TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SUNDAY, JAN. 20, the 20th day of 2019. There are 345 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 2017, 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.
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 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first chief executive to be inaugurated on Jan. 20 instead of March 4.
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 1964, Capitol Records released the album “Meet the Beatles!”
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 1986, the United States observed the first federal holiday in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. In 1989, George H.W. Bush was sworn in as the 41st president of the United States; Dan Quayle was sworn in as vice president.
In 1994, Shannon Faulkner became the first woman to attend classes at The Citadel in South Carolina. Faulkner joined the cadet corps in Aug. 1995 under court order, but soon dropped out, citing isolation and stress from the legal battle.
In 2001, George Walker Bush became America’s 43rd president after one of the most turbulent elections in U.S. history.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Comedian Arte Johnson is 90. Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin is 89. Olympic gold medal figure skater Carol Heiss is 79. Singer Eric Stewart is 74. Movie director David Lynch is 73. Country-rock musician George Grantham (Poco) is 72. Rock musicians Paul Stanley (KISS) and Ian Hill (Judas Priest) are 67. Comedian Bill Maher is 63. Actor Lorenzo Lamas is 61. Actor James Denton is 56. Rock musician Greg K. (The Offspring), country singer John Michael Montgomery and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, are 54. Actor Rainn Wilson is 53. TV personality Melissa Rivers and singer Xavier are 51. Actor Reno Wilson is 50. Singer Edwin McCain and actor Skeet Ulrich are 49. Rock musician Rob Bourdon (Linkin Park) is 40. Rock singer Kevin Parker (Tame Impala) is 33. Actor Evan Peters is 32.