On this day for the United States
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January 20:
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Events
- 1801 – John Marshall is appointed the Chief Justice of the United States.
- 1887 – The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.
- 1920 – The American Civil Liberties Union is founded.
- 1929 – In Old Arizona, the first full-length talking motion picture filmed outdoors, is released.
- 1937 – Franklin Roosevelt is inaugurated for a second term as U.S. President. This is the first inauguration on January 20. The date was changed from March 4 by the 20th Amendment to the Constitution.
- 1941 – Franklin Roosevelt is the only President inaugurated for a third term.
- 1945 – Franklin Roosevelt's fourth and final inauguration is held at the White House due to wartime considerations.
- 1949 – Point Four Program a program for economic aid to poor countries announced by United States President Harry S. Truman in his inaugural address for a full term as President.
- 1953 – Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated as the first Republican President in twenty years.
- 1954 – The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
- 1961 – John F. Kennedy is inaugurated as the youngest elected and first Roman Catholic President of the U.S. His inaugural address is one of the most memorable of the 20th century.
- 1968 – The Houston Cougars defeat the UCLA Bruins 71-69 to win the Game of the Century.
- 1977 – Jimmy Carter is inaugurated as the 39th President of the United States. He is the last President inaugurated at the east front of the Capitol, which had been the traditional site for Presidential inaugurations since 1829.
- 1981 – Twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated, at age 69 the oldest man ever to be inaugurated as U.S. President, Iran releases 52 American hostages. It is the first Presidential inauguration to be held at the west front of the Capitol.
- 1986 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
- 2009 – Barack Obama inaugurated as the 44th and first African-American President of the United States.
Births
- 1732 – Richard Henry Lee, American statesman (d. 1794)
- 1798 – Anson Jones, 5th and last President of Texas (d. 1858)
- 1834 – George D. Robinson, 34th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
- 1837 – David Josiah Brewer, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1910)
- 1878 – Ruth St. Denis, American dancer (d. 1968)
- 1880 – Walter W. Bacon, American politician (d. 1962)
- 1889 – Allan Haines Loughead, American aviation executive (d. 1969)
- 1894 – Walter Piston, American composer (d. 1976)
- 1896 – George Burns, American actor, comedian (d. 1996)
- 1896 – Isabel Withers, American actress (d. 1968)
- 1902 – Leon Ames, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1908 – Fleur Cowles, American writer, editor and artist (d. 2009)
- 1911 – Wendell J. Westcott, American carillonneur (d. 2010)
- 1912 – Walter Briggs, Jr., American sports executive (d. 1970)
- 1913 – W. Cleon Skousen, American author (d. 2006)
- 1918 – Nevin S. Scrimshaw, American clinical
- 1920 – DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1920 – Frank Kush, American football player and coach
- 1922 – Ray Anthony, American trumpeter, bandleader and actor
- 1924 – Slim Whitman, American singer
- 1926 – Patricia Neal, American actress (d. 2010)
- 1926 – David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
- 1929 – Jimmy Cobb, American jazz drummer
- 1929 – Arte Johnson, American actor
- 1929 – Glenn Roberts, American race car driver (d. 1964)
- 1930 – Buzz Aldrin, American astronaut
- 1931 – David Lee, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate
- 1933 – Ron Townson, American singer (The 5th Dimension) (d. 2001)
- 1937 – Dorothy Provine, American singer, dancer and actress (d. 2010)
- 1939 – Paul Coverdell, American politician (d. 2000)
- 1940 – Carol Heiss, American figure skater
- 1942 – Linda Moulton Howe, American investigative journalist and documentary producer-writer-director-editor
- 1945 – Robert Olen Butler, American writer
- 1946 – David Lynch, American film director
- 1948 – Nancy Kress, American writer
- 1950 – Edward Hirsch. American poet
- 1952 – Paul Stanley, American musician (Kiss)
- 1954 – Ken Page, American cabaret singer and actor
- 1955 – Wyatt Knight, American actor
- 1956 – Bill Maher, American actor, comedian, and political analyst
- 1958 – Lorenzo Lamas, American actor
- 1960 – Scott Thunes, American musician (Frank Zappa)
- 1960 – Will Wright, American computer game designer
- 1963 – James Denton, American actor
- 1963 – Firebreaker Chip, American professional wrestler
- 1964 – Ron Harper, American basketball player
- 1965 – Greg Kriesel, American bassist (The Offspring)
- 1965 – John Michael Montgomery, American singer
- 1966 – Stacey Dash, American actress
- 1966 – Tracii Guns, American guitarist
- 1966 – Rainn Wilson, American actor
- 1968 – Nick Anderson, American basketball player
- 1968 – Melissa Rivers, American reporter and actress
- 1969 – Patrick K. Kroupa, American computer hacker
- 1970 – Kerri Kenney-Silver, American actress
- 1970 – Skeet Ulrich, American actor
- 1971 – Brian Giles, American baseball player
- 1971 – Derrick Green, American singer (Sepultura)
- 1971 – Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, American drummer (The Roots)
- 1975 – David Eckstein, American baseball player
- 1977 – Sid Wilson, American Musician, (Slipknot)
- 1978 – Joy Giovanni, American actress and glamour model
- 1981 – Jason Richardson, American basketball player
- 1986 – Derek Fathauer, American professional golfer
Deaths
- 1810 – Benjamin Chew, Chief Justice of colonial Pennsylvania (b. 1722)
- 1908 – John Ordronaux, American Civil War army surgeon, a professor of medical jurisprudence, and pioneering mental health commissioner (b. 1830)
- 1940 – Omar Bundy, American army general (b. 1861)
- 1944 – James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (b. 1860)
- 1947 – Josh Gibson, American baseball player (b. 1911)
- 1962 – Robinson Jeffers, American poet (b. 1887)
- 1965 – Alan Freed, American disk jockey (b. 1922)
- 1971 – Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, American actor, director, writer, and producer (b. 1880)
- 1984 – Johnny Weissmuller, American swimmer and actor (b. 1904)
- 1990 – Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (b. 1907)
- 1996 – Gerry Mulligan, American musician (b. 1927)
- 1997 – Curt Flood, American baseball player (b. 1938)
- 1998 – Bobo Brazil, American professional wrestler (b. 1924)
- 2002 – Carrie Hamilton, actress and singer (b. 1963). Daughter of comedienne/actress Carol Burnett.
- 2003 – Al Hirschfeld, American caricaturist (b. 1903)
- 2003 – Craig Kelly, American snowboarder (b. 1966)
- 2003 – Nedra Volz, American actress (b. 1908)
- 2004 – Guinn Smith, American athlete (b. 1920)
- 2005 – Roland Frye, American literary critic and theologian (b. 1921)
- 2009 – David Newman, American jazz musician, nicknamed "Fathead" (b. 1933)
- 2011 – Sargent Shriver, American politician and activist (b. 1915)
Holidays and observances
- Christian Feast Day:
- United States presidential inauguration, held every four years since 1937 (with 2 exceptions by Eisenhower & Reagan, on January 21st) in odd-numbered years after years when the United States Presidential Election takes place (as the election takes place in years divisible by four – 2004, 2008, 2012, and so on – the inauguration takes place in 2005, 2009, 2013, etc.). The incoming/reelected President traditionally swears-in as close to Noon as possible.