124 things happened on 21 January, from AD 420 to 2020. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1976 · 50 years ago
Concorde, a supersonic airliner built jointly by Britain and France, began flying paying passengers on scheduled routes. Supersonic means faster than the speed of sound. The first services linked London, Paris, Bahrain and Rio de Janeiro. Only Concorde and th…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
King Edward II of England issued a royal charter confirming the founding of Oriel College, part of the University of Oxford. A charter is an official document that grants rights. The college had been started two years earlier by Adam de Brome, who served the king. Oriel is the oldest college in Oxford founded by a monarch, and the explorer Sir Walter Raleigh later studied there.
UK story
The new Emley Moor transmitting station, near Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, began sending out colour television signals. The concrete tower replaced an earlier steel mast that had collapsed in 1969. Emley Moor is the tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom. It is protected as a Grade II listed building, which means it is officially recognised as special.
UK story
Concorde, a supersonic airliner built jointly by Britain and France, began flying paying passengers on scheduled routes. Supersonic means faster than the speed of sound. The first services linked London, Paris, Bahrain and Rio de Janeiro. Only Concorde and the Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 have ever run regular supersonic passenger services, and Concorde's last passenger flight was in 2003.
UK story
The DeLorean Motor Company finished its first production car at its factory in Dunmurry, near Belfast in Northern Ireland. The DeLorean sports car had shiny, unpainted stainless steel panels and gull-wing doors that opened upwards. The company made only this one model and went bankrupt in 1982. The car later became famous around the world as the time machine in the Back to the Future films.
UK story
The Ashantis defeat British forces in the Gold Coast during the First Anglo-Ashanti War.
The first Monte Carlo Rally was held, organised at the wish of Prince Albert I of Monaco. Twenty-three cars set out from 11 different starting points and drove to Monaco. The rally was meant to show off improvements in cars and to attract visitors to Monaco. Henri Rougier, who started from Paris, was declared the first winner, and the rally is still held every year.
Members of the Irish party Sinn Féin met at the Mansion House in Dublin and set up their own parliament, called Dáil Éireann. They had won a huge victory in Ireland in the 1918 UK general election, but refused to take their seats in London. At this first meeting they declared Ireland independent. At the time, the whole of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom.
USS Nautilus, the world's first submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, was launched at Groton, Connecticut, in the United States. Mamie Eisenhower, the wife of the American president, performed the launch. In a nuclear-powered vessel, heat from the reactor turns water into steam, which drives the propeller. In 1958 Nautilus became the first submarine to travel underwater beneath the North Pole.
A Little Joe rocket lifted off from Wallops Island, Virginia, carrying a rhesus monkey called Miss Sam inside a Mercury spacecraft. The flight tested the launch escape system, which is designed to pull a capsule away from a rocket in an emergency. Miss Sam came back in good condition after a flight of about eight and a half minutes. Project Mercury was America's first programme to send people into space.
NASA's Mars rover Spirit suddenly stopped communicating with mission control, less than three weeks after landing on Mars. The fault was in the way the robot handled its flash memory, a kind of computer storage. Engineers fixed the problem from Earth on 6 February. Spirit went on to explore Mars until 2010, and its name was chosen in an essay competition for students.
The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.
Following the Affair of the Placards, the French king leads an anti-Protestant procession through Paris.
Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm.
The Teatro Filarmonico in Verona is destroyed by fire, as a result of a torch being left behind in the box of a nobleman after a performance. It is rebuilt in 1754.
French and Indian War: French regulars, Canadien militia and Indigenous forces ambushed Rogers' Rangers forces in the Battle on Snowshoes.
Abdul Hamid I becomes Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.
The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth by William Hill Brown, is printed in Boston.
The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, is formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana.
New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor.
Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit.
Albania declares itself a republic.
Isaac Isaacs (pictured) became the first Australian-born governor-general of Australia.
Finland and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression treaty.
The Jewish resistance organization, Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye, based in the Vilna Ghetto is established.
The Trade Union Council of Transcarpathian Ukraine is founded in Mukachevo.
The Flag of Quebec is adopted and flown for the first time over the National Assembly of Quebec. The day is marked annually as Québec Flag Day.
American lawyer and government official Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.
The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad ends operation.
Vietnam War: The People's Army of Vietnam attacked Khe Sanh Combat Base, a U.S. Marines outpost in Quảng Trị province, South Vietnam, starting the Battle of Khe Sanh.
Tripura, formerly part of the independent Twipra Kingdom, became a state of India.
Conservative protestors attack a mock shanty town that had been erected on the Green at Dartmouth College as part of anti-apartheid protests.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 395–28 to reprimand Newt Gingrich for ethics violations, making him the first Speaker of the House to be so disciplined.
Ecuador: After the Ecuadorian Congress is seized by indigenous organizations, Col. Lucio Gutiérrez, Carlos Solorzano and Antonio Vargas depose President Jamil Mahuad. Gutierrez is later replaced by Gen. Carlos Mendoza, who resigns and allows Vice-President Gustavo Noboa to succeed Mahuad.
Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, officially ending a three-week war it had with Hamas. However, intermittent fire by both sides continues in the weeks to follow.
Rojava conflict: The Jazira Canton declares its autonomy from the Syrian Arab Republic.
Millions of people participated in the Women's March in Washington, D.C., and around the world to advocate for legislation and policies on human rights and other issues.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “Edward II confirms the founding of Oriel College, Oxford”?
C: 1326. 1326 — that’s 700 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “Concorde begins its first scheduled passenger flights”?
A: 1976. 1976 — that’s 50 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
A: Edward II confirms the founding of Oriel College, Oxford. 1326: Edward II confirms the founding of Oriel College, Oxford · 1976: Concorde begins its first scheduled passenger flights · 1981: The first DeLorean car is completed in Northern Ireland Find it on the page
“The first DeLorean car is completed in Northern Ireland” happened in 1981. How many years ago was that?
A: 45 years. 2026 − 1981 = 45. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 21 January.
UK story
Paul Scofield was an English actor whose career lasted six decades. He is celebrated as one of the greatest performers of Shakespeare's plays. He won an Academy Award, an Emmy and a Tony, a set of top acting prizes known as the Triple Crown of Acting. He turned down the offer of a knighthood three times.
Well-known people who died on 21 January.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 21 January somewhere in the world.
National Hugging Day is held every year in the United States. It was created by Kevin Zaborney. The day celebrates the power of hugs between family members and friends, as long as everyone is happy to be hugged. Some hugging events also raise money for charities.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “January 21” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.