Ozzy Osbourne Bites Head Off Bat

January 20, 1982

The heavy-metal musician Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off of a bat during a concert in Des Moines, Iowa. The bat was thrown on stage by an audience member and Osbourne didn't realize it was a real bat until after he bit the head off. In the process, the bat bit him and he had to be treated for rabies.

Iraq War

January 20, 2003

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld declares, "Saddam Hussein possesses chemical and biological weapons… His regime is paying a high price to pursue weapons of mass destruction -- giving up billions of dollars in oil revenue. His regime has large, unaccounted for stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons -- including VX, sarin, cyclosarin and mustard gas; anthrax, botulism, and possibly smallpox -- and he has an active program to acquire and develop nuclear weapons."

Rumsfeld Becomes the Oldest Secretary of Defense

January 20, 2001

Donald Rumsfeld becomes the oldest U.S. Secretary of Defense in American history. He was also the youngest Secretary of Defense in American history when he took office the first time in 1975, serving until 1977 under President Gerald Ford. He then served again from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush.

Clinton Pardons 140 People

January 20, 2001

Before leaving office, U.S. President Bill Clinton pardons 140 people; including his half-brother Roger Clinton, Whitewater scandal figure Susan McDougal, Patty Hearst, and former CIA Director John Deutch.

Dan Quayle

January 20, 1989

The newly elected Vice-President Dan Quayle takes oath of office omitting a line. He was repeating the oath as recited by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, "'I, J. Danforth Quayle, swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.'" However, she skipped the line, "'against all enemies, foreign and domestic'" causing him to also omit it.

Olympic Boycott

January 20, 1980

U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the U.S. will boycott the Moscow Summer Olympics in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Lowest Recorded Temperature in the Continental U.S.

January 20, 1954

Rogers Pass, Montana dips to -69.7°F (-56.5°C).

China Cedes Hong Kong

January 20, 1841

China cedes Hong Kong to Great Britain.

First Woman Cadet at the Citadel

Shannon Faulkner

Born January 20, 1975

American military student. The first woman cadet at the Citadel (1995). After four hours of military indoctrination training, she spent the remainder of the first week in the infirmary before voluntarily resigning, citing emotional and psychological abuse and physical exhaustion. In 2012, Faulkner claimed she had quit due to a threat to kill her parents by a person present when she entered.

Lorenzo Lamas

Born January 20, 1958

American actor. TV: Falcon Crest (1981-90, Lance Cumson).

Paul Stanley (Stanley Harvey Eisen)

Born January 20, 1952

American rock musician with Kiss. Music: Rock And Roll All Nite (1975).

David Lynch

Born January 20, 1946

American director. Film: Eraserhead (1977), The Elephant Man (1980), Dune (1985), and Blue Velvet (1986). TV: Twin Peaks.

Bill Griffith

Born January 20, 1944

American cartoonist. Creator of Zippy the Pinhead.

Arte Johnson (Arthur Stanton Eric Johnson)

Born January 20, 1929 d. 2019

American Emmy-winning comedian. TV: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1968-73, the German soldier - "Verrrry interesting, but stupid" and the dirty old man).

Patricia Neal

Born January 20, 1926 d. 2010

American Oscar-winning actress. Film: The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951, WWII widow Helen Benson) and Hud (1963, Oscar).

Ray Anthony (Raymond Antonini)

Born January 20, 1922

American bandleader of the '50s. He composed the hit The Bunny Hop.

Federico Fellini

Born January 20, 1920 d. 1993

Italian Oscar-winning director. Film: La Dolce Vita (1959), The Loafers (1953), La Strada (1954, Oscar), 8½ (1963, Oscar), and Amarcord (1973, Oscar). The word "paparazzo" is from the name of a character in La Dolce Vita.

Joy Adamson

Born January 20, 1910 d. 1980

Austrian environmentalist, author. Writings: Born Free (1960). In 1956, Adamson's husband, George Adamson, shot and killed a lion in self-defense. He found that she had attacked to protect her three cubs. George rescued the cubs, giving two to a zoo and keeping one they named Elsa. Joy wrote the book Born Free (1960) describing their raising of the cub and setting her free. The Adamson's were featured in the 1966 movie of the same title as the book.

Aristotle Socrates Onassis

Born January 20, 1906 d. 1975

Greek shipping executive, husband of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Leon Ames (Leon Waycoff)

Born January 20, 1902 d. 1993

American actor. TV: Mister Ed (1963-65, neighbor Gordon Kirkwood). He was one of the 19 founders of the Screen Actors Guild (1933) and served as its president (1957-58).

Colin Clive (Colin Glenn Clive-Greig)

Born January 20, 1900 d. 1937

British actor. Colin Clive is best remembered for his role as Dr. Frankenstein ("It's Alive! It's Alive!") in the classic films Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935).
Clive died at the age of 37 from complications of tuberculosis that were furthered along by his alcoholism.
Film: Journey's End (1930).

Harold Gray

Born January 20, 1894 d. 1968

American cartoonist. Creator of Little Orphan Annie (1924). He is considered to be the first American cartoonist to use a comic strip to express a political philosophy. Gray had a strong dislike for Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and unions, and this was often expressed in his comics. Gray's comic strip was inspired from the poem Little Orphant Annie (1885), by James Whitcomb Riley.

Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter

Born January 20, 1888 d. 1949

American blues and folk musician, "King of the 12-string guitar." Music: wrote Goodnight Irene, The Midnight Special, and The Rock Island Line.

Richard Henry Lee

Born January 20, 1732 d. 1794

12th president of the Continental Congress (1784-85) and signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.

We Can Do It!

Naomi Parker Fraley

Died January 20, 2018 b. 1921

American war worker. She is believed to be the model for the iconic 1943 "We Can Do It!" poster. Artist J. Howard Miller was inspired by a photo of her operating a lathe. This image later became known as "Rosie the Riveter".
The poster was created for Westinghouse Electric as an inspirational image to boost female worker morale and contrary to popular belief, it was never used as a World War II recruitment poster, but only internally at Westinghouse.

Audrey Hepburn (Audrey Kathleen Ruston)

Died January 20, 1993 b. 1929

British Oscar-Tony-Emmy-Grammy winning actress. Film: Roman Holiday (1953, Oscar), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), and Wait Until Dark (1967).
During World War II, she performed silent dance performances to raise money for the Dutch resistance effort.
She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1992) for her work with UNICEF.

Tarzan

Johnny Weissmuller

Died January 20, 1984 b. 1904

Austro-Hungarian-born American Olympic swimmer, actor. Famous for his portrayal of Tarzan and his distinctive Tarzan jungle call Listen. It is still used in films today. At age 9, he contracted polio and took up swimming to help battle the disease. He would go on to win three gold medals in the 1924 Olympics and two in the 1928 Olympics. He was the first to break the one minute barrier for 100-meter freestyle, and the first to swim the 440-yard freestyle under five minutes. He won fifty-two U.S. national championships, set more than 50 world records (spread over both freestyle and backstroke).

Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition

Rev. Howell M. Forgy

Died January 20, 1972 b. 1908

U.S. Navy chaplain. During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Forgy encouraged the crew with the words "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition."
He was serving aboard the USS New Orleans during the attack and due to lack of ship's power the men had formed a bucket brigade to transfer ammunition to the guns to fire at the incoming Japanese planes. When he saw that the men were getting tired, he inspired them with his now famous words "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition."
After word of the incident spread, the phrase became famous was even made into a song.

Father of the Animated Cartoon

Émile Cohl (Émile Eugène Jean Louis Courtet)

Died January 20, 1938 b. 1857

French caricaturist, "The Father of the Animated Cartoon." He made what is considered the first fully-animated film (Fantasmagorie, 1908). He also made the first puppet animation film.

Etienne de Silhouette

Died January 20, 1767 b. 1709

French finance minister, his name became synonymous with reducing things to their simplest form.

Meat Loaf (Marvin Lee Aday)

Died January 20, 2022 b. 1947

American singer. Film: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975, Eddie. He also played the role in the Los Angeles stage production, where he played Eddie and Dr. Everett Scott). He was also in the Los Angeles production of Hair and later joined the Broadway production. His Bat Out of Hell series of albums have sold over 65,000,000 copies. The first Bat out of Hell (1977) album was rejected by the major labels because it didn't fit any standard music industry style. The newly-formed independent label, Cleveland International Records, picked it up as one of their first albums and it went on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time.
He also appeared in over 50 movies and television shows, including Fight Club (1999, as Bob Paulson).

Barbara Stanwyck (Ruby Stevens)

Died January 20, 1990 b. 1907

American Emmy-winning actress. TV: Big Valley (Emmy, Victoria Barkley) and The Colbys (Constance Colby). In 1944 the IRS reported her as the highest-paid American woman.

G.M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson (Max Aronson)

Died January 20, 1971 b. 1880

American western actor and director. He became the first male movie star with The Great Train Robbery (1903). In 1957 he received a special Oscar "for his contributions to the development of motion pictures as entertainment."

Coined the Phrase "Rock 'n' Roll"

Alan Freed

Died January 20, 1965 b. 1921

American Hall of Fame disc-jockey, coined the phrase "Rock 'n' Roll." His TV dance show The Big Beat was canceled after a black male musician danced with a white girl. In 1958, Freed was arrested and charged with "inciting to riot" after announcing on the radio, "The police don't want you to have fun." In 1962, he pleaded guilty to commercial bribery for his part in the payola scandal.

George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert)

Died January 20, 1936 b. 1865

King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India (1910-36). He denied political asylum in 1917 to his cousin Tsar Nicholas II and his family during Bolshevik Revolution, who were ultimately executed in the aftermath of the revolution.

Charles IV

Died January 20, 1819 b. 1748

King of Spain (1788-1808). His loss of Trinidad to England (1797) and destruction of the Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) made him unpopular.

Thomas Mifflin

Died January 20, 1800 b. 1744

11th president of the Continental Congress (1783-84).

John II

Died January 20, 1479 b. 1397

King of Aragon (1458-79) and Navarre (1425-79).

Saint Fabian

Died January 20, 250 b. ????

Italian religious leader, 20th Pope (236-250).