by Associated Press Tuesday, January 20 by The Associated Press, Associated Press - 12 January 2015 19:09-05:00 Today is Tuesday, Jan. 20, the 20th day of 2015. There are 345 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date: 1265 - England's Parliament meets for first time. 1503 - Casa Contratacion Board of Trade is formed in Spain to deal with affairs in America. 1839 - Chile wins Battle of Yungay against Peru-Bolivian Federation, resulting in dissolution of that union. 1841 - The island of Hong Kong is ceded to Great Britain. 1887 - New Zealand annexes Kermadec Islands in Pacific; U.S. Senate approves leasing Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as naval base. 1921 - The new Parliament in Ankara declares that the country will be called Turkey, and vests executive power in a council led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. 1936 - Britain's King George V dies and is succeeded by Edward VIII. 1942 - Nazi officials hold the notorious Wannsee conference, during which they arrive at their "final solution" that calls for exterminating Europe's Jews. 1957 - South Africa denies port facilities to Indian vessels in retaliation for Indian sanctions against South Africa. 1958 - Soviet Union threatens Greece with economic sanctions if it agrees to the installation of NATO missile bases on Greek territory. 1964 - British forces quell mutinies of Tanganyika Rifles and troops in Uganda and Kenya. 1968 - President Aref's regime in Iraq is deposed, and new government is formed under Gen. Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr. 1986 - A bloodless military coup ousts Lesotho's authoritarian Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan; the United States observes the first federal holiday in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. 1987 - Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite disappears in Beirut, Lebanon, while attempting to negotiate the release of Western hostages. He is freed in November 1991. 1989 - George H.W. Bush is sworn in as the 41st president of the United States. 1990 - Soviet troops storm Azerbaijani capital of Baku, leaving dozens dead and wounded, as President Mikhail Gorbachev defends action on national television. 1991 - In Moscow, hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens protest bloody crackdown on Lithuania and demand resignation of President Mikhail Gorbachev. 1992 - Two former East German border guards are convicted in last killing at Berlin Wall. 1993 - Bill Clinton is inaugurated as president of the United States, taking over from George H.W. Bush. 1994 - Hours after a truce is proclaimed in Kabul, Afghanistan, forces loyal to the president fire rockets at the prime minister's forces. 1995 - The Bosnian government and rebel Serbs exchange nearly 100 prisoners in a move instilling hope in a fragile truce. 1996 - Lebanese man is arrested in the fire that killed 10 immigrants at a shelter in Luebeck, Germany. 1997 - Bill Clinton begins his second term as U.S. president. 1998 - Dr. James Robl at the University of Massachusetts and Dr. Steven Stice of Advanced Cell Technology Inc. announce that they have successfully cloned two identical, genetically engineered calves. 1999 - Riots between Christians and Muslims enter a third day on the Indonesian island of Ambon — 22 people die, 100 are badly injured and more than 30 houses are burned. 2001 - Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, appears in public in Chicago for the first time since acknowledging he fathered a child in an extramarital affair. Protesting Filipinos force President Joseph Estrada to step down and Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is sworn in as the Philippines' new president. 2002 - The government and Colombia's largest guerrilla group reach an agreement on a timetable for cease-fire talks aimed at ending the country's long-running civil war. 2003 - Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic surrenders to the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague, the Netherlands, to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in a 1999 crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. 2004 - Israeli warplanes strike Hezbollah guerrilla bases in southern Lebanon, threatening to re-ignite another Arab-Israeli front that has been mostly calm for years. Israel says it was retaliating for a Hezbollah attack that killed one Israeli soldier and wounded another a day earlier. 2006 - Japan halts all imports of U.S. beef because of mad cow fears threatening millions of dollars in American exports and sending officials scrambling to repair delicate trade relations. 2007 - Mexico extradites Osiel Cardenas, a purported drug cartel boss believed to be running his gang from jail, and three other alleged major traffickers to the United States, an unprecedented move welcomed by Washington. 2008 - A Turkish court again blocks access to the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube because of clips allegedly insulting the country's founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. It is illegal in Turkey to insult the revered figure. 2009 - Barack Hussein Obama becomes the 44th president — and first black chief executive — of the United States. 2010 - An international team of scientists say they think they have found the body of Princess Eadgyth (pronounced Edith) — a 10th-century English noblewoman known for her charity and charm and who has been compared to Princess Diana. 2011 - The U.N. weather agency says the warmest year on record is a three-way tie: 2010, 2005 and 1998, providing further evidence that the planet is slowly but surely heating up. 2012 — France's threat to withdraw early from Afghanistan after an Afghan soldier killed four French troops and wounded 15 is a setback for the U.S.-led coalition's efforts to build a national army and allow foreign troops to go home. 2013 — Barack Obama begins his second term as U.S. president. 2014 — Two car bombs hit a rebel-held post on the Syrian border with Turkey, killing at least 16 people amid continuing fighting between Turkey-supported rebels and Saudi-supported rebels. Today's Birthdays: Paul Cambon, French statesman (1834-1924); George Burns, U.S. comedian (1896-1996); Federico Fellini, Italian film director (1920-1993); Patricia Neal, U.S. actress (1926--2010); David Lynch, U.S. director (1946--); Bill Maher, U.S. television talk show host (1956--); Skeet Ulrich, U.S. actor (1969--); Rainn Wilson, U.S. actor (1966--). Thought For Today: America is a land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion and every change seems an improvement — Alexis de Tocqueville, French author (1805-1859). News Topics: General news, Political resignations, United States Presidential Inauguration, Inaugurations, Human rights and civil liberties, War and unrest, Government and politics, Legislature, Events, Social issues, Social affairs, Executive branch People, Places and Companies: Martin Luther King Jr., George H. Bush, Mikhail Gorbachev, Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Jesse Jackson, Jr., Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Barack Obama, Princess Diana, George Burns, Federico Fellini, Patricia Neal, David Lynch, Bill Maher, Skeet Ulrich, Rainn Wilson, United Kingdom, Turkey, United States, Israel, Afghanistan, Middle East, East Africa, Western Europe, Europe, North America, Central Asia, Asia, Africa Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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