This Day in History January 21 1793 Deposed King Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine during the French Revolution 1817 Jens Christian Larsson, Mr. Seeley’s great-great-great- grandfather who came to America in 1857, is born in Malmo, Sweden 1924 Vladimir Lenin, architect of Russia’s communist revolution and first leader of the Soviet Union, dies of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 54 1977 On his 1st full day in office, President Jimmy Carter grants an unconditional pardon to hundreds of thousands of men who evaded the draft during the Vietnam War 1987
The Second Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are held in New York City—inductees include The Coasters, Eddie Cochran, Bo Diddley, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Bill Haley, B.B. King, Clyde McPhatter, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Smokey Robinson, Big Joe Turner, Muddy Waters, and Jackie Wilson 1990 American tennis great John McEnroe is disqualified from the Australian Open for on-court misconduct while arguing with the match official 2008 Black Monday rocks worldwide stock markets over fears of a U.S. recession, signaling one of the worst financial crises in history 2009 When 2008 yearly sales are announced, Toyota officially passes General Motors as the world’s largest automaker—Toyota sold 8.97 million vehicles in 2008, GM sold 8.36 million 2017 On the first full day of Donald Trump’s presidency, hundreds of thousands of people crowd onto the National Mall for the Women’s March on Washington 2020 Welsh actor and director Terry Jones, best-known for being a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe, dies in North London at the age of 77 2020 The Senate impeachment trial of President Trump resumes with a fierce debate over proposed rules for the first stage of the trial 2020 Major League Baseball announces that Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and Rockies outfielder Larry Walker have been elected to the Hall of Fame—Jeter received 99.7% of the vote and Walker 76.6% (75% is the minimum) 2021 Yesterday, President Biden issued 17 executive orders and directives, including a move to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, a halt on construction of the border wall, and a mask mandate on federal property 2021 Yesterday, President Joe Biden directed the U.S. government to rejoin the World Health Organization (WHO)—President Trump began withdrawing from the WHO last year, accusing it of incompetence and bowing to Chinese pressure over the coronavirus 2021 During President Biden’s first public appearance from the Oval Office yesterday, a bust of Arizona-born civil rights leader Cesar Chavez was featured on a table behind him 2021 A preliminary hearing is set today for Riley June Williams, a 22-year-old Pennsylvania woman the FBI is investigating for allegedly stealing a laptop from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the Capitol riot—it is suspected she intended to sell the laptop to Russia