On January 20, 1942, several senior Nazi leaders meet at the Wannsee Conference, on the outskirts of Berlin, and agree on the so-called ‘final solution to the Jewish problem’, that is, extermination.
Other anniversaries:
1486.- Christopher Columbus appears before the Catholic Monarchs in Alcalá de Henares and explains his project to open a route across the Atlantic to reach the East Indies.
1817.- Portuguese-Brazilian troops, under the command of General Carlos Federico Lecor, occupy Montevideo.
1836.- The United States and Venezuela sign a treaty of peace, friendship, commerce and navigation.
1839.- Battle of Yugay (Peru). The victory of the Chilean forces ends the Confederation of Peru and Bolivia.
1882.- Excavation work on the Panama Canal begins.
1929.- Stalin expels Trotsky from the USSR. He was deported to Alma-Ata (Kazakhstan) and then to Türkiye.
1941.- Franklin D. Roosevelt is sworn in as president of the United States for the third time.
1944.- Heavy night bombing by the Royal Air Force (RAF) on Berlin. They attack some 700 devices and launch more than two thousand tons of explosives.
1958.- The first Mortadelo and Filemón comic strip, by cartoonist Francisco Ibáñez, is published in the magazine ‘Pulgarcito’.
1961.- In the United States, John F. Kennedy takes office as president.
1971.- Wedding in Illescas (Toledo) of Julio Iglesias and Isabel Preysler.
1972.- The entire Government of Chile resigns to facilitate Salvador Allende’s reorganization.
1980.- More than 400 dead and 2,000 injured when a bullring collapsed in Sincelejo (Colombia).
1981.- 52 American hostages captured in their country’s embassy in Tehran are released.
1996.- Yasser Arafat wins the elections for president of the Autonomous Council for the West Bank and Gaza by a large majority, becoming the first democratically elected leader in Palestine.
1997.- The Government of Zaire declares war on the Tutsi rebels.
2006.- The Western Tunnel, 4.6 kilometers long, one of the longest in Latin America, is inaugurated in Colombia.
2009.- Barack Obama is sworn in as president of the United States, becoming the country’s first black president.
2014.- Iran suspends uranium enrichment in compliance with the Geneva nuclear agreement. The US eases sanctions and the EU suspends them.
2015.- Houthi rebels occupy the presidential palace of Yemen.
2017.- Donald Trump is sworn into office and becomes the 45th president of the United States.
2021.- Joe Biden is sworn in as president of the United States.
2022.- Belgian pilot Zara Rutherford, 19, becomes the youngest woman to fly around the world alone with her two-seater Shark ultralight plane.
Births
1716.- Charles III, king of Spain.
1758.- Marie-Anne Pierrette, known as Marie Lavoisier, French chemist.
1775.- André-Marie Ampére, French mathematician and physicist.
1910.- Joy Adamson, Austrian naturalist.
1920.- Federico Fellini, Italian filmmaker.
1925.- Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan poet and priest, defender of Liberation Theology.
1930.- Edwin Aldrin, American astronaut.
1943.-.- Armando Guebuza, former president of Mozambique (2005-2015).
1944.- José Luis Garci, Spanish filmmaker.
1946.- David Lynch, American film director.
1958.- Lorenzo Lamas, American actor.
1965.- Sophie Rhys-Jones, Countess of Wessex and wife of Prince Edward of England.
1973.- Mathilde D’Udekem D’Acoz, Queen of Belgium.
1978.- Omar Sy, French actor.
1987.- Evan Peters, American actor.
Deaths
1875.- Jean-Francois Millet, French painter.
1936.- George V, king of the United Kingdom.
1983.- Manuel Francisco Dos Santos, ‘Garrincha’, Brazilian footballer.
1984.- Johnny Weissmuller, ‘Tarzan’, American athlete and actor of Austrian origin.
1990.- Barbara Stanwyck, American actress.
1993.- Audrey Hepburn, American actress of Belgian origin.
2005.- Jan Nowak-Jezioranski, Polish journalist, symbol of the fight against communist power.
2007.- Alfredo Ripstein, Mexican film producer.
2009.- Ramón Sánchez Gómez, ‘Ramón de Algeciras’, flamenco guitarist.
2012.- Etta James, American blues and jazz singer.
2014.- Claudio Abbado, Italian conductor.
2016.- Edmonde Charles-Roux, French writer.
2018.- Paul Bocuse, French chef, founder of ‘nouvelle cuisine’.
2022.- .- Marvin Lee Aday, ‘Meat Loaf’, American rock singer and actor.
