January 21

### Up to 1900

- 1189 – Philip II of France and Richard I of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade.
- 1276 – Innocent V becomes Pope.
- 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement was born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptized each other in the home of Manz's mother on Neustadt-Gasse, Zürich, breaking a thousand–year tradition of church–state union.
- 1643 – Abel Tasman discovers Tonga.
- 1720 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm.
- 1749 – The Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, northern Italy, 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.
- 1793 – After being found guilty for treason by the French Convention, Louis XVI of France is guillotined.
- 1793 – Russia and Prussia partition Poland.
- 1840 – Adelie Land in Antarctica is discovered.
- 1853 – Russell L. Hawes patents the envelope–folding machine.
- 1854 – Iron clipper RMS _Tayleur_ of the White Star Line sinks in the Irish Sea during its first voyage, killing 362 people.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.
- 1864 – The Tauranga Campaign starts during the Maori Wars.
- 1887 – The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is formed.
- 1899 – Opel Motors opens for business.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1904 – Oprera _Jenůfa_ by Leoš Janáček first performed.
- 1908 – New York City passes a law, the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public only to be vetoed by the mayor.
- 1911 – The first Monte Carlo Rally.
- 1915 – Kiwanis International founded in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1917 – An earthquake in Bali kills 15,000 people.
- 1919 – Meeting in the Mansion House Dublin, the Sinn Féin adopts Ireland's first constitution.
- 1924 – Vladimir Lenin dies and Joseph Stalin begins to purge his rivals to clear way for his leadership.
- 1925 – Albania declares itself a republic.
- 1931 – Isaac Isaacs becomes the first Governor-General of Australia who was born in Australia.
- 1940 – Off the Mediterranean Sea coast of France, an explosion occurs on Italian passenger ship _Orazio_, causing a fire on board, before the ship sinks, killing 106 people.
- 1941 – World War II: Australian and British forces attack Tobruk, Libya.
- 1948 – The Flag of Quebec is flown over the National Assembly of Quebec for the first time.
- 1950 – Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.
- 1951 – The Lamington volcano erupts on the island of New Guinea, killing 3,000 people.
- 1954 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS _Nautilus_, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, then the First Lady of the United States.
- 1960 – Avianca Flight 671 crashes and burns while landing in Montego Bay, Jamaica, killing 37 people.
- 1961 – 435 workers are buried alive when a mine in Coalbrook, South Africa, collapses.
- 1968 – Simon & Garfunkel release the Original Soundtrack to _The Graduate_. It quickly goes to #1 on the pop charts and which will bring Simon a Grammy Award for Best Original Score.
- 1969 – An experimental underground nuclear reactor at Lucens Vad, Switzerland, released radiation into a cavern, which was then sealed.
- 1976 – The first commercial service _Concorde_ flights take off from London and Paris.
- 1977 – President Jimmy Carter pardons nearly all Vietnam War draft evaders.
- 1980 – The Great Wall of China is placed under protection.
- 1980 – A plane crash during a snowstorm in Tehran kills 128 people.
- 1985 – After being moved to this date because January 20 was a Sunday, Ronald Reagan's second inauguration as President of the United States is held indoors, because of cold and windy weather.
- 1994 – Lorena Bobbitt is found not–guilty by reason of temporary insanity for severing the penis of her husband John Bobbitt.
- 1997 – Newt Gingrich becomes the first leader of the United States House of Representatives to be internally disciplined for ethical misconduct.
- 1998 – Pope John Paul II becomes the first Pope to visit Cuba.
- 1999 – War on Drugs: In one of the one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard stops a ship with over 9,500 pounds (4,300 kg) of cocaine on board.
- 2000 – Jamil Mahuad is removed as President of Ecuador in a coup led by Lucio Gutiérrez.

### From 2001

- 2003 – A magnitude 7.6 earthquake strikes the state of Colima, Mexico.
- 2004 – Canada: The residence of reporter, Juliet O'Neill was searched by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigating leaks concerning the deportation of Maher Arar.
- 2004 – NASA's MER-A (the Mars Rover _Spirit_) ceased communication with mission control. The problem was with Flash Memory management and fixed remotely from Earth on February 6.
- 2005 – In Belize's capital city, the unrest over the government's new taxes erupts into riots.
- 2008 – Black Monday on the world's stock markets, the worst day for financial markets since September 11, 2001.
- 2008 – Marie Smith Jones, the last–surviving speaker of the Eyak language, dies, rendering the language extinct.
- 2012 – 16–year–old Laura Dekker becomes the youngest person to sail around the world on her own, though this category is no longer included in the Guinness Book of Records.
- 2013 – Barack Obama's second public inauguration as President of the United States takes place. A private inauguration took place the previous day, which was a Sunday.

### Up to 1900

- 1277 – Galeazzo I Visconti, ruler of Milan (d. 1328)
- 1338 – King Charles V of France (d. 1380)
- 1721 – James Murray, British Governor of Quebec (d. 1794)
- 1735 – Johann Gottfried Eckard, German pianist and composer (d. 1809)
- 1738 – Ethan Allen, American freedom fighter (d. 1789)
- 1763 – Augustin Robespierre, French politician (d. 1794)
- 1784 – Andrew Stevenson, American politician (d. 1857)
- 1813 – John C. Frémont, American army officer, explorer and politician (d. 1890)
- 1815 – John Bingham, American lawyer, judge and politician (d. 1900)
- 1824 – Stonewall Jackson, American Confederate General (d. 1870)
- 1825 – Imre Madach, Hungarian writer (d. 1864)
- 1827 – Ivan Mikheevich Pervushin, Russian mathematician (d. 1900)
- 1829 – King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway (d. 1907)
- 1846 – Pieter Hendrik Schoute, Dutch mathematician (d. 1923)
- 1846 – Nathaniel Edwin Harris, Governor of Georgia (d. 1929)
- 1848 – Henri Duparc, French composer (d. 1933)
- 1855 – John Browning, American inventor (d. 1926)
- 1860 – Karl Staaff, Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1915)
- 1864 – Paul Troje, German politician (d. 1942)
- 1867 – Maxime Weygand, French general (d. 1965)
- 1867 – Ludwig Thoma, German writer (d. 1921)
- 1869 – Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk, mystic and spiritual healer (d. 1916)
- 1881 – Ernst Fast, Swedish long–distance runner (d. 1959)
- 1882 – Pavel Florensky, Russian theologian, philosopher and mathematician (d. 1937)
- 1883 – Olav Aukrust, Norwegian poet (d. 1929)
- 1883 – James H. Duff, 36th Governor of Pennsylvania (d. 1969)
- 1885 – Umberto Nobile, Italian aeronautical engineer and Arctic explorer (d. 1978)
- 1887 – Georges Vézina, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1926)
- 1895 – Cristobal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer (d. 1972)
- 1899 – Alexander Tcherepnin, Russian–born American composer (d. 1977)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1901 – Ricardo Zamora, Spanish footballer (d. 1978)
- 1905 – Christian Dior, French fashion designer (d. 1957)
- 1905 – Karl Wallenda, German–born acrobat (d. 1978)
- 1908 – Raymond D. Gary, Governor of Oklahoma (d. 1993)
- 1910 – Eua Sunthornsanan, Thai composer and bandleader (d. 1981)
- 1910 – Albert Rosellini, American politician (d. 2011)
- 1911 – Bill Graber, American pole vaulter (d. 1996)
- 1912 – Konrad Emil Bloch, German biochemist (d. 2000)
- 1915 – Orazio Mariani, Italian sprinter (d. 1981)
- 1915 – Bill Sefton, American pole vaulter (d. 1982)
- 1916 – Pietro Rava, Italian footballer (d. 2006)
- 1918 – Richard Winters, American paratrooper (d. 2011)
- 1919 – Lennie Bluett, American actor (d. 2016)
- 1919 – Eric Brown, Scottish test pilot (d. 2016)
- 1921 – Howard Unruh, American murderer (d. 2009)
- 1922 – Paul Scofield, British actor (d. 2008)
- 1922 – Telly Savalas, American actor and singer (d. 1994)
- 1923 – Lola Flores, Spanish singer, dancer and actress (d. 1995)
- 1924 – Benny Hill, British comedian (d. 1992)
- 1926 – Steve Reeves, American actor (d. 2000)
- 1928 – Reynaldo Bignone, Argentine general and former military leader
- 1929 – Denis Sanders, American movie director, producer and screenwriter
- 1930 – Mainza Chona, 3rd Vice President of Zambia (d. 2001)
- 1932 – John Chaney, American basketball coach
- 1933 – Joseph W. Eschbach, American physician (d. 2007)
- 1934 – Audrey Dalton, Irish actress
- 1936 – Koji Hashimoto, Japanese movie director (d. 2005)
- 1937 – Prince Max, Duke of Bavaria
- 1938 – Wolfman Jack, American DJ and actor (d. 1995)
- 1938 – Ken Maginnis, Northern Irish soldier, educator and politician
- 1939 – Friedel Lutz, German footballer
- 1940 – Jack Nicklaus, American golfer
- 1941 – Plácido Domingo, Spanish opera singer and conductor
- 1941 – Richie Havens, American musician (d. 2013)
- 1942 – Mac Davis, American musician
- 1945 – Martin Shaw, English actor
- 1947 – Jonathan Meades, English journalist and writer
- 1949 – Gennaro Contaldo, Italian chef
- 1950 – Billy Ocean, Trinidadian musician
- 1950 – Zelimkhan Yaqub, Azerbaijani poet (d. 2016)
- 1950 – Gary Locke, American politician

### 1951 – 1975

- 1951 – Eric Holder, American jurist, United States Attorney General
- 1953 – Paul Allen, American entrepreneur and co–founder of Microsoft
- 1954 – Thomas de Maizière, German politician
- 1954 – Idrissa Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso movie maker
- 1955 – Jeff Koons, American artist
- 1955 – Peter Fleming, American tennis player
- 1956 – Geena Davis, American actress
- 1957 – Greg Ryan, American soccer coach
- 1958 – Frank Ticheli, American composer
- 1959 – Alex McLeish, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1962 – Marie Trintignant, French actress (d. 2003)
- 1962 – Tyler Cowen, American economist
- 1963 – Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigerian–American basketball player
- 1965 – Jam Master Jay, American DJ (d. 2002)
- 1968 – Charlotte Ross, American actress
- 1969 – Tsubaki Nekoi, Japanese manga artist
- 1969 – Karina Lombard, American actress
- 1969 – M. K. Hobson, American writer
- 1971 – Alan McManus, Scottish snooker player
- 1971 – Doug Weight, American ice hockey player
- 1971 – Sergey Klevchenya, Russian speed skater
- 1972 – Yasunori Matsuda, Japanese composer
- 1974 – Kim Dotcom, German–Finnish Internet entrepreneur and founder of Megaupload
- 1975 – Nicky Butt, English footballer
- 1975 – Ito, Spanish footballer

### From 1976

- 1976 – Igors Stepanovs, Latvian footballer
- 1976 – Emma Bunton, English singer (Spice Girls)
- 1977 – Phil Neville, English footballer
- 1977 – Jerry Trainor, American actor
- 1977 – Bradley Carnell, South African footballer
- 1978 – Phil Stacey, American singer
- 1978 – Andrei Zyuzin, Russian ice hockey player
- 1979 – Brian O'Driscoll, Irish rugby player
- 1979 – Johann Hari, Scottish journalist
- 1980 – Dave Kitson, English footballer
- 1980 – Nana Mizuki, Japanese singer-songwriter and voice actress
- 1982 – Nicolas Mahut, French tennis player
- 1982 – Dean Whitehead, English footballer
- 1982 – Simon Rolfes, German footballer
- 1983 – Moritz Volz, German footballer
- 1983 – Maryse Ouellet, Canadian professional wrestler
- 1984 – Raymond Gutierrez, American–Filipino actor and television host
- 1984 – Richard Gutierrez, American–Filipino actor
- 1985 – Justin Ingram, American basketball player
- 1985 – Adrian Lewis, English darts player
- 1985 – Aura Dione, Danish singer and songwriter
- 1986 – Jonathan Quick, American ice hockey player
- 1987 – Joe Ledley, Welsh footballer
- 1987 – Darren Helm, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1990 – Jacob Smith, American actor
- 1993 – Chiara Pierobon, Italian cyclist (d. 2015)
- 1994 – Laura Robson, British tennis player
- 1994 – Kang Seung-yoon, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor
- 1994 – Marny Kennedy, Australian actress, singer and model
- 1994 – Booboo Stewart, American actor, singer and sportsman
- 1997 – Jeremy Shada, American actor
- 2001 – Jackson Brundage, American actor
- 2004 – Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

### Up to 1900

- 304 – Saint Agnes, Christian martyr (b. 291)
- 917 – Erchanger, Duke of Swabia (b. 880)
- 1118 – Pope Paschal II
- 1519 – Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Spanish explorer (b. 1475)
- 1527 – Juan de Grijalva, Spanish conquistador (b. 1489)
- 1546 – Azai Sukemasa, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1491)
- 1609 – Joseph Justus Scaliger, French Protestant scholar (b. 1540)
- 1638 – Ignazio Donati, Italian composer (b. 1570)
- 1773 – Alexis Piron, French writer (b. 1689)
- 1774 – Mustafa III, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1717)
- 1775 – Yemelyan Pugachev, Russian rebel (b. 1742)
- 1789 – Baron d'Holbach, French–German writer, philosopher and encyclopedist (b. 1723)
- 1793 – King Louis XVI of France (b. 1754)
- 1795 – Samuel Wallis, English navigator (b. 1728)
- 1809 – Josiah Hornblower, American engineer and politician (b. 1729)
- 1831 – Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet (b. 1781)
- 1851 – Albert Lertzing, German composer (b. 1801)
- 1872 – Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer (b. 1791)
- 1891 – Calixa Lavallée, Canadian composer (b. 1842)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1901 – Elisha Gray, American inventor (b. 1835)
- 1919 – Ahmed Muhtar Pasha, Ottoman general and Grand Vizier (b. 1839)
- 1919 – Gojong of the Korean Empire, Emperor of Korea (b. 1852)
- 1924 – Vladimir Lenin, Russian political leader (b. 1870)
- 1926 – Camillo Golgi, Italian doctor, won the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1843)
- 1928 – George Goethals, American army engineer (b. 1858)
- 1932 – Giles Lytton Strachey, British writer (b. 1880)
- 1937 – Marie Prevost, Canadian actress (b. 1896)
- 1938 – Georges Méliès, French director (b. 1861)
- 1940 – Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark (b. 1888)
- 1945 – Rash Behari Bose, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1886)
- 1950 – George Orwell, British writer (b. 1903)
- 1959 – Cecil B. DeMille, American director (b. 1881)
- 1961 – Blaise Cendrars, Swiss writer (b. 1903)
- 1967 – Ann Sheridan, American actress (b. 1915)
- 1977 – Sandro Penna, Italian poet (b. 1906)
- 1989 – Billy Tipton, American musician (b. 1914)
- 1989 – Carl Furillo, American baseball player (b. 1922)
- 1990 – Mariano Rumor, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1915)
- 1994 – Bassel al-Assad, brother of Bashar al-Assad (b. 1962)
- 1994 – Andrejs Kapmals, Latvian runner (b. 1889)
- 1997 – Colonel Tom Parker, American music manager (b. 1909)
- 1998 – Jack Lord, American actor (b. 1920)
- 1999 – Charles Brown, American blues singer and musician (b. 1920)
- 1999 – Susan Strasberg, American actress (b. 1938)

### From 2001

- 2001 – Byron De La Beckwith, American murderer (b. 1920)
- 2004 – Yordan Radichkov, Bulgarian writer (b. 1929)
- 2006 – Ibrahim Rugova, President of Kosovo (b. 1944)
- 2007 – Maria Cioncan, Romanian athlete (b. 1977)
- 2007 – U-Nee, South Korean singer, dancer and actress (b. 1981)
- 2008 – Marie Smith Jones, last speaker of the Eyak language (b. 1918)
- 2011 – Dennis Oppenheim, American artist (b. 1938)
- 2013 – Michael Winner, British movie director, producer and food critic (b. 1935)
- 2013 – Alden W. Clausen, American banker and former World Bank President (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Manfred Bleskin, German journalist (b. 1949)
- 2015 – Kemal Monteno, Bosnian singer (b. 1948)
- 2015 – Leon Brittan, British politician (b. 1939)
- 2015 – Marcus Borg, American theologian (b. 1942)
- 2015 – Pauline Yates, English actress (b. 1929)
- 2016 – Bill Johnson, American skier (b. 1960)
- 2016 – Robert Sassone, French cyclist (b. 1978)
- 2016 – Derrick Todd Lee, American serial killer (b. 1968)
- 2016 – Mrinalini Sarabhai, Iranian classical dancer and choreographer (b. 1918)
- 2020 – Terry Jones, English comedy writer (b. 1942)

## Observances

- Flag Day (Quebec)
- Christian feast day of Saint Agnes
- Errol Barrow Day (Bahamas)
- National Hug Day (United States)
- Lady of Altagracia Day (Dominican Republic)