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 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 345 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Sunday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is January 8, 2024 – a Sunday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 1,705,795,200 seconds 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.
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 20 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 4,048 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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January 21 Historical Events
- 1749 –The Verona Philharmonic Theatre is destroyed by fire. It is rebuilt in 1754.
- 1789 –The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth, is printed in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1861 –American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.
- 1864 –The Tauranga Campaign begins during the Maori Wars.
- 1887 –465 mm of rain falls in Brisbane, a record for any Australian capital city.
- 1919 –Meeting of the First Dáil Éireann in the Mansion House Dublin. Sinn Féin adopts Ireland’s first constitution. The first engagement of Irish War of Independence, Sologhead Beg, County Tipperary.
- 1925 –Albania declares itself a republic.
- 1966 –New Year’s Day in Chinese calendar. Start of the year of the Fire Horse in Chinese astrology.
- 1971 –The current Emley Moor transmitting station, the tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, begins transmitting UHF broadcasts.
- 1999 –War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 4300 kg of cocaine on board.
Who were born on January 21?
- 1827 –Ivan Mikheevich Pervushin, Russian mathematician (d. 1900)
- 1895 –Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish couturier (d. 1972)
- 1933 –Joseph W. Eschbach, American doctor (d. 2007)
- 1945 –Martin Shaw, British actor
- 1950 –Gary Locke, American politician, 21st Governor of Washington, and 36th United States Secretary of Commerce
- 1952 –Louis Menand, American writer and critic
- 1955 –Jeff Koons, American artist
- 1956 –Geena Davis, American actress
- 1971 –Tweet, American singer
- 1973 –Duane Lee Chapman, II, American bounty hunter
Who died on January 21?
- 1519 –Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Spanish explorer (b. 1475)
- 1766 –James Quin, English actor (b. 1693)
- 1814 –Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, French writer and botanist (b. 1737)
- 1901 –Elisha Gray, American inventor (b. 1835)
- 1928 –George Goethals, American army engineer (b. 1858)
- 1937 –Marie Prevost, Canadian actress (b. 1898)
- 1968 –Will Lang Jr., American magazine executive (b. 1914)
- 1993 –Charlie Gehringer, American baseball player (b. 1903)
- 2005 –John L. Hess, American journalist (b. 1917)
- 2008 –Marie Smith Jones, last native speaker of the Eyak language (b. 1918)
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