Unix Timestamp: 1579651200
Wednesday, January 22. 2020, 12:00:00 AM UTC

At least 16 people drown after a passenger boat sinks off Iran's southern coast. //www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/01/2012122135512760184.html (Al Jazeera)

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is appointed as the new Prime Minister of Iceland, becoming the world's first openly lesbian head of government.

The first trial at the International Criminal Court is held. Former Union of Congolese Patriots leader Thomas Lubanga is accused of training child soldiers to kill, pillage, and rape.//www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116sid=a_4iKnLHRml4refer=africa Congo Warlord Pleads Not Guilty at ICC’s First Trial (Update1). Bloomberg.com (2009-01-26). Retrieved on 2009-07-07.

Iceland's National Police uses teargas against protesters for the first time since anti-NATO riots in 1949. //www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gHkIlEVsda4i3WimogStwsmm2wrgD95S6Q3O0 (AP via Google News)

The Icelandic government and banking system collapse Prime MinisterGeir Haarde immediately resigns.

Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow is enthroned as the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Congolese rebel leader Laurent Nkunda is captured by Rwandan forces after crossing over the border into Rwanda.

Russia stages the largest naval exercise since the fall of the Soviet Union in the Bay of Biscay. The Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, along with 11 support vessels and 47 long-range bomber aircraft, practises strike tactics off the coast of France and Spain, and test-launches nuclear-capable missiles in foreign waters.

Thousands of Palestinians cross into Egypt, as the border wall with Gaza in Rafah is blown up by militants.

Polish Air ForceEADS CASA C-295 crashes on approach to the 12th Air Base near Mirosławiec. All 20 personnel on board die.

January 2008 stock market downturn: After further losses in international markets, the United States Federal Reserve System cuts its primary interest rate by 75 basis points to 3.5%, the largest move in the interest rate since 1982. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovers after initial losses of almost 500 points to close at 11,971.19, down only 1.06%. //biz.yahoo.com/ap/080122/economy_stimulus.html (AP via Yahoo! Finance)

The RIAA, a music industry lobbying group, announces that Hilary Rosen will step down as head of the organization at the end of 2003. Rosen achieved notoriety on the Internet for her prolific efforts to halt the spread of copyrighted MP3 recordings on peer-to-peer file sharing networks such as Napster and Kazaa. Reports indicate that the members of the RIAA are unhappy with Rosen's nearly total failure to achieve this goal.

Suspected UnabomberTheodore Kaczynski pleads guilty, and accepts a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

Madeleine Albright becomes the first female Secretary of State, after confirmation by the United States Senate.

Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece, resigns due to health problems a new government forms under Costas Simitis.

Pennsylvania Treasurer Budd Dwyer shoots and kills himself with a revolver during a televised press conference after being found guilty on charges of bribery, fraud, conspiracy, and racketeering.

Björn Borg retires from tennis after winning 5 consecutive Wimbledon chionships.

Andrei Sakharov, Soviet scientist and human rights activist, is arrested in Moscow.

Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering debris over Canada's Northwest Territories.

Ethiopia declares the ambassador of West Germany Persona non grata.

Rose Dugdale and Eddie Gallagher become the first convicted prisoners to marry in prison in the history of the Republic of Ireland.

"Rowan Martin's Laugh-In" debuts on NBC.

Pope Paul VI institutes the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. It is being observed up to now. During this celebration the Popes remind the universal Church that still today salvation comes to us. It is celebrated every Fourth Sunday of Easter also known as Good Shepherd Sunday.

Kenneth Kaunda is inaugurated as the first Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia.

Thirteen years after its proposal and nearly 2 years after its passage by the United States Senate, the 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in national elections, is ratified.

Arthur Miller's ''After the Fall'' opens on Broadway. A semi-autobiographical work, it arouses controversy over his portrayal of late ex-wife Marilyn Monroe.

France and West Germany sign the Elysée Treaty.

The East German government readopts conscription.

The Organization of American States suspends Cuba's membership.

The Organisation armée secrète (OAS) bombs the French Foreign Ministry.

Knox Mine Disaster: Water breaches the River Slope Mine in Port Griffith, Pennsylvania near Pittston, Pennsylvania 12 miners are killed.

The Pentagon announces a plan to develop ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) armed with nuclear weapons.

"The Crucible", a drama by Arthur Miller, opens on Broadway.

Walter Ulbricht announces that the agriculture will be collectivized in East Germany.

Mau Mau Uprising: Rebels in Kenya kill the Ruck family (father, mother and six-year-old son).

British foreign secretary Bevin proposes the formation of a Western Union between Britain, France and the Benelux countries to stand up against the Soviet Union. The Treaty of Brussels is signed March 17 as a consequence, a predecessor to NATO.

Iran: Qazi Muhammad declares the independent people's Republic of Mahabad at the Chuwarchira Square in the Kurdish city of Mahabad. He is the new president, Hadschi Baba Scheich is the prime minister.

WWII ndash Operation Shingle: The Allies begin the assault on Anzio, Italy. The U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division stands their ground at Anzio against violent assaults for 4 months.

WWII: Battle of Tobruk: Australian and British forces capture Tobruk from the Italians.

In Sweden, Victor Hasselblad had the Victor Hasselblad AB Camera Company registered.

Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town" is performed for the first time anywhere in Princeton, New Jersey. It premieres in New York City on February 4.

Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia.

Ramsay MacDonald becomes the first LabourPrime Minister.

The Australian Country Party is officially formed, led by Nelson Pollard.

The Danish West Indies is sold to the United States for $25 million.

WWI: President Woodrow Wilson calls for peace without victory in Germany.

An anti-prostitution drive in San Francisco attracts huge crowds to public meetings. At one meeting attended by 7,000 people, 20,000 are kept out for lack of room. In a conference with Rev. Paul Smith, an outspoken foe of prostitution, 300 prostitutes make a plea for toleration, explaining they had been forced into the practice by poverty. When Smith asks if they will take other work at $8 to $10 a week, the ladies laugh derisively, which loses them public sympathy. The police close about 200 houses of prostitution shortly thereafter.

The strikes a reef off Vancouver Island, Canada, killing over 100 (officially 136) in the ensuing disaster.

January 9 O.S.) ndash The Bloody Sunday massacre of Russian demonstrators, at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, helps trigger the abortive Russian Revolution of 1905.

The leaders of six Australian colonies meet in Melbourne to discuss the confederation of Australia as a whole.

"Columbia Phonograph" is formed in Washington, DC.

Anglo-Zulu War ndash Battle of Isandlwana: Zulu troops massacre British troops. At Rorke's Drift, outnumbered British soldiers drive the attackers away after hours of fighting.

The January Uprising breaks out in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. The aim of the national movement is to liberate the Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth from Russian occupation.

February ndash The Rhodes blood libel is made against the Jews of Rhodes.

British colonists reach New Zealand, officially founding Wellington.

UK: The Duke of Wellington succeeds Lord Goderich as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

The Ashanti crush British forces in the Gold Coast, killing the British governor Sir Charles MacCarthy (see also Wars between Britain and Ashanti in Ghana and Ashanti Confederacy).

The Casas Revolt begins in San Antonio, Texas.

February ndash Russia issues an ultimatum to Sweden to join Napoleon's Continental System against Great Britain and Ireland.

The Bragança Portuguese Royal Family arrives in Brazil, running away from the French army.

26 January ndash Rum Rebellion: On the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the colony of New South Wales, disgruntled military officers of the New South Wales Corps (the "Rum Corps") overthrow and imprison GovernorWilliam Bligh and seize control of the colony.

A coup d'état is staged in the Netherlands (Batavian Republic). Unitarian Democrat Pieter Vreede makes an end to the power of the parliament (with a conservative-moderate majority).

A coup d\'état is staged in the Netherlands (Batavian Republic). Unitarian Democrat Pieter Vreede makes an end to the power of the parliament (with a conservative-moderate majority).

Cyrus Griffin becomes the tenth and last President of the United States in Congress Assembled.

American Revolutionary War: Claudius Smith is hanged at Goshen, Orange County, New York for supposed acts of terrorism upon the people of the surrounding communities.

Seven Years\\\\' War ndash At the Battle of Wandiwash in India, British general Sir Eyre Coote is victorious over the French under the Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau.ref name=Cassell's Chronology

Seven Years' War ndash At the Battle of Wandiwash in India, British general Sir Eyre Coote is victorious over the French under the Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau.ref name=Cassell's Chronology

Impostor Mary Carleton is hanged in Newgate prison in England for multiple thefts and returning from penal transportation.

The Royalist Oxford Parliament is first assembled by King Charles I of England.

Beginning of the Livonian War.

Fall of the Ava Kingdom in Upper Burma.

Emperor Charles V opens the Diet of Worms.

Battle of Ridaniya: The Turkish forces of Selim I defeat the main Mamluk army in Egypt under Touman Bey.

The Swiss Guard arrives at the Vatican, to serve as permanent ceremonial and palace guards under Pope Julius II.

Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus.

Columba begins preaching in the Orkney Islands.