1887 – Senate approves naval base lease of Pearl Harbor.
1905 – United States begins supervising the Dominican Republic’s national and international debts, testing President Theodore Roosevelt’s “Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine.
1920 – The American Civil Liberties Union is founded.
1930 – First radio broadcast of “Lone Ranger” on WXYZ in Detroit.
1937 – First presidential inauguration day held on January 20. It had previously been March 4.
1945 – Franklin D. Roosevelt sworn in to an unprecedented, and never to be repeated, fourth term as president.
1949 – First inaugural parade televised, for Harry Truman, and is watched by 10 million people.
1950 – NFL Draft: Leon Hart from the University of Notre Dame is the first pick by the Detroit Lions.
1954 – Temperature of minus-70 degrees at Rogers Pass, Montana, which is a record low within the contiguous United States.
1961 – Democrat John F. Kennedy, the youngest elected President of the United States, is administered his oath of office at his inauguration by Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. Robert Frost recites “Gift Courage.”
1965 – The US Jet Propulsion Laboratory proposes a modified Apollo flight to fly around Mars and return.
1967 – Philadelphia 76ers center Wilt Chamberlain makes all 15 of his field goal attempts, a NBA record, in a 119-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. He beats the mark twice before 1966-67 season ends.
1973 – Richard Nixon’s second inauguration as President of the United States takes place in Washington, D.C. with flags flown at half-staff in mourning for former President Harry Truman.
1980 – President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the winter Olympics in Moscow after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
1986 – First federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. on MLK Day.
1995 – 1994-95 NHL Season began after a lengthy strike.
2001 – President Bill Clinton issues 140 executive pardons on his last day in office, including Marc Rich, Susan McDougal, Patty Hearst, and Clinton’s brother Roger.
2009 – Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, becoming the first African-American president.
2017 – Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States of America and Mike Pence as the 48th Vice President.
2021 – Joe Biden is inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States of America and Kamala Harris as the 49th Vice-President, the first female, black or south Asian Vice President. Amanda Gorman recites “The Hill We Climb.” Previous office holder Donald Trump is the first outgoing president to refuse to attend the inauguration of his successor since 1869.
Author: Sonny Jones
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