On This Day
What Happened on January 20 in History
8 events that happened on January 20, oldest first. Every entry is written in our own words and links to its source.
The Young Republic and the Civil War Era
1863
Union General Ambrose Burnside began the Mud March, an offensive that bogged down in heavy rain.
Burnside hoped to cross the Rappahannock River west of Fredericksburg and get behind Robert E. Lee's army. Days of rain turned Virginia's roads into mud, and the campaign was soon abandoned.
Source: history.com; nps.gov
The Early 1900s and the World Wars
1937
Franklin D. Roosevelt began his second term, the first presidential inauguration held on January 20.
His first inauguration in 1933 had taken place in March. The 20th Amendment moved the start of presidential terms to January 20 for all future presidents.
Source: history.com; millercenter.org
1942
Senior Nazi officials met at Wannsee near Berlin to coordinate the murder of Europe's Jews.
Reinhard Heydrich led the meeting, attended by 15 officials of the Nazi Party and German government, including Adolf Eichmann. They organized the cooperation of state agencies in what the regime called the Final Solution.
Source: encyclopedia.ushmm.org; history.com
The Cold War
1961
John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as the 35th president and urged Americans to ask what they could do for their country.
Chief Justice Earl Warren gave the oath on the Capitol's east front after a night of snow. Marian Anderson sang the national anthem and Robert Frost recited a poem.
Source: history.com; millercenter.org
1981
Iran freed the 52 American hostages, ending a crisis that had lasted 444 days.
Militant students had seized the American embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979. The captives were released minutes after Ronald Reagan took the oath as president.
Source: history.com
1981
Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the 40th president of the United States.
Reagan delivered his first inaugural address on a day dominated by news from Iran. Minutes after he took office, the 52 American hostages held in Tehran were set free.
Source: millercenter.org; archives.gov
The Modern Era
2009
Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president, the first African American to hold the office.
Crowds filled the National Mall on a freezing day as the nation faced a deep economic downturn. The District of Columbia later estimated that about 1.8 million people attended.
Source: history.com; millercenter.org
2020
Health officials confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the United States, in Washington State.
The patient, a man in his 30s, had returned to Snohomish County from Wuhan, China, on January 15. The CDC reported the laboratory-confirmed case from samples taken two days earlier.
Source: cdc.gov; history.com