Pakistan launches its nuclear weapons program, a few weeks after its defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War, as well as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Date: January 20, 1972 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on January 20 📅 Events on this day in 1972 📅 On This Day (Today)

Amílcar Cabral, leader of the independence movement in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, is assassinated in Conakry, Guinea. Date: January 20, 1973 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on January 20 📅 Events on this day in 1973 📅 On This Day (Today)

China gains control over all the Paracel Islands after a military engagement between the naval forces of China and South Vietnam. Date: January 20, 1974 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on January 20 📅 Events on this day in 1974 📅 On This Day (Today)

Twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as the 40th President of the United States of America, Iran releases 52 American hostages. Date: January 20, 1981 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on January 20 📅 Events on this day in 1981 📅 On This Day (Today)

Leabua Jonathan, Prime Minister of Lesotho, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by General Justin Lekhanya. Date: January 20, 1986 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on January 20 📅 Events on this day in 1986 📅 On This Day (Today)

In the United States, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time. Date: January 20, 1986 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on January 20 📅 Events on this day in 1986 📅 On This Day (Today)

Protests in Azerbaijan, part of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union. Date: January 20, 1990 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on January 20 📅 Events on this day in 1990 📅 On This Day (Today)

Sudan's government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country's Muslim north and Christian south. Date: January 20, 1991 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on January 20 📅 Events on this day in 1991 📅 On This Day (Today)

Air Inter Flight 148, an Airbus A320-111, crashes into a mountain near Strasbourg, France, killing 87 of the 96 people on board. Date: January 20, 1992 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on January 20 📅 Events on this day in 1992 📅 On This Day (Today)

President of the Philippines Joseph Estrada is ousted in a nonviolent four-day revolution, and is succeeded by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Date: January 20, 2001 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on January 20 📅 Events on this day in 2001 📅 On This Day (Today)