Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/January 20
This is a list of selected January 20 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article, featured list or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
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Images
Use only ONE image at a time
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Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo -
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo -
Władysław I of Poland -
Palace of Westminster -
Palace of Westminster -
Reinhard Heydrich
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| 1265 – Summoned by Simon de Montfort, the first English parliament held its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster. | {{no footnotes}} |
| 1320 – After reuniting Poland, Władysław the Short was crowned king in Kraków. | Need to verify date, tagged with {{refimprove}} |
| 1523 – Christian II was forced to abdicate as both King of Denmark and King of Norway. | Tagged with {{POV}} |
| 1576 – León in Guanajuato, Mexico, was founded by order of Viceroy Martín Enríquez de Almanza of New Spain. | refimporve |
| 1885 – LaMarcus Adna Thompson, sometimes called the "Father of Gravity", patented the roller coaster. | Tagged with {{refimprove}} |
| 1839 – Chilean troops decisively defeated the forces of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation at the Battle of Yungay in the Ancash Region of Peru, effectively ending the War of the Confederation. | refimprove |
| 1840 – William II became King of the Netherlands after his father William I abdicated the throne. | refimprove |
| 1921 – The first Turkish Constitution was ratified by the Grand National Assembly, making fundamental changes in Turkey by enshrining the principle of national sovereignty. | {{refimprove}} |
| 1981 – Iran hostage crisis: Iran released the final 52 American hostages after 444 days in captivity. | {{refimprove}} |
| 2001 – As a result of the EDSA Revolution of 2001, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo succeeded into the presidency after her predecessor, Joseph Estrada, resigned from office. | {{refimprove}} |
Eligible
- 1156 – According to legend, freeholder Lalli slew Bishop Henry of Finland with an axe on the ice of the lake Köyliönjärvi in Köyliö, Finland.
- 1945 – World War II: Germany began the evacuation of 1.8 million people from East Prussia, an operation which took nearly two months to complete.
- 1946 – Favouring stronger executive power than the draft constitution for the French Fourth Republic provided, Charles de Gaulle resigned as President of the Provisional Government.
- 1968 – The Houston Cougars upset the UCLA Bruins in what became known as the "Game of the Century", ending the Bruins' 47-game winning streak, and establishing college basketball as a sports commodity on American television.
- 2009 – In Washington, D.C., over 1 million people attended the inauguration of Barack Obama as the first African American President of the United States.
January 20: Martyrs' Day in Azerbaijan (1990); Army Day in Mali
- 1843 – Honório Hermeto Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná (pictured), became the de facto first prime minister of the Empire of Brazil.
- 1942 – The Holocaust: SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich and other senior Nazi officials met at the Wannsee Conference in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to discuss implementation of the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question".
- 1969 – Bengali student activist Amanullah Asaduzzaman was shot and killed by East Pakistani police, one of the catalysts that led to the Bangladesh Liberation War.
- 1990 – The Soviet Red Army violently cracked down on Azeri pro-independence demonstrations in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR.
- 2007 – A three-man team, using only skis and kites, completed a 1,093-mile (1,759 km) trek to reach the southern pole of inaccessibility for the first time since 1958, and for the first time ever without mechanical assistance.