Other Notable Events for January 20
Published in History & Quotes
On this date in history:
In 1265, Britain's House of Commons, which became a model for parliamentary bodies, met for the first time.
In 1783, U.S. and British representatives signed a preliminary Cessation of Hostilities, which ended the fighting in the Revolutionary War.
In 1801, John Marshall was appointed chief justice of the United States.
In 1892, the first officially recognized basketball game was played at the YMCA gym in Springfield, Mass.
In 1936, Edward Albert, Prince of Wales, was formally proclaimed King Edward VIII.
In 1945, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the only president to be elected to four terms in office, was inaugurated to his final term. FDR died three months later and was succeeded by Harry S. Truman.
In 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy began his presidency with inauguration ceremonies on the newly renovated east front of the Capitol.
In 1981, 52 American hostages were released by Iran after 444 days in captivity.
In 1991, Iraq launched missile attacks on Saudi Arabia and paraded on television what Iraqi officials identified as seven captured allied airmen, including three Americans.
In 1993, Oscar-winning actress Audrey Hepburn died of cancer at her home in Switzerland. She was 63.
In 1996, Yasser Arafat was elected president of the Palestinian Authority with 88 percent of the vote.
In 2006, Lawrence Franklin, a former U.S. State Department analyst and Iran expert, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for passing classified information to Israel and two pro-Israeli lobbyists. The sentence was later reduced to probation and 10 months of home confinement.
In 2007, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., became the first former first lady to seek the U.S. presidency when she entered the race for the 2008 Democratic nomination.
In 2009, Barack Obama was sworn in as the United States' 44th president and the nation's first African-American chief executive.
In 2010, senior Hamas Commander Mahmoud al-Mabbouh was assassinated in his hotel room while on a visit to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
In 2011, U.S. and local law officers arrested more than 100 suspected mobsters among seven families in New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island on a variety of charges, including murder, racketeering and extortion.
In 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters joined presidential aides, veterans and others at the non-profit D.C. Central Kitchen on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to help prepare meals for shelters in the Washington area.
Copyright 2017 by United Press International
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