This is a list of selected January 20 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Before doing so, please review the selected anniversaries guidelines. If your suggestion is potentially controversial or relates to a day currently or soon to appear on the Main Page, post it on the talk page instead.
Please note:
- Events listed on the Main Page are selected based on article quality and to provide a diverse range of topics, rather than solely on the importance or significance of the events.
- Only four or five events are featured each day; therefore, not all important or significant events can be included.
- An event is generally excluded if it is already the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
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Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
Władysław I of Poland
Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster
Reinhard Heydrich
Honório Carneiro Leão
2009 inauguration of Barack Obama
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| ; Army Day in Mali | refimprove |
| 1265 – Summoned by Simon de Montfort, the first English parliament held its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster. | refimprove |
| 1320 – After reuniting Poland, Władysław the Short was crowned king in Kraków. | article says 20 Jan, infobox says 30th; refimprove section |
| 1523 – Christian II was forced to abdicate as both King of Denmark and King of Norway. | refimprove |
| 1885 – LaMarcus Adna Thompson, sometimes called the "Father of Gravity", patented the roller coaster. | Tagged with {{refimprove}} |
| 1839 – Chilean troops decisively defeated the forces of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation at the Battle of Yungay in the Ancash Region of Peru, effectively ending the War of the Confederation. | refimprove |
| 1840 – William II became King of the Netherlands after his father William I abdicated the throne. | refimprove |
| 1921 – The first Turkish Constitution was ratified by the Grand National Assembly, making fundamental changes in Turkey by enshrining the principle of national sovereignty. | {{refimprove}} |
| 1981 – Iran hostage crisis: Iran released the final 52 American hostages after 444 days in captivity. | {{refimprove}}, appears on November 4 |
| 2001 – As a result of the EDSA Revolution of 2001, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo succeeded into the presidency after her predecessor, Joseph Estrada, resigned from office. | {{refimprove}} |
Eligible
- 1156 – According to legend, freeholder Lalli slew Bishop Henry of Finland with an axe on the ice of the lake Köyliönjärvi in Köyliö, Finland.
- 1843 – Honório Hermeto Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná, became the de facto first prime minister of the Empire of Brazil.
- 1942 – The Holocaust: SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich and other senior Nazi officials met at the Wannsee Conference in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to discuss implementation of the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question".
- 1945 – World War II: Germany began the evacuation of 1.8 million people from East Prussia, an operation which took nearly two months to complete.
- 1968 – The Houston Cougars upset the UCLA Bruins in what became known as the "Game of the Century", ending the Bruins' 47-game winning streak, and establishing college basketball as a sports commodity on American television.
- 1969 – Bengali student activist Amanullah Asaduzzaman was shot and killed by East Pakistani police, one of the catalysts that led to the Bangladesh Liberation War.
- 1990 – The Soviet Red Army violently cracked down on Azeri pro-independence demonstrations in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR.
- 2009 – In Washington, D.C., over 1 million people attended the inauguration of Barack Obama as the first African American President of the United States.
January 20: Martyrs' Day in Azerbaijan (1990); Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the United States (2014)
- 1576 – León in Guanajuato, Mexico, was founded by order of Viceroy Martín Enríquez de Almanza of New Spain.
- 1785 – Tây Sơn forces of Vietnam annihilated an invading Siamese army who were attempting to restore Nguyễn Ánh to the throne.
- 1946 – Favouring stronger executive power than the draft constitution for the French Fourth Republic provided, Charles de Gaulle (pictured) resigned as President of the Provisional Government.
- 1992 – Air Inter Flight 148 crashed into the Vosges Mountains while circling to land at Strasbourg Airport near Strasbourg, France, resulting in 87 deaths.
- 2007 – A three-man team, using only skis and kites, completed a 1,093-mile (1,759 km) trek to reach the southern pole of inaccessibility for the first time since 1958, and for the first time ever without mechanical assistance.
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