more events on January 21
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1993
Congressman Mike Espy of Mississippi is confirmed as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.
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1977
President Carter urges 65 degrees as the maximum heat in homes to ease the energy crisis.
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1976
Leonid Brezhnev and Henry Kissinger meet to discuss Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT).
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1974
The U.S. Supreme Court decides that pregnant teachers can no longer be forced to take long leaves of absence.
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1968
In Vietnam, the Siege of Khe Sanh begins as North Vietnamese units surround U.S. Marines based on the hilltop headquarters.
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1964
Carl T. Rowan is named the director of the United States Information Agency (USIA).
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1958
The Soviet Union calls for a ban on nuclear arms in Baghdad Pact countries.
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1951
Communist troops force the UN army out of Inchon, Korea after a 12-hour attack.
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1943
A Nazi daylight air raid kills 34 in a London school. When the anticipated invasion of Britain failed to materialize in 1940, Londoners relaxed, but soon they faced a frightening new threat.
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1942
In North Africa, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel launches a drive to push the British eastward. While the British benefited from radio-intercept-derived Ultra information, the Germans enjoyed an even speedier intelligence source.
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1941
The United States lifts the ban on selling arms to the Soviet Union.
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1933
The League of Nations rejects Japanese terms for settlement with China.
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1930
An international arms control meeting opens in London.
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1925
Benny Hill, British comedian.
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1921
J.D. Rockefeller pledges $1 million for the relief of Europe’s destitute.
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1919
The German Krupp plant begins producing guns under the U.S. armistice terms.
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1910
Japan rejects the American proposal to neutralize ownership of the Manchurian Railway.
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1824
Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Confederate General.
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1793
The French King Louis XVI is guillotined for treason.
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1790
Joseph Guillotine proposes a new, more humane method of execution: a machine designed to cut off the condemned person’s head as painlessly as possible.
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1785
Chippewa, Delaware, Ottawa and Wyandot Indians sign the treaty of Fort McIntosh, ceding present-day Ohio to the United States.
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1737
Ethan Allen, American Revolutionary commander.
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1648
In Maryland, the first woman lawyer in the colonies, Margaret Brent, is denied a vote in the Maryland Assembly.
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1189
Philip Augustus, Henry II of England and Frederick Barbarossa assemble the troops for the Third Crusade.