What are the important events that happened on January 20? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

January 20: Facts & Myths About This Day

January 20 is the 20^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 345 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is January 7, 2025 – a Monday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 482,592 hours 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 ‘icosagon’ day.

Capricorn 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 9 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 4,413 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

January 20: This Day In History

In the ancient astronomy, it was the cusp day between Capricorn and Aquarius. In some years it is Aquarius, but others Capricorn. It depends on the year.

January 20 Historical Events

• 1265 –
  In Westminster, the first English parliament conducts its first meeting held by Simon de Montfort in the Palace of Westminster, now also known colloquially as the “Houses of Parliament”.
• 1320 –
  Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland.
• 1783 –
  The Kingdom of Great Britain signs a peace treaty with France and Spain, officially ending hostilities in the American Revolutionary War (also known as the American War of Independence).
• 1788 –
  The third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decides that Botany Bay is unsuitable for the location of a penal colony, and decides to move to Port Jackson.
• 1959 –
  The first flight of the Vickers Vanguard.
• 1986 –
  Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
• 1987 –
  Church of England envoy Terry Waite is kidnapped in Lebanon.
• 1992 –
  Air Inter Flight 148 crashes near Strasbourg, France, killing 82 passengers and five crew members.
• 1999 –
  The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use, aimed especially at Internet cafés.
• 2007 –
  A three-man team, using only skis and kites, completes a 1093 mi trek to reach the southern pole of inaccessibility for the first time since 1958 and for the first time ever without mechanical assistance.

Who were born on January 20?

• 1716 –
  King Charles III of Spain (d. 1788)
• 1732 –
  Richard Henry Lee, American statesman (d. 1794)
• 1880 –
  Walter W. Bacon, American politician and 60th Governor of Delaware (d. 1962)
• 1945 –
  Robert Olen Butler, American writer
• 1951 –
  Ian Hill, British musician (Judas Priest)
• 1958 –
  Lorenzo Lamas, American actor
• 1976 –
  Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater
• 1977 –
  Sid Wilson, American Musician, (Slipknot)
• 1981 –
  Crystal Lowe, Canadian actress
• 1986 –
  Derek Fathauer, American professional golfer

Who died on January 20?

• 1751 –
  John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, English politician (b. 1665)
• 1852 –
  Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 6th Yokozuna (b. 1794)
• 1873 –
  The Blessed Father Basil Anthony Marie Patrice Moreau, Founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross (b. 1799)
• 1891 –
  King Kalākaua, of Hawaiʻi (b. 1836)
• 1936 –
  King George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865)
• 1944 –
  James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (b. 1860)
• 1971 –
  Minanogawa Tōzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 34th Yokozuna (b. 1903)
• 1989 –
  Alamgir Kabir, Bangladeshi film director (b. 1938)
• 2005 –
  Parveen Babi, Indian Actress and Model (b. 1949)
• 2009 –
  Sheila O'Nions Walsh (aka Sheila Walsh, Sophie Leyton), English romance writer (b. 1928)