21st January, on this day

1077 German King Heinrich IV petitions Pope Gregory VII for forgiveness
1118 Pope Paschal II ends reign as pope.
1189 Philip II, Henry II and Richard Lion-Heart initiate 3rd Crusade
1276 Pierre de Tarantaise elected Pope Innocent V
1522 Head inquisitor Adrian Florisz Boeyens elected pope
1542 Parliament passes bill of attainder against Queen Catherine Howard
1604 Tsar Ivan IV defeats the False Dmitri, who claims to be the true tsar
1605 Battle of Dobrynichi
1664 Count Miklós of Zrinyi sets out to battle Turkish invasion army
1677 1st medical publication in America (pamphlet on smallpox), Boston
1732 Russia and Persia sign Treaty of Riascha
1789 1st American novel, WH Brown's "The Power of Sympathy", is published
1793 In Paris, Louis XVI of France is guillotined after being found guilty of treason
1793 Prussia and Russia sign partition treaty (Poland divided)
1799 Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccination is introduced
1818 Keats writes his poem "On a Lock of Milton's Hair"
1827 Freedom Journal, 1st Black paper, begins publishing
1830 Portsmouth (Ohio) blacks forcibly deported
1846 1st edition of Charles Dickens' "Daily News"
1853 Envelope-folding machine patented by Russell Hawes, Worcester MA
1861 Jefferson Davis of Mississippi and 4 other southern senators resign
1863 City of Dublin leases part of Cattle Market for 100,000 years
1879 1,200 British troops are massacred at Islandwana during the Zulu War
1879 Henrik Ibsen's "Et Dukkehjem" premieres in Copenhagen
1880 1st US sewage disposal system separate from storm drains, Memphis TN
1903 "Wizard of Oz" premieres in New York City NY
1908 New York City, NY regulation makes it illegal for a woman to smoke in public
1910 British-Russian military intervention in Persia
1911 Start of first Monte Carlo Rally. Finishes 7 days later - won by French driver Henri Rougier
1913 Aristide Briand forms French government
1919 Sinn Fein proclaims parliament of Free Ireland
1922 1st slalom ski race run, Mürren, Switzerland
1925 Albanian parliament announces itself a republic; Ahmed Zogoe President
1926 Belgian parliament accepts Locarno treaties
1932 USSR and Finland stop non-attack treaty
1935 Snowdonia in Wales becomes Britain's first National Park
1940 A U-boat sinks British destroyer HMS Exmouth a crew of 135 are all lost.
1941 1st commercial extraction of magnesium from seawater, Freeport TX
1941 1st anti-Jewish measures in Bulgaria
1941 Australia and Britain attack Tobruk Libya
1941 British communist newspaper "Daily Worker" banned
1942 Bronx magistrate rules all pinball machines illegal
1942 In Britain, the BBC broadcasts the first 'Desert Island Discs' programme"
1942 Japanese air raid on Rabaul,New Britain
1942 Japanese bomb Singapore as their troops approach the city.
1942 Tito's partisans occupy Foca
1943 Soviet forces reconquer Gumrak airport near Stalingrad
1943 Soviet forces reconquer Worosjilowsk
1943 Vice-Admiral Cunningham appointed British Admiral of fleet
1944 447 German bombers attack London
1944 649 British bombers attack Magdeburg
1945 British troops land on Ramree, near coast of Burma
1949 1st inaugural parade televised (Harry Truman)
1951 The United States stages its first Atomic bomb tests in Nevadan
1952 Nehru's Congress party wins general election in India
1954 1st gas turbine automobile exhibited (New York City NY)
1954 1st atomic submarine, USS Nautilus, launched on Thames River, christened by First Lady Mamie Eisenhower
1960 Little Joe 4 suborbital Mercury test reaches 16 km
1960 Rock falls traps 437 at Coalbrook South Africa, 417 die of methane poisoning
1962 JFK arrives in Uruguay
1965 Persians premier Ali Mansoer injured
1966 Beatle George Harrison marries model Patti Boyd
1968 US B-52 bombers with nuclear bomb crashes in Greenland
1971 "Alias Smith and Jones" premieres on ABC TV
1972 Assam's North East Frontier Agency becomes Arunachal Pradesh territory
1972 Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura become separate states of Indian union
1972 Mizoram, formerly part of Assam, creates an Indian union territory
1972 Belgium government of Eyskens-Cools forms
1976 A British and a French 'Concorde' make simultaneous maiden flights - from London to Bahrain and from Paris to Rio De Janeiro
1977 President Jimmy Carter pardons almost all Vietnam War draft evaders
1977 Italy legalizes abortion
1978 Bee Gees' "Saturday Night Fever" album goes number 1 for 24 weeks
1979 Neptune becomes outermost planet (Pluto moves closer)
1983 Reagan certifies El Salvador human-rights abuses have decreased making country eligible for US military aid
1985 Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 the plane crashed about 1.5 miles from the end of the runway killing 70 on board
1985 Bomb attack on Borobudur temple in Java
1986 Bomb attack in East-Beirut, 27 killed
1987 Archbishop's envoy Terry Waite disappears in Lebanon
1987 BB King donates his 7,000 record collection to University of Mississippi
1988 US accept immigration of 30,000 US-Vietnamese children
1990 John McEnroe becomes the 1st ever expelled from the Australian Open for throwing a tantrum and swearing at an official
1991 CBS News correspondent Bob Simon captured by Iraqis in Persian Gulf
1993 Nigerian singer Fela Kuti arrested on suspicion of murder
1994 Lorena Bobbitt found temporarily insane for chopping off spouse's penis
1996 British couple Steve Nicholson and Caroline Harrison are among those who survive 18 hours in shark-infested waters after a ferry sinks off the coast of Indonesia. More than 200 passengers are killed in the accident
1998 Pope John Paul II visits Cuba
1998 In America, a newspaper reports that a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, claims to have an affair with President Bill Clinton
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.
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.

21st January 2006

'Bird flu secrecy' angers Turkey

Great Russian freeze spreads west

Clashes erupt on Nepal's streets

21st January 2007

Troops in as bombs strike Baghdad

Libya to axe public sector staff

Quake strikes off Indonesia coast

21st January 2008

Global shares tumble on US fears

Bomber strikes at Iraqi funeral

New violence hits Kenya

21st January 2009

Obama pledges 'era of openness'

Protesters pelt Iceland PM's car

GM loses top sales spot to Toyota

21st January 2010

Obama pushes bank regulation

Haiti to relocate 400,000 homeless

Karzai's Taliban peace scheme

Birthdates which occurred on 21st January :

1338 Charles V (the Wise) king of France (1364-80)
1571 John I Pontanus physicist/historian (Amsterdam)
1659 Adriaen van der Werff Dutch portrait painter/engraver/architect
1735 Johann Gottfried Eckard composer
1743 John Fitch inventor (had a working steamboat years before Fulton)
1746 Johann H Pestalozzi Zurich Switzerland, educator (Leonard & Gertrude)
1751 Josephus Andreas Fodor composer
1759 Johan Valckenaer Dutch politician/patriot
1762 Giuseppe Antonio Silvani composer
1771 Arnold A Buyskes Dutch Vice-Admiral/colonial director
1775 Manuel Garcia composer
1792 Tsjalling Hiddes Halbertsma Fries story teller (Rhymes & Tales)
1796 John Gelinde van Blom Frisian notary/author
1801 Ramon Vilanova y Barrera composer
1813 John C Frémont [Pathfinder], map maker/explorer (western US)/Governor (AZ)
1814 Thomas Attwood Walmisley composer
1815 Horace Wells dentist (pioneered use of medical anesthesia)
1821 John Cabell Breckinridge (D) 14th US Vice Pressident (1857-61)/Major-General (Confederacy)
1823 Alexandre Edouard Goria composer
1824 Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson Lieutenant-General 2nd Corps (ANV, Confederacy)
1829 Oscar II Frederik King of Sweden (1872-1907)/Norway (-1905)/poet
1833 Norman Willis union leader (Britain's Trades Union Congress)
1840 Sophia Louisa Jex-Blake pioneer English woman physician
1848 Henri Duparc French composer
1855 John M Browning US, weapons manufacturer
1859 Antoni Wincenty Rutkowski composer
1865 Heinrich E Albers-Schönberg German röntgenologist
1867 James Marcus actor (Eagle, Little Lord Fauntleroy, Lone Avenger)
1867 Maxime Weygand French General/Governor-General (Algeria)
1867 Willem C Royaards Dutch theater director (Summer Games)
1872 Jonkhr Frans Beelaerts van Blokland Dutch foreign minister
1875 John Lindworsky German jesuit/psychologist (Der Wille)
1875 Paul E Kahle Germany, professor of oriental studies
1878 Egon Friedell Austria, journalist/actor/writer (Der Partylowe)
1883 Olav Aukrust Norway, poet
1884 Katie Sandwina Germany, legendary woman weight-lifter
1884 Roger Nash Baldwin founder (American Civil Liberties Union)
1885 Umberto Nobile Italian General
1886 Gustaaf Sap Belgian minister of Finance/Economy
1887 Alfred Henry Ackley composer
1887 Wolfgang Köhler German/US Gestalt psychologist (Mentality of Apes)
1889 Bert Collins cricketer (Aussie batsman in the post WWI years)
1889 Pitirim A Sorokin Russian/US sociologist (Social mobility)
1891 Francisco Lazaro Portuguese runner
1891 Nikolay Semyonovich Golovanov composer
1891 Timothy Mather Spelman composer
1897 J Carrol Naish New York City NY, actor (Charlie Chan-Adventures of Charlie Chan)
1898 John George Syria, actor (Kolb-Adventures of Fu Manchu)
1898 Avery Claflin composer
1904 Richard P Blackmur Massachusetts, critic/poet (Anni Mirabiles, Good European)
1904 Joseph Ford McGuinn Brooklyn NY, actor (Dick Tracy's G-Men)
1905 Christian Dior Normandy France, fashion designer (long-skirted look)
1906 Fred Fehl Austrian/US Broadway photographer
1906 John Putz journalist
1908 Bengt Strömgren Göteborg Sweden, astrophysicist (studied gas cloud)
1909 Todor Skalovski composer
1910 Patsy Kelly Brooklyn NY, actress (Cowboy & the Lady)
1910 Lord Cayzer British financier/Schweppes magnate/multi-millionaire
1911 Stanley William Reed cineaste
1912 Konrad Bloch Germany, biochemist (studied cholesterol-Nobel 1964)
1915 Alan Hewitt New York City NY, actor (Detective Brennan-My Favorite Martian)
1917 Rohan Butler historian
1918 Geoffrey Dawes physiologist
1919 Jinx Falkenburg Barcelona Spain, actress (Masquerade Party)
1920 Donald Cuthbert Coleman economic historian
1920 Errol Walton Barrow PM of Barbados (DLP) (1966-76, 1986-87)
1920 Torsten Nilsson composer
1921 Barney Clark 1st to receive a permanent artificial heart
1921 John Doucette Brockton MA, actor (Lock Up, Big Town)
1921 Todor Popov composer
1922 Jean P Vroom Dutch sculptor
1922 Paul Scofield Hurst England, actor (Man for All Seasons, Train)
1923 Judith Merril [Josephine Juliet Grossman], sci-fi writer
1924 Benny Hill Southampton England, comedian (Benny Hill Show)
1924 Telly [Aristotle] Savalas Garden City Long Island NY, actor (Acapulco, Kojak)
1925 Lola Flores Cadiz Spain, singer/actress (Kuma Ching, Faraona)
1925 Oswald "Ossie" Stevens Nock railway writer
1926 Paul Burke New Orleans LA, actor (Neal-Dynasty)
1926 Franco Evangelisti Italian composer
1926 Raf Reymen Flemish actor
1926 Steve Reeves Glasgow MT, actor (Hercules, Hercules Unchained)
1930 Valentin Ignatyevich Filatyev Russia, cosmonaut
1932 Boris Shakhlin Russia, gymnast (Olympics-gold-1956-60-64)
1933 Itzhak Fuks Israeli El Al captain, crashed in Amsterdam
1933 William Wrigley III chewing gum mogul (Wrigleys)
1935 Ann Wedgeworth Abilene TX, actress (Tiger's Tale, Men's Club, Bogie)
1939 Mary Ellen McAnally Illinois, poet (Dance of the Zygotes)
1939 Wolfman Jack [Bob Smith], Brooklyn NY, DJ (Midnight Special)
1940 Jack Nicklaus Columbus OH, golfer (Player of Year 1967,72,73,75,76)
1940 Marquis of Tavistock English large landowner/multi-millionaire
1941 Placido Domingo Madrid Spain, opera tenor (Pinkerton-Madame Butterfly)
1941 Richie Havens Brooklyn NY, folk singer (Here Comes the Sun)
1941 Edwin Starr [Charles Hatcher], US singer (War)
1942 Mac Davis Lubbock TX, singer/actor (Mac Davis Show, North Dallas 40)
1944 John Kenneth Tavener composer
1944 Neely Bruce composer
1945 Andrew Stein president of NYC council (D)
1945 Chris Britton rocker (Troggs-Rock & Roll Goldmine)
1946 Vincent Placoly Martinique, writer (L'eau-de-mort guildive)
1947 Jill Eikenberry New Haven CT, actress (Ann Kelsey-LA Law, Manhattan Project)
1947 Jimmy Ibbotson Penn, country singer (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)
1950 Billy Ocean [Leslie S Charles], Trinidad, singer (Suddenly, Caribbean Queen)
1950 Joseph R Tanner Danville IL, astronaut (STS 66, 82, sk 97)
1950 Richie Ranno rocker
1953 Fausto Bara Mexico, actor (Gaucho-Renegades)
1955 Peter Fleming New Jersey, tennis player (US Open Doubles 1979, 81, 83)
1955 Robby Benson Dallas TX, actor (One on One, Running Brave, ChosenIce Castles, Beauty and the Beast)
1956 Bob Brill New York City NY, drummer (Berlin-You Take My Breath Away)
1957 Geena (Virginia) Davis Wareham MA, actress (Beetlejuice, The Fly)
1957 Jacob Green NFL defensive end (Seattle Seahawk)
1957 Shaukat Dukanwala cricketer (Baroda off-spinner, UAE World Cup 1996)
1958 Miguel Alejandro New York City NY, actor (Popi)
1961 Sherry Ramsay Stauton VA, actress (Trish Mason-As the World Turns)
1961 Gabrielle Carteris Phoenix AZ, actress (Andrea-Beverly Hills 90210)
1963 Cindy Schreyer Forest Park GA, LPGA golfer (1993 Sun-Times Challenge)
1963 Detlef Schrempf Germany, NBA forward (Mavericks, Pacers, Supersonics)
1963 Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon Nigeria, NBA center (Rockets, Olympics-gold-96)
1963 Jessie Hester NFL player (St Louis Rams)
1965 Brian Bradley Kitchener, NHL center (Tampa Bay Lightning)
1965 Cordell Crockett rocker (Ugly Kid Joe-Mad Man, Too Bad)
1965 Eric Moore NFL tackle (Cleveland Browns)
1965 Tania Abitbol Madrid Spain, LPGA golfer (1994 US Women's Open-4th)
1966 Chris Hammond US baseball pitcher (Florida Marlins)
1966 Katrine Michaelsen Gentokte Denmark, Miss Denmark (1984)
1967 Ulf Stenlund Sweden, tennis star
1968 Charlotte Ross Chicago, actress (Eve-Days of Our Lives)
1968 Tom Urbani Santa Cruz CA, pitcher (St Louis Cardinals, Detroit Tigers)
1969 Ashley Sheppard NFL linebacker (Jacksonville Jaguars)
1969 Matt Willig NFL tackle/guard (Atlanta Falcons, New York Jets)
1969 Rusty Greer Fort Rucker AL, outfielder (Texas Rangers)
1969 Ted Long CFL slot back (Hamilton Tiger Cats)
1970 Brennan Little St Thomas Ontario, golfer (1994 Western States mini-tour)
1970 Ian Salisbury cricketer (Sussex & England leg-spinner 1992-96)
1971 Doug Edwards NBA forward (Vancouver Grizzlies)
1971 Doug Weight Warren MI, NHL center (Edmonton Oilers, Team USA 98)
1971 Tommy Puett Gary IN, actor (Tyler-Life Goes On, America's Top 10)
1972 Alan Benes Evansville IN, pitcher (St Louis Cardinals)
1972 Howard Nathan NBA guard (Atlanta Hawks)
1972 Shelley Looney ice hockey forward (USA, Olympics-98)
1973 Bubba Miller corner (Philadelphia Eagles)
1973 Grady Jackson defensive tackle (Oakland Raiders)
1973 Jamal Cox WLAF linebacker (Rhein Fire)
1974 Jerald Sowell fullback (New York Jets)
1974 Jerry Wunsch tackle (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
1974 Orpheus Roye defensive end (Pittsburgh Steelers)
1975 Anette Oldenborg Miss Denmark-Universe (1996)
1975 Faghma Absalom Miss Namibia-Universe (1996)
1975 Willem Korsten Dutch soccer player (Vitesse)
1976 Amanda Little Miss Texas-USA (1997, top 6)
1976 Emma Lee Bunton "Baby Spice", Finchley London, vocalist (Spice Girls)
1976 Lynn Thomas Newport News VA, playmate (May 1997)
1979 Kelly Gaudet Miss Florida Teen-USA (1996)
1980 Aubrie Rippner Los Angeles CA, tennis star (1995 USTA National Girls 18)

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Deaths which occurred on January 21st:
0879 Boudouin with the Iron Arm Earl of Flanders, dies
1118 Paschalis II [Raniero], pope (1099-1118), dies
1596 John Ligarius German theologist/prime minister, dies at 66
1609 Joseph Justus Scaliger French inventor of "Julian Period", dies at 68
1626 John Dowland English musician/lyric poet (In Darkness We Dwell), dies at about 63
1665 Domenico Mazzocchi composer, dies at 72
1665 Pierre de Fermat French mathematician (Fermat theorem), dies at 63
1670 Honorat de Brueil seigneur de Racan French playwright, dies at 80
1683 Anthony Ashley Cooper 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, dies at 61
1686 Nicolas-François Blondel French architect, dies
1704 Willem B Schepers Dutch merchant/ship owner, dies at about 83
1746 Gottfried Kirkhoff composer, dies at 60
1774 Mustapha III sultan of Turkey (1957-74), dies at 56
1793 Louis XVI French king (1774-93), beheaded by revolutionaries at 38
1815 M Claudius writer, dies at 74
1831 Achim vs Arnim writer, dies at 49
1851 Gustav Albert Lortzing composer, dies at 49
1862 Bozena Nemcová [Barnora Panklová], Czechoslovakian author, dies at 41
1871 John J Rochussen Governor-General of Netherlands-Indies (1845-51), dies at 73
1872 Franz Grillparzer Austrian playwright (Sappho/Libussa), dies at 81
1882 Anton Emil Titl composer, dies at 72
1883 Jacopo Tomadini composer, dies at 62
1884 Auguste Franchomme composer, dies at 75
1888 Stephan Hale Alonzo Marsh composer, dies at 83
1891 Calixa Lavallee composer, dies at 48
1892 John Couch Adams English co-discoverer of Neptune, dies
1894 Guillaume Jean Joseph Nicolas Lekeu composer, dies at 24
1903 Hermanus J A M Schaepman Dutch clergyman/politician, dies at 58
1924 Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin Russian leader, dies of a stroke at 54
1926 Camillo Golgi Italian medical research (malaria, Nobel 1906), dies at 81
1927 Floris H Verster Dutch painter/cartoonist/etcher, dies at 65
1931 Felix Blumenfeld composer, dies at 67
1932 [Giles] Lytton Strachey British biographer/critic, dies at 51
1942 Henryk Opienski Polish composer/musicologist/conductor, dies at 72
1943 Otakar Sini composer, dies at 61
1944 Gustaaf DFL Schamelhout Flemish physician/writer, dies at 74
1944 Heinrich zu Sayn-Wittgenstein German major/pilot, shot down
1948 Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari composer, dies at 72
1950 George Orwell [Eric Arthur Blair] author (Animal Farm, 1984), dies from tuberculosis in London at 46
1954 Billy Jenkins dies at 69
1955 Maarten P Vrij Dutch lawyer/criminologist/High Council, dies at 59
1957 Arthur L Bowley English statistician/economist, dies at 87
1959 Cecil B[lount] de Mille producer (10 Commandments), dies at 77
1959 Lamar Stringfield composer, dies at 61
1961 Blaise Cendrars Swiss/French poet (J'ai tué), dies at 73
1961 John Joseph Becker composer, dies a day before 75th birthday
1962 André Lhote French painter/art historian, dies at 76
1963 Al St John actor (Law & Order, Devil Riders), dies at 70
1963 Franz Jung writer, dies at 74
1964 Joseph Schildkraut actor (Cleopatra, Diary of Anne Frank), dies at 68
1965 Harvey Zorbaugh doctor/TV host (Play the Game), dies at 68
1967 Ann Sheridan actress (Pistols 'n' Petticoats), dies of cancer at 51
1971 Richard B Russell (Senator-D-GA), dies at 73
1974 Jan Arends Dutch poet/author, dies at 48
1974 Ken Viljoen cricketer (played 27 Tests for South Africa 1930-47), dies
1974 Lewis L Strauss head US Atomic Energy Commission (1953-58), dies at 78
1975 Marie Lohr actress (Pygmalion, Small Hotel, Escapade), dies at 84
1977 John Vincent composer, dies at 74
1977 Zoltan Vasarhelyi composer, dies at 76
1981 Allyn Joslyn actor (They Won't Forget, Cafe Society), dies at 79
1984 Jackie Wilson US singer (I Get the Sweetest Feeling), dies at 49
1985 Barbara Cowsill rocker (Cowsills), dies of emphysema
1987 Pieter G Buckinx Flemish writer (7th Day), dies at 83
1988 Abraham Sofaer actor (Naked Jungle, Elephant Walk), dies
1991 Howard "Red" Grange football's galloping ghost, dies at 87
1991 Frank Mitchell actor (Music is Magic, Prairie Gunsmoke), dies
1991 Richard Bolling (Representative-D-MO)/US civil-rights leader, dies at 74
1992 William T "Champion Jack" Dupree US boxer/pianist, dies at 81
1994 Basel al-Assad Syrian President Assad's son, dies in car accident at 31
1995 Flavio "Negao" Pires da Conceicao drug Trafficker, dies at 25
1995 John Halas animator, dies at 82
1995 Philippe Casado Moroccan/French cyclist, dies at 30
1996 Roman Ciesiewicz artist/graphic designer, dies at 65
1996 Sam Green industrialist/inventor, dies at 88
1997 Colonel Tom Parker manager (Elvis Presley), dies at 87
1997 Dennis Main Wilson TV/radio producer, dies at 72
1997 Michael Duane educationalist, dies at 81


Golden Link 1/ On this day 21st January

Golden Link 2/ On this day 21st January

Golden Link 3/ On this day 21st January