21 January

Events 1189 - Philip II of France and Richard I of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade.1276 - Innocent V becomes Pope.1287 - The treaty of San Agayz is signed. Minorca is conquered by King Alfons III of Aragon. 1525 - The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union. 1643 - Abel Tasman discovers Tonga.1720 - Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm.1789 - The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth, is printed in Boston, Massachusetts.1793 - After being found guilty of treason by the French Convention, Louis XVI of France is guillotined.1861 - American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.1864 - The Tauranga Campaign starts during the Maori Wars.1887 - The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is formed.1887 - Brisbane receives a daily rainfall of 465 millimetres (18.3 inches), a record for any Australian capital city.1899 - Opel manufactured its first automobile .1907 - The Kenora Thistles win the Stanley Cup, representing the smallest town (Kenora, Ontario) ever to win ice hockey's ultimate prize, or any major North American sports title.1908 - New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor.1911 - The first Monte Carlo Rally.1915 - Kiwanis International founded in Detroit, Michigan.1919 - Meeting of the First Dáil Éireann in the Mansion House Dublin, Sinn Féin adopts Ireland's first constitution. The first engagement of Irish War of Independence, Sologhead Beg, County Tipperary.1921 - The Italian Communist Party is founded at Livorno.1924 - Vladimir Lenin dies and Joseph Stalin begins to purge his rivals to clear way for his leadership.1925 - Albania declares itself a republic.1927 - First live radio commentary of a football (soccer) match anywhere in the world- Arsenal vs. Sunderland at Highbury. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.1941 - World War II: Australian and British forces attack Tobruk, Libya.1950 - Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.1954 - The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, then the First Lady of the United States.1958 - The last Fokker C.X in military service, the Finnish Air Force FK-111 target tower, crashed, killing the pilot and winch-operator.1968 - Simon & Garfunkel release the Original Soundtrack to The Graduate, which tops the pop charts and brings Simon a Grammy for Best Original Score.1968 - Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh - One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins.1969 - An experimental underground nuclear reactor at Lucens Vad, Switzerland, released radiation into a cavern, which was then sealed.1972 - Tripura becomes a full- fledged state in India.1976 - Commercial service of Concorde begins with London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.1977 - President Jimmy Carter pardons nearly all American Vietnam War draft evaders, some of whom had emigrated to Canada.1985 - Because January 20 had fallen on a Sunday, Ronald Reagan's public inaugural ceremony (for his second term as President) was moved to Monday, January 21. Due to bad weather, the ceremony was held indoors in the United States Capital Rotunda.[1]1997 - Newt Gingrich becomes the first leader of the United States House of Representatives to be internally disciplined for ethical misconduct.1999 - War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 9,500 pounds (4,300 kg) of cocaine on board.2001 - The first comic of El Goonish Shive is posted.2002 - Canadian Dollar sets all-time low against the US Dollar (US$0.6179).2004 - Canada: The residence of reporter Juliet O'Neill is searched by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) investigating leaks concerning the deportation of Maher Arar.2004 - NASA's MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies with Flash Memory management and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6.2005 - In Belize's capital city, the unrest over the government's new taxes erupts into riots.
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