TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Saturday, Jan. 20.

TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT

Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, pledging emphatically to empower America’s “forgotten men and women.” Protesters registered their rage against the new president in a chaotic confrontation with police just blocks from the inaugural parade.

ON THIS DATE

In 1649, King Charles I of England went on trial, accused of high treason (he was found guilty and executed by month’s end).

In 1887, the U.S. Senate approved an agreement to lease Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as a naval base.

In 1936, Britain’s King George V died after his physician injected the mortally ill monarch with morphine and cocaine to hasten his death; the king was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne 11 months later to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

In 1942, Nazi officials held the notorious Wannsee conference, during which they arrived at their“final solution” that called for exterminating Europe’s Jews.

In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn into office for an unprecedented fourth term.

In 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower took the oath of office as president of the United States; Richard M. Nixon was sworn in as vice president.

In 1968, in what was billed as “The Game of the Century,” No. 2 ranked Houston defeated top-ranked UCLA 71-69 at the Houston Astrodome in the first primetime

national telecast of a college basketball game. In 1969, Richard M. Nixon was inaugurated as the 37th President of the United States. In 1977, Jimmy Carter was inaugurated as the 39th President of the United States.

In 1981, Iran released 52 Americans it had held hostage for 444 days, minutes after the presidency had passed from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan.

In 1993, Bill Clinton was sworn in as the 42nd President of the United States. Actress Audrey Hepburn died in Switzerland at age 63.

In 2001, George Walker Bush became America’s 43rd president after one of the most turbulent elections in U.S. history.

Ten years ago: Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili was sworn in for a second term. Five years ago: President Barack Obama was sworn in for four more years in a simple Sunday ceremony at the White House (a public ceremony took place the following day).

One year ago: A bus carrying Hungarian students home from a school ski trip to France slammed into a highway barrier in northern Italy and burst into flames, killing 17 people. A shooting at West Liberty High School in Ohio left two students wounded, one critically; authorities credited the heroics of staff members who stopped the shooter and had him pinned down when police arrived.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“Know yourself, and your neighbor will not mistake you.” — Scottish proverb. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS