Alexander Dubček comes to power in Czechoslovakia on January 5, 1968, replacing hardliner Antonín Novotný and beginning the short period known as the Prague Spring of major political liberalization, economic reform, and increased freedom of speech and the press. It quickly came to an end when the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact troops invaded on August 21, 1968, to crush the reforms.
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What Happened in January?
Tragic deaths, ravaged cities, and great acts of heroism. Discover what happened this month in history and the defining moments that shaped the world. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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North Korea, using three torpedo boats, two sub chasers and a couple of MiG fighters attacks and captures the USS Pueblo (AGER-2) on January 23, 1968 in international waters off North Korea’s east coast in the Sea of Japan. The U.S.ship was virtually unarmed and outfitted as an electronic surveillance platform. More
The Viet Cong launches the Tet Offensive on January 30, 1968, marking a turning point in the the Vietnam War.
The Beatles perform their last public concert on January 30, 1969, on the rooftop of Apple Records in London.
The Song "Instant Karma" was written by John Lennon on January 27, 1970. As he told the story later... “I wrote it for breakfast, recorded it for lunch and we’re putting it out for dinner.” The evening session included George Harrison, Klaus Voormann, Billy Preston and Alan White.
The song was actually released 10 days later on February 6, 1970 by Apple. It was the third Lennon single to appear before the official breakup of the Beatles. Instant Karma, went on to become the fastest-released songs in pop history, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is ratified by 43 nations.
Apollo 14 lifts off for the moon on January 31, 1971 with astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell. On February 5, 1971, Shepard and Mitchell touched down at the Fra Mauro highlands, spending two days on the Moon performing two extravehicular activities.
President Richard Nixon signs a bill on January 5, 1972, authorizing $5.5 billion for the development of a reusable winged space transportation system commonly known as the space shuttle.
The reusability of the shuttle’s components was expected to provide regular access to space to many customers, while at the same time reducing costs. The spacecraft was to be designed to carry seven astronauts and up to 50,000 pounds of cargo into orbits a few hundred miles from Earth. NASA launched Columbia, the first space shuttle, in 1981. More
Japanese Army Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi is discovered by local farmers on Guam. Yokoi, who fought in World War II. He had been hiding in the jungle for almost 28 years.
The return of the American forces to Guam and the bloody battle for possession of the island, created a breakdown of the Japanese command on Guam and soldiers like Yokoi were left to fend for themselves and told “to prefer death to the disgrace of getting captured alive”. More
British Paratroopers open fire on Roman Catholic civil rights supporters in Derry, Northern Ireland, on January 30, 1972, killing 13 in what became known as Bloody Sunday.
The demonstration began as a peaceful, but illegal, demonstration by some 10,000 people organized by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association in opposition to the British government’s policy of interning suspected members of the IRA without trial. The incident remained a source of controversy for decades, with competing accounts of the events. In 2010 the Saville Report, the final pronouncement of a government inquiry initiated by British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1998, concluded that none of the victims had posed any threat to the soldiers and that their shooting was without justification.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s issues its ruling in Roe v. Wade on January 22, 1973; recognizing that the decision whether to continue or end a pregnancy belongs to the individual, not the government.
Roe held that the specific guarantee of “liberty” in the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects individual privacy, includes the right to abortion prior to fetal viability. After Roe, the Supreme Court repeatedly reaffirmed that the Constitution protects for abortion as an essential liberty, which is tied to other liberty rights to make personal decisions about family, relationships, and bodily autonomy. However, the Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022. More
The Vietnam War Paris Peace Accords are signed on January 27, 1973, effectively ending direct U.S. involvement in the war. More
The 10 millionth Volkswagen Beetle is produced on September 15, 1965, at the Wolfsburg plant, marking a major milestone for the iconic "people's car". The milestone vehicle, a Pearl White 1300 Export model, was produced just 10 years after the 1 millionth car was built in 1955.
Sara Jane Moore is sentenced to life for attempting to assassinate President Gerald Ford on September 22 1975. She was released on Parole on December 31, 2007
The first Concorde commercial flights take off simultaneously on January 21, 1976; an Air France flight from Paris Orly to Dakar and then Rio de Janeiro and a British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Bahrain, marking the dawn of supersonic passenger travel. The flights, carrying fare-paying passengers and flying at over twice the speed of sound cut transatlantic travel times in half.
U.S. President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino (Tokyo Rose) on January 19, 1977, a Japanese-American broadcaster from Japan to U.S. troops during World War II, who, after the war, was convicted of treason and served six years in a U.S. prison. Decades later, it was revealed that key witnesses had been coached by the FBI to lie under oath. President Gerald Ford granted her a full presidential pardon, acknowledging the injustice of her conviction.
"Tokyo Rose" was imagined as a single, seductive female traitor by GIs, a legend fueled by media and their own homesickness. In reality "Tokyo Rose" was the collective nickname given by Allied soldiers to several English-speaking women who broadcast Japanese propaganda during WWII. Iva Toguri D'Aquino, was born in Los Angeles in 1916 and was a UCLA graduate, Toguri was visiting an ill aunt in Japan when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred in 1941 and she was stranded in Japan and forced to work as a radio announcer for the Zero Hour program. After the war, she was falsely identified as the "one and only" Tokyo Rose by journalists and others.
Jimmy Carter is inaugurated as the 39th President of the United States on January 20, 1977 with Walter Mondale as vice president.
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
"Roots," a groundbreaking eight part ,TV miniseries about slavery, air in the United States on January 23, 1977 on ABC.
The series was based on Alex Haley's novel, followed the saga of Kunta Kinte and his descendants through generations of slavery. It was watched by over 130 million people, with its finale ranking among the highest-rated in U.S. TV history.
After almost 40 years of ruling, the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi flees Iran amidst growing unrest, paving the way for the Islamic Revolution. More