January 21 is:
National Hugging Day
Squirrel Appreciation Day
Birthday of Ethan Allen (January 21, 1738), American Revolutionary commander, one of the founders of Vermont, organizer of the “Green Mountain Boys.”
On Jan 21, 1793, after being found guilty of treason by the French Convention, Louis XVI of France was executed by guillotine.
1799 Edward Jenner’s smallpox vaccination was introduced. Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by one of two virus variants, variola major and variola minor. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977 and the World Health Organization certified the global eradication of the disease in 1980. The risk of death following contracting the disease was about 30%, with higher rates among babies. Often those who survived had extensive scarring of their skin and some were left blind.
Birthday of John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813), American surveyor and army officer who made official expeditions into the American West. See January 31, 1848 for details of his court-martial. He became the first candidate of the Radical Republican Party for the office of President of the United States, campaigning against the faction supporting Abraham Lincoln.
1813 Pineapple introduced to Hawaii. Originally cultivated in South America.
Birthday of Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson (January 21, 1824), American Confederate general; famous for strategy and tactics in the Civil War. He got his nickname of “Stonewall” at the First Battle of Bull Runn on July 21, 1861 when Brig Gen. Barnard Elliott Bee, Jr., trying to encourage his own troops to re-form said “There is Jackson standing like a stone wall.”
1861 Five Southerners resigned from the U.S. Senate, including Jefferson Finis Davis of Mississippi, the future president of the Confederacy.
On January 21, 1905, Christian Dior , French fashion designer and creator of the “New Look” in 1947, was born.
Anniversary of the death of Vladimir Lenin on January 21, 1924, founder of the Russian Communist Party, leader of the Bolshevik Revolution. He was responsible for the deaths of between 6-8 million people. Following Lenin’s death, Joseph Stalin began a purge of his rivals for the leadership of the Soviet Union. (It is estimated that the death toll directly attributable to Stalin’s rule amounted to some 20 million lives, not counting the war dead of WW II.)
1911 – The first Monte Carlo Rally took place. From its inception in 1911 by Prince Albert I, this rally, under difficult and demanding conditions, was an important means of testing the latest improvements and innovations to automobiles.
Anniversary of the death of George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair) in 1950, British author best known for “Animal Farm” and “1984”.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter pardoned nearly all American Vietnam War draft evaders, some of whom had emigrated to Canada. Excluded were military deserters and convicted civilian protestors who had engaged in acts of violence.
War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard on January 21, 1999, intercepted a ship with over 4,300 kg (9,500 lb) of cocaine on board.