What are the important events that happened on January 20? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

January 20: Facts & Myths About This Day

January 20 is the 20^th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 346 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Saturday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is January 7, 2024 – a Saturday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 28,428,480 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘icosagon’ day.

Capricorn is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Garnet is the modern birthstone for this month. Emerald is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 21 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,047 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

January 20: This Day In History

In the ancient astronomy, it was the cusp day between Capricorn and Aquarius. In some years it is Aquarius, but others Capricorn. It depends on the year.

January 20 Historical Events

• 1576 –
  The Mexican city of León is founded by order of the viceroy Don Martín Enríquez de Almanza.
• 1649 –
  Charles I of England goes on trial for treason and other “high crimes”.
• 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.
• 1921 –
  The first Constitution of Turkey is adopted, making fundamental changes in the source and exercise of sovereignty by consecrating the principle of national sovereignty.
• 1936 –
  Edward VIII becomes King of the United Kingdom.
• 1942 –
  World War II: At the Wannsee Conference held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, senior Nazi German officials discuss the implementation of the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question”.
• 1945 –
  World War II: Germany begins the evacuation of 1.8 million people from East Prussia, a task which will take nearly two months.
• 2006 –
  Witnesses report seeing a bottlenose whale swimming in the River Thames, the first time the species had been seen in the Thames since records began in 1913.
• 2007 –
  A three-man team, using only skis and kites, completes a 1093 mi trek to reach the southern pole of inaccessibility for the first time since 1958 and for the first time ever without mechanical assistance.

Who were born on January 20?

• 1664 –
  Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian writer and jurist (d. 1718)
• 1775 –
  André-Marie Ampère, French physicist (d. 1836)
• 1804 –
  Eugène Sue, French novelist (d. 1857)
• 1926 –
  Patricia Neal, American actress (d. 2010)
• 1950 –
  Edward Hirsch, American poet
• 1955 –
  Wyatt Knight, American actor
• 1965 –
  Heather Small, British Soul Singer
• 1978 –
  Allan Søgaard, Danish footballer
• 1979 –
  Will Young, British singer
• 1981 –
  Daniel Cudmore, Canadian actor

Who died on January 20?

• 1663 –
  Isaac Ambrose, English Puritan divine (b. 1604)
• 1779 –
  David Garrick, English actor (b. 1717)
• 1841 –
  Minh Mang, the second emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam (b. 1791)
• 1873 –
  The Blessed Father Basil Anthony Marie Patrice Moreau, Founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross (b. 1799)
• 1936 –
  King George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865)
• 1965 –
  Alan Freed, American disk jockey (b. 1922)
• 1979 –
  Gustav Winckler, Danish singer (b. 1925)
• 2003 –
  Craig Kelly, American snowboarder (b. 1966)
• 2005 –
  Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, Polish journalist, writer, and politician (b. 1913)
• 2009 –
  Stan Hagen, Canadian politician (b. 1940)