What are the important events that happened on January 21? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
January 21: Facts & Myths About This Day
January 21 is the 21st day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 344 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Tuesday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is January 8, 2025 – a Tuesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 28,956,960 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 ‘icosihenagon’ day.
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Aquarius 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 8 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 4,414 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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January 21 Historical Events
- 1643 –Abel Tasman becomes the first European to reach Tonga.
- 1789 –The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth, is printed in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1893 –The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, is formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana.
- 1911 –The first Monte Carlo Rally takes place.
- 1925 –Albania declares itself a republic.
- 1948 –The Flag of Quebec is adopted and flown for the first time over the National Assembly of Quebec. The day is marked annually as Quebec Flag Day.
- 1950 –Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.
- 1966 –New Year’s Day in Chinese calendar. Start of the year of the Fire Horse in Chinese astrology.
- 1981 –Production of the iconic DeLorean DMC-12 sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland.
- 2005 –In Belmopan, Belize, the unrest over the government’s new taxes erupts into riots.
Who were born on January 21?
- 1829 –King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway (d. 1907)
- 1860 –Karl Staaff, Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1915)
- 1932 –John Chaney, American basketball coach
- 1942 –Mac Davis, American musician
- 1951 –Eric Holder, American jurist, and 82nd United States Attorney General
- 1958 –Michael Wincott, Canadian actor
- 1963 –Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigerian-born American basketball player
- 1982 –Simon Rolfes, German footballer
- 1984 –Raymond Gutierrez, Filipino actor and television host
- 1984 –Robert Ray, American baseball player
Who died on January 21?
- 1793 –King Louis XVI of France (executed) (b. 1754)
- 1851 –Albert Lortzing, German composer (b. 1801)
- 1955 –Archie Hahn, American athlete (b. 1880)
- 1967 –Ann Sheridan, American actress (b. 1915)
- 1978 –Freda Utley, British scholar and author. (b. 1898)
- 1984 –Giannis Skaribas, Greek writer, dramatist, and poet (b. 1893)
- 1984 –Jackie Wilson, American musician (b. 1934)
- 1996 –René Marc Jalbert, sergeant-at-Arms at the National Assembly of Quebec (b. 1921)
- 2003 –Paul Haines, American-born Canadian poet (b. 1933)
- 2006 –Ibrahim Rugova, President of Kosovo (b. 1944)
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