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 21^st day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 344 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Tuesday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is January 8, 2025 – a Tuesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 1,737,417,600 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 8 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 4,414 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

January 21 Historical Events

• 1749 –
  The Verona Philharmonic Theatre is destroyed by fire. It is rebuilt in 1754.
• 1887 –
  465 mm of rain falls in Brisbane, a record for any Australian capital city.
• 1893 –
  The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, is formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana.
• 1948 –
  The Flag of Quebec is adopted and flown for the first time over the National Assembly of Quebec. The day is marked annually as Quebec Flag Day.
• 1966 –
  New Year’s Day in Chinese calendar. Start of the year of the Fire Horse in Chinese astrology.
• 1968 –
  A B-52 bomber crashes near Thule Air Base, contaminating the area after its nuclear payload ruptures. One of the four bombs remains unaccounted for after the cleanup operation is complete.
• 1976 –
  Commercial service of Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.
• 1981 –
  Production of the iconic DeLorean DMC-12 sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland.
• 1997 –
  Newt Gingrich becomes the first leader of the United States House of Representatives to be internally disciplined for ethical misconduct.
• 2003 –
  A 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes the Mexican state of Colima, killing 29 and leaving approximately 10,000 people homeless.

Who were born on January 21?

• 1864 –
  Paul Troje, German politician (d. 1942)
• 1905 –
  Christian Dior, French fashion designer (d. 1957)
• 1945 –
  Martin Shaw, British actor
• 1954 –
  Idrissa Ouedraogo, Burkinabé filmmaker
• 1957 –
  Greg Ryan, American soccer coach
• 1969 –
  M. K. Hobson, American speculative fiction and fantasy writer
• 1971 –
  Alan McManus, Scottish snooker player
• 1978 –
  Faris al-Sultan, German-Iraqi triathlete
• 1985 –
  Adrian Lewis, English darts player
• 1985 –
  Sasha Pivovarova, Russian model

Who died on January 21?

• 1710 –
  Johann Georg Gichtel, German mystic (b. 1638)
• 1870 –
  Alexander Herzen, Russian writer (b. 1812)
• 1881 –
  Wilhelm Matthias Naeff, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1802)
• 1901 –
  Elisha Gray, American inventor (b. 1835)
• 1956 –
  Sam Langford, Canadian boxer (b. 1883)
• 1987 –
  Charles Goodell, American politician (b. 1926)
• 1999 –
  Charles Brown, American blues singer and pianist (b. 1920)
• 2002 –
  Peggy Lee, American singer (b. 1920)
• 2005 –
  John L. Hess, American journalist (b. 1917)
• 2006 –
  Ibrahim Rugova, President of Kosovo (b. 1944)