| On this date in: |
| 1801 |
John Marshall was appointed chief justice of the United States. |
| 1841 |
Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain. |
| 1896 |
Comedian George Burns was born Nathan Birnbaum in New York City. |
| 1936 |
Britain’s King George V died. |
| 1942 |
Nazi officials arrived at a “final solution” that called for exterminating Europe’s Jews, during a conference at Lake Wannsee in Berlin. |
| 1953 |
Dwight D. Eisenhower took the oath of office as president of the United States; Richard M. Nixon was sworn in as vice president. |
| 1961 |
John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th president of the United States. |
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| AP Photo |
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| 1981 |
Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the 40th president of the United States. |
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| AP Photo |
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| 1981 |
Iran released 52 Americans held hostage for 444 days. |
| 1986 |
The United States observed the first federal holiday in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. |
| 1987 |
Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite disappeared in Beirut, Lebanon, while attempting to negotiate the release of Western hostages. |
| 1993 |
Bill Clinton was sworn in as the 42nd president of the United States. |
| 2001 |
George W. Bush took the oath of office as the 43rd president of the United States. |
| 2001 |
Hundreds of thousands of protesting Filipinos forced President Joseph Estrada to step down; Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was sworn in as the new president. |
