On This Day — 20 January

2018

A group of four or five gunmen attack The Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, sparking a 12-hour battle. The attack kills 40 people and injures many others.

2018 Inter-Continental Hotel Kabul attack

2018

Syrian civil war: The Government of Turkey announces the initiation of the Afrin offensive and begins shelling Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) positions in Afrin Region.

Syrian civil war

2009

A protest movement in Iceland culminates as the 2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests start.

Iceland

2001

President of the Philippines Joseph Estrada is ousted in a nonviolent four-day revolution, and is succeeded by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

President of the Philippines

1992

Air Inter Flight 148, an Airbus A320-111, crashes into a mountain near Strasbourg, France, killing 87 of the 96 people on board.

Air Inter Flight 148

1991

Sudan's government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country's Muslim north and Christian south.

Sudan

1990

Protests in Azerbaijan, part of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Black January

1986

In the United States, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

1986

Leabua Jonathan, Prime Minister of Lesotho, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by General Justin Lekhanya.

Leabua Jonathan

1981

Twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as the 40th President of the United States of America, Iran releases 52 American hostages.

Ronald Reagan

1974

China gains control over all the Paracel Islands after a military engagement between the naval forces of China and South Vietnam.

Paracel Islands

1973

Amílcar Cabral, leader of the independence movement in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, is assassinated in Conakry, Guinea.

Amílcar Cabral

1972

Pakistan launches its nuclear weapons program, a few weeks after its defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War, as well as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction

1954

In the United States, the National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.

National Negro Network

1945

World War II: The provisional government of Béla Miklós in Hungary agrees to an armistice with the Allies.

Béla Miklós

1945

World War II: Germany begins the evacuation of 1.8 million people from East Prussia, a task which will take nearly two months.

Nazi Germany

1942

World War II: At the Wannsee Conference held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, senior Nazi German officials discuss the implementation of the "Final Solution to the Jewish question".

World War II

1941

A German officer is killed in Bucharest, Romania, sparking a rebellion and pogrom by the Iron Guard, killing 125 Jews and 30 soldiers.

Bucharest

1921

The British K-class submarine HMS K5 sinks in the English Channel; all 56 on board die.

HMS K5

1921

The first Constitution of Turkey is adopted, making fundamental changes in the source and exercise of sovereignty by consecrating the principle of national sovereignty.

Turkish Constitution of 1921

1909

Newly formed automaker General Motors (GM) buys into the Oakland Motor Car Company, which later becomes GM's long-running Pontiac division.

General Motors

1887

The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.

United States Senate

1877

The last day of the Constantinople Conference results in agreement for political reforms in the Balkans.

Constantinople Conference

1874

The Treaty of Pangkor is signed between the British and Sultan Abdullah of Perak, paving the way for further British colonization of Malaya.

Pangkor Treaty of 1874

1841

Hong Kong Island is occupied by the British during the First Opium War.

Hong Kong Island

1839

In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeats an alliance between Peru and Bolivia.

Battle of Yungay

1788

The third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay, beginning the British colonization of Australia. Arthur Phillip decides that Port Jackson is a more suitable location for a colony.

First Fleet

1785

Invading Siamese forces attempt to exploit the political chaos in Vietnam, but are ambushed and annihilated at the Mekong river by the Tây Sơn in the Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút.

Rattanakosin Kingdom (1782–1932)

1783

The Kingdom of Great Britain signs preliminary articles of peace with the Kingdom of France, setting the stage for the official end of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War later that year.

Kingdom of Great Britain

1726

J. S. Bach leads the first performance of his cantata Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen (My sighs, my tears), BWV 13, for the second Sunday after Epiphany.

Johann Sebastian Bach

1649

The High Court of Justice for the trial of Charles I begins its proceedings.

Trial of Charles I

1576

The Mexican city of León is founded by order of the viceroy Don Martín Enríquez de Almanza.

León, Guanajuato

1567

Battle of Rio de Janeiro: Portuguese forces under the command of Estácio de Sá definitively drive the French out of Rio de Janeiro.

Battle of Rio de Janeiro (1567)

1523

Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway.

Christian II of Denmark

1401

The Taula de canvi (Catalan: "Table of change"), described as Europe's first-ever public bank, began operations inside Barcelona's Llotja de Mar.

Taula de canvi de Barcelona

1356

Edward Balliol surrenders his claim to the Scottish throne to Edward III in exchange for an English pension.

Edward Balliol

1320

Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland.

Władysław I Łokietek

1265

The first English parliament to include not only Lords but also representatives of the major towns holds its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster, now commonly known as the "Houses of Parliament".

Simon de Montfort's Parliament

1156

Finnish peasant Lalli kills English clergyman Henry, the Bishop of Turku, on the ice of Lake Köyliö.

Lalli

250

Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.

Pope Fabian