Born On This Day:

• Ethan Allen, 1738
• John C. Fremont, 1813
• General Stonewall Jackson, 1824
• King Oscar II Sweden, 1829
• Christian Dior, 1905
• Igor Moiseyev, 1906
• Paul Scofield, 1922
• Telly Savalas, 1924
• Benny Hill, 1925
• Placido Domingo, 1934
• Wolfman Jack, 1938
• Jack Nicklaus, 1940
• Richie Havens, 1941
• Mac Davis, 1942
• Jill Eikenberry, 1947
• Billy Ocean, 1950
• Robbie Benson, 1956
• Geena Davis, 1957
• Dany Heatley, 1981

Died On This Day:

• Louis XVI guillotined, 1793
• V. I. Lenin, 1924
• Lytton Strachey, 1932
• George Orwell, 1950
• Cecil B. deMille, 1959
• Jackie Wilson, 1984
• Charles E. Goodell, 1987
• Carl Furillo, 1989
• Col. Tom Parker, 1996
• Jack Lord, 1998
• Susan Strasberg, 1999
• Peggy Lee, 2002
• Michael Winner, 2013
• Russell Baker, 2019
• Kaye Ballard, 2019
• Terry Jones, 2020

Today's Events:

• 1506 - Swiss Guard in Vatican City founded-oldest army in the world.
• 1790 - Joseph Guillotine proposes humane method of execution: machine to cut off condemned person's head.
• 1846 - The London Daily News first published, edited by Charles Dickens only until February 9.
• 1853 - Machine to fold envelopes patented by Dr. Russell L. Hawes of Worcester, Mass.
• 1907 - First taxi cabs hit the cobblestones in Britain.
• 1908 - First No Smoking legislation: women not permitted to smoke cigarettes in public in New York City.
• 1911 - First Monte Carlo car rally begins.
• 1915 - First Kiwanis Club chartered in Detroit.
• 1942 - Thousands of Hungarian Jews massacred by their own countrymen at Novi Sad by the Danube River over a three-day period.
• 1954 - U.S. submarine Nautilus, first Atom powered ship, launched and christened by Mamie Eisenhower.
• 1976 - Concorde makes its inaugural flight from London to Bahrain.
• 1977 - President Jimmy Carter declares amnesty for all Vietnam War draft evaders.
• 1984 - Britain's first test-tube triplets were born to mother Anne Maaye - a girl and two boys.
• 2012 - 16 year-old Dutch schoolgirl Laura Decker becomes youngest person to sail solo around the world.
• 2017 - Nearly five million women (and some men) march in 476 cities around the world to protest Trump's policies, one-half mil in D.C.
• 2020 - First case of coronavirus in America; Washington state man infected in Wuhan, China.

Feast Day of Saint:

• Agnes
• Fructuosus of Tarragona
• Meinrad

Holiday:

• Anniversary of Lenin's Death celebrated in Moscow

Non-Specific Holiday:

• YÜAN TAN. Chinese New Year's Day. Based on lunar calendar - starts sunset on day of 2nd New Moon.
• CHINESE LANTERN FESTIVAL 15th day of first month of lunar calendar marks end of Chinese New Year.
• TU BI-SHEBAT (Judaism) New Year for Trees, celebrated on 15th of lunar month Shebat.
• MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY 3rd Monday in January
• ADULTS DAY in Japan - second Monday in January - 'Seijin no hi'
• SNOW FESTIVAL - Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
• GANESHA CHATURTHI, Hindu Festival of the Elephant God
• VASANT PANCHAMI, Hindu Festival of Spring and of Saraswati, Goddess of Learning (end of January)
• PONGAL AND MAKARA SANKRANTI, mid-January, Harvest festival celebrated in Southern India and Singapore
• LAILAT AL MIRAJ Muslim Festival celebrating ascent of Muhammad into Heaven
• JAPANESE NEW YEAR - 3 day festival
• LOHRI, the Hindu Bonfire Festival, celebrated early January