 2026.

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20/01/2017

Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States of America.

Donald John Trump is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.

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20/01/2009

Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, becoming the first African-American President of the United States.

Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.

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A protest movement in Iceland culminates as the 2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests start.

Iceland is a Nordic island country between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Europe and North America. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the region's westernmost and most sparsely populated country. Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which is home to about 35% of the country's roughly 395,000 residents. The official language of the country is Icelandic. Iceland is on a rift between tectonic plates, and its geologic activity includes geysers and frequent volcanic eruptions. The interior consists of a volcanic plateau with sand and lava fields, mountains and glaciers, and many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate, despite being at a latitude just south of the Arctic Circle. Its latitude and marine influence keep summers chilly, and most of its islands have a polar climate.

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20/01/2001

President of the Philippines Joseph Estrada is ousted in a nonviolent four-day revolution, and is succeeded by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

President of the Philippines is the title of the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

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20/01/1992

Air Inter Flight 148, an Airbus A320-111, crashes into a mountain near Strasbourg, France, killing 87 of the 96 people on board.

Air Inter Flight 148 was a scheduled passenger flight from Lyon-Saint-Exupéry Airport to Strasbourg Airport in France. On 20 January 1992, the Airbus A320 operating the flight crashed into the slopes of the Vosges Mountains in Eastern France, near Mont Sainte-Odile, while on a non-precision approach to Strasbourg Airport. A total of 87 of the 96 people on board were killed, while the remaining 9 were all injured.

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20/01/1991

Sudan's government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country's Muslim north and Christian south.

Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the southeast, and South Sudan to the south. Sudan has a population of 51.8 million people as of 2025 and occupies 1,886,068 square kilometres, making it Africa's third-largest country by area. Sudan's capital and most populous city is Khartoum.

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20/01/1990

Protests in Azerbaijan, part of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Black January, also known as Black Saturday or the January Massacre, was a violent crackdown on Azerbaijani nationalism and anti-Soviet sentiment in Baku on 19–20 January 1990, as part of a state of emergency during the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

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20/01/1986

In the United States, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday in the United States observed on the third Monday of January each year. King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement, which protested legalized racial discrimination in federal and state law and civil society. The movement led to several groundbreaking legislative reforms in the United States.

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Leabua Jonathan, Prime Minister of Lesotho, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by General Justin Lekhanya.

Joseph Leabua Jonathan was the first prime minister of Lesotho. He succeeded Chief Sekhonyana Nehemia Maseribane following a by-election and held that post from 1965 to 1986.

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20/01/1981

Twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as the 40th President of the United States of America, Iran releases 52 American hostages.

Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. A member of the Republican Party, he became an important figure in the American conservative movement. The period encompassing his presidency is known as the Reagan era.

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20/01/1974

China gains control over all the Paracel Islands after a military engagement between the naval forces of China and South Vietnam.

The Paracel Islands archipelago, also known as the Hoàng Sa Archipelago and the Xisha Islands, are an archipelago in the South China Sea. Sovereignty of the archipelago and of individual features within it is disputed, with control since 1974 by the People's Republic of China.

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20/01/1973

Amílcar Cabral, leader of the independence movement in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, is assassinated in Conakry, Guinea.

Amílcar Lopes Cabral was a Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean agricultural engineer, political organizer, diplomat, and half-brother of Luís Cabral, the first President of Guinea-Bissau. He was widely remembered as one of Africa's foremost anti-colonial leaders. He was also a pan-Africanist and intellectual nationalist revolutionary poet.

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20/01/1972

Pakistan launches its nuclear weapons program, a few weeks after its defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War, as well as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

Pakistan is one of nine states that possess nuclear weapons. Pakistan is not party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Pakistan's arsenal is estimated at 170 nuclear weapons as of 2025. Pakistan carried out two nuclear tests, Chagai-I and Chagai-II, both in 1998 and underground.

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20/01/1961

John F. Kennedy is inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States of America, becoming the youngest man to be elected into that office, and the first Roman Catholic.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the youngest person elected president, at 43 years, and the first Catholic president. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his foreign policy concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A member of the Democratic Party, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in both houses of the United States Congress before his presidency.

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20/01/1954

In the United States, the National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.

The National Negro Network was a black-oriented radio programming service in the United States founded on January 20, 1954 by Chicago advertiser W. Leonard Evans, Jr. It was the first black-owned radio network in the country, and its programming was broadcast on up to 45 affiliates. An article in the trade publication Broadcasting said that the network was expected "to reach approximately 12 million of the 15 million Negroes in America."

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20/01/1953

Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated as the 34th President of the United States of America, becoming the first president to begin his presidency on January 20 since the 20th Amendment changed the dates of presidential terms.

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. A General of the Army, Eisenhower was the supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force. His successful leadership in Operation Torch (1942–1943) and Operation Overlord was pivotal to the Allied victory in World War II.

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20/01/1945

World War II: The provisional government of Béla Miklós in Hungary agrees to an armistice with the Allies.

Béla Miklós de Dálnok, Vitéz of Dálnok was a Hungarian military officer and politician who served as acting Prime Minister of Hungary, at first in opposition, and then officially, from 1944 to 1945. He was the last Prime Minister of war-time Hungary.

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World War II: Germany begins the evacuation of 1.8 million people from East Prussia, a task which will take nearly two months.

Nazi Germany, officially the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", referred to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and the German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945, after 12 years, when the Allies defeated Germany and entered the capital, Berlin, ending World War II in Europe.

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20/01/1942

World War II: At the Wannsee Conference held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, senior Nazi German officials discuss the implementation of the "Final Solution to the Jewish question".

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

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20/01/1941

A German officer is killed in Bucharest, Romania, sparking a rebellion and pogrom by the Iron Guard, killing 125 Jews and 30 soldiers.

Bucharest is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.71 million residents within a greater metropolitan area of 2.31 million residents, which makes Bucharest the 9th most-populous city by population within city limits in the European Union. The city has an area of 240 km2 (93 sq mi), while the metropolitan area covers 1,811 km2 (699 sq mi). The city proper is administratively known as the "Municipality of Bucharest", and has the same administrative level as that of a national county, being further subdivided into six sectors, each governed by a local mayor. Bucharest is a major cultural, political and economic hub, the country's seat of government, and the capital of the Muntenia region. It is an enclave completely surrounded by Ilfov County.

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20/01/1937

Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Nance Garner are sworn in for their second terms as U.S. President and U.S. Vice President; it is the first time a Presidential Inauguration takes place on January 20 since the 20th Amendment changed the dates of presidential terms.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president and the only one to have served more than two terms. His first two terms were centered on combating the Great Depression, while his third and fourth focused on US involvement in World War II. A member of the Democratic Party, Roosevelt served in the New York State Senate from 1911 to 1913 and as the 44th governor of New York from 1929 to 1932.

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20/01/1921

The British K-class submarine HMS K5 sinks in the English Channel; all 56 on board die.

HMS K5 was one of the K-class submarines that served in the Royal Navy from 1917–1921. She was lost with all hands when she sank en route to a mock battle in the Bay of Biscay.

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The first Constitution of Turkey is adopted, making fundamental changes in the source and exercise of sovereignty by consecrating the principle of national sovereignty.

The Constitution of 1921 was the fundamental law of Turkey for a brief period from 1921 to 1924. The first constitution of the modern Turkish state, it was ratified by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in January 1921. It was a simple document consisting of only 23 short articles. In October 1923 the constitution was amended to declare Turkey to be a republic. In April the following year the constitution was replaced by an entirely new document, the Constitution of 1924.

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20/01/1909

Newly formed automaker General Motors (GM) buys into the Oakland Motor Car Company, which later becomes GM's long-running Pontiac division.

General Motors Company (GM) is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing four automobile brands: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac, each a separate division of GM. By total sales, it has continuously been the largest automaker in the United States, and was the largest in the world for 77 years before losing the title to Toyota in 2008.

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20/01/1887

The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.

The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, and the U.S. House of Representatives is the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the Constitution to make and pass or defeat federal legislation.

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20/01/1877

The last day of the Constantinople Conference results in agreement for political reforms in the Balkans.

The 1876–77 Constantinople Conference of the Great Powers was held in Constantinople from 23 December 1876 until 20 January 1877. Following the beginning of the Herzegovinian Uprising in 1875 and the April Uprising in April 1876, the Great Powers agreed on a project for political reforms in Bosnia and in the Ottoman territories with a majority-Bulgarian population. The Ottoman Empire refused the proposed reforms, leading to the Russo-Turkish War a few months later.

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20/01/1874

The Treaty of Pangkor is signed between the British and Sultan Abdullah of Perak, paving the way for further British colonization of Malaya.

The Pangkor Treaty of 1874 was a treaty signed between Great Britain and the Sultan of Perak on 20 January 1874, on the Colonial Steamer Pluto, off the coast of Perak. The treaty is significant in the history of the Malay states as it legitimised British control of the Malay rulers and paved the way for British imperialism in Malaya. It was the result of a multi-day conference organised by Andrew Clarke, the Governor of the Straits Settlements, to solve two problems: the Larut War, and Sultanship in Perak.

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20/01/1841

Hong Kong Island is occupied by the British during the First Opium War.

Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, has a land area of approximately 78.59 square kilometres (30.34 sq mi) and a population of 1,289,500 with a population density of 16,390 per square kilometre (42,400/sq mi), as of 2023. It is the second largest island in Hong Kong, with the largest being Lantau Island. Hong Kong Island forms one of the three areas of Hong Kong, with the other two being Kowloon and the New Territories.

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20/01/1839

In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeats an alliance between Peru and Bolivia.

The Battle of Yungay was the final battle of the War of the Confederation, fought on January 20, 1839, near Yungay, Peru. The United Restoration Army, led by Chilean General Manuel Bulnes, consisting mainly of Chileans and 600 North Peruvian dissidents, attacked the Peru-Bolivian Confederation forces led by Andrés de Santa Cruz in northern Peru, 200 kilometers (120 mi) north of Lima.

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20/01/1788

The third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay, beginning the British colonization of Australia. Arthur Phillip decides that Port Jackson is a more suitable location for a colony.

The First Fleet were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy vessels, three storeships and six convict transports under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip. On 13 May 1787, the ships, with over 1,400 convicts, marines, sailors, colonial officials, and free settlers onboard, left Portsmouth and travelled over 24,000 kilometres and over 250 days before arriving in Botany Bay, New South Wales, on 18 January 1788. Governor Arthur Phillip rejected Botany Bay, choosing instead Port Jackson to the north as the site for the new colony; the Fleet arrived there on 26 January 1788. The Fleet established the Colony of New South Wales as a penal colony; the first British settlement in Australia.

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20/01/1785

Invading Siamese forces attempt to exploit the political chaos in Vietnam, but are ambushed and annihilated at the Mekong river by the Tây Sơn in the Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút.

The Rattanakosin Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Siam after 1855, refers to the Siamese kingdom between 1782 and 1932. It was founded in 1782 with the establishment of Rattanakosin (Bangkok), which replaced the city of Thonburi as the capital of Siam. This article covers the period until the Siamese revolution of 1932.

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20/01/1783

The Kingdom of Great Britain signs preliminary articles of peace with the Kingdom of France, setting the stage for the official end of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War later that year.

Great Britain, officially the Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in Western Europe from 1707 to the end of 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland to form a single kingdom encompassing the whole island of Great Britain and its outlying islands, with the exception of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The unitary state was governed by a single parliament at the Palace of Westminster, but the distinct legal systems—English law and Scots law—remained in use, as did distinct educational systems and religious institutions, namely the Church of England and the Church of Scotland remaining as the national churches of England and Scotland respectively.

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20/01/1726

J. S. Bach leads the first performance of his cantata Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen (My sighs, my tears), BWV 13, for the second Sunday after Epiphany.

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the orchestral Brandenburg Concertos; solo instrumental works such as the Cello Suites and Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the Schübler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and choral works such as the St. Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. He is known for his mastery of counterpoint, as heard in The Musical Offering and The Art of Fugue. Felix Mendelssohn precipitated the Bach Revival with a performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829. Ever since, Bach has been acclaimed as one of the greatest composers of classical music.

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20/01/1649

The High Court of Justice for the trial of Charles I begins its proceedings.

The trial of Charles I took place in January 1649, marking the first time a reigning monarch was tried and executed by his own subjects. Following years of conflict during the English Civil War, which pitted the Royalists loyal to Charles I against the Parliamentarians seeking to limit his powers, the king was captured by Parliamentary forces in 1646.

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20/01/1576

The Mexican city of León is founded by order of the viceroy Don Martín Enríquez de Almanza.

León, officially León de Los Aldama, is the most populous city and municipal seat of the municipality of León in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. In the 2020 census, INEGI reported 1,579,803 people living in the city of León and 1,721,215 in the municipality, making it the fourth-most populous city and third-most populous municipality in Mexico. The metropolitan area of León recorded a population of 2,140,094 in the 2020 state census, making it the seventh most populous metropolitan area in Mexico. León is part of the macroregion of the Bajío within the Mexican Plateau, located roughly in the center of the country.

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20/01/1567

Battle of Rio de Janeiro: Portuguese forces under the command of Estácio de Sá definitively drive the French out of Rio de Janeiro.

The Battle of Rio de Janeiro or the Battle of Guanabara Bay took place on 20 January 1567 at Rio de Janeiro that ended with the definitive defeat of the French. Specifically, the battle was an attack on the fortification of Uruçú-mirim. The Portuguese commander, Estácio de Sá, was hit by an arrow which perforated his eye, and died on 20 February.

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20/01/1523

Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway.

Christian II, a monarch under the Kalmar Union, reigned as King of Denmark and Norway from 1513 until 1523. He was briefly King of Sweden from 1520 until 1521. As king of Denmark and Norway, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig and Holstein in joint rule with his uncle Frederick.

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20/01/1401

The Taula de canvi (Catalan: "Table of change"), described as Europe's first-ever public bank, began operations inside Barcelona's Llotja de Mar.

The Taula de canvi of Barcelona, created in 1401 and still extant in diminished form in the 19th century, was a municipal bank in Barcelona that has been described as the first-ever central bank. A Taula de canvi, also Taula de cambi or simply Taula, was a type of municipal public bank that existed in the Crown of Aragon in the late Middle Ages and early modern period.

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20/01/1356

Edward Balliol surrenders his claim to the Scottish throne to Edward III in exchange for an English pension.

Edward Balliol or Edward de Balliol was a claimant to the Scottish throne during the Second War of Scottish Independence. With English help, he ruled parts of the kingdom from 1332 to 1356.

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20/01/1320

Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland.

Władysław I Łokietek, in English known as the "Elbow-high" or Ladislaus the Short, was King of Poland from 1320 to 1333, and duke of several of the provinces and principalities in the preceding years. He was a member of the royal Piast dynasty, the son of Duke Casimir I of Kuyavia, and great-grandson of High-Duke Casimir II the Just.

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20/01/1265

The first English parliament to include not only Lords but also representatives of the major towns holds its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster, now commonly known as the "Houses of Parliament".

Simon de Montfort's Parliament was an English parliament held from 20 January 1265 until mid-March of the same year, called by Simon de Montfort, a baronial rebel leader.

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20/01/1156

Finnish peasant Lalli kills English clergyman Henry, the Bishop of Turku, on the ice of Lake Köyliö.

Lalli is an apocryphal character from Finnish history and one of the most well-known figures in Finnish medieval legend. According to tradition, he was a prosperous yeoman farmer who killed Bishop Henry, who was spreading Christianity to then pagan Finland, on the ice of lake Köyliönjärvi on 20 January in the late 1150s.

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20/01/0250

Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.

Pope Fabian was the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church from 10 January 236 until his death on 20 January 250, succeeding Anterus. A dove is said to have descended on his head to mark him as the Holy Spirit's unexpected choice to become the next pope. He was succeeded by Cornelius.

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