Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on January 21st?

Greek playwright Aeschylus dies in Gela, Sicily.

The Fourth Crusade begins with a call for a crusade against Alexios III Angelos, the Byzantine Emperor.

The Eton College Foundation Charter is signed, establishing Eton College near Windsor, England.

The Battle of Nancy takes place, resulting in the death of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, at the hands of the Swiss.

The Protestant city of Zürich declares independence from the Catholic cantons, leading to the First War of Kappel in Switzerland.

San Agustin Church in Manila, the oldest stone church in the Philippines, is completed.

Michael Romanov is elected as the Tsar of Russia, founding the Romanov dynasty.

The Mayflower Compact is signed by Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, establishing a self-governing colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The Treaty of Andrusovo ends the Russo-Polish War and establishes the Truce of Andrusovo between Russia and Poland.

The French National Convention declares King Louis XVI guilty of treason, leading to his execution.

King Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine during the French Revolution after voting unanimously to find the King guilty. For the first time in a thousand years, the French people were not ruled by a monarch. More

New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, prohibiting women from smoking in public establishments.

Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin dies, leading to a power struggle in the Soviet Union.

President Jimmy Carter Issues Proclamation 4483 and Executive Order 11967, granting a pardon to those who evaded the draft in the Vietnam War by violating the Military Selective Service Act from August 4, 1964, to March 28, 1973. It is estimated that the Pardon applied to over 500,000 people, of which 100,000 had left the country. About half of those who left returned. More

Algerian militants attack the Tigantourine gas facility, resulting in multiple casualties.

The Women’s March takes place in Washington DC . to protest Donald Trump’s blatant misogyny and history of sexual assault. It was the single largest demonstration in the capital’s history, with over 500,000 people in attendance. Additional demonstrations, where hundreds of thousands of people gathered, took place in cities across the United States. More