Today in history

On Jan. 20, 1801, John Marshall was appointed chief justice of the United States.

In 1841 the island of Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain. (It returned to Chinese control in July 1997.)

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

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

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 1985 President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H.W. Bush were sworn in for second terms of office in a brief White House ceremony (because it was a Sunday, the public swearingin was held the following day).

In 1986 the United States observed the first federal holiday in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

In 2000 the Clinton administration issued visas to the grandmothers of Elian Gonzalez, enabling them to visit the United States to make their case for the 6-year-old’s return to Cuba.

In 2005 President George W. Bush was inaugurated for a second term.

In 2009 Barack Obama was formally sworn in as president of the United States, becoming the first African-American to be elected commander-in-chief.

U.S. ARMY AIR/AP