This Day in History
1649: During the English civil war, the trial of King Charles I begins in Westminster Hall.
1949: U.S. president Harry S. Truman proposes a major foreign-aid program, later called the Point Four Program.
1953: Dwight Eisenhower takes office as the first Republican president in 20 years.
1981: Minutes after Ronald Reagan's inauguration, the 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days are released.
1987: While negotiating the release of kidnap victims in Lebanon, Anglican Church representative Terry Waite disappears.
1997: Millionaire Steve Fossett lands his hot-air balloon in India, having completed a record-setting flight of 9,672 miles and 146 hrs., 54 min.
2001: George W. Bush is inaugurated at the 43rd President of the United States at noon on the steps of the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Outgoing Pres. Bill Clinton grants 176 last-minute pardons, the most controversial of which was financier Marc Rich, who had fled the country in 1983 after being charged with $48 million in tax evasion.
Today's Birthdays
1732: Richard Henry Lee, a leader of the American Revolution (Stratford, VA; died 1794)
1894: Walter Piston, composer and teacher (Rockland, ME; died 1976)
1896: George Burns, comedian (New York, NY; died 1996)
1906: Aristotle Onassis, shipping magnate and 2nd husband of Jacqueline Kennedy (Greece; died 1975)
1910: Joy Adamson, author of Born Free (Troppau, Silesia, Austria-Hungary—now Opava, Czech Republic; died 1980)
1920: Federico Fellini, director/screenwriter (Rimini, Italy; died 1993). DeForest Kelley, actor (Atlanta, GA; died 1999):
1926: Patricia Neal, actress (Packard, KY)
1929: Arte Johnson, comedian (Benton Harbor, MI)
1930: Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, astronaut (Montclair, NJ)
1946: David Lynch, director (Missoula, MT)
1948: Anatoly Shcharansky, expatriate Soviet dissident (Ukraine)
1956: Bill Maher, TV personality (Rivervale, NJ)
1958: Lorenzo Lamas, actor (Santa Monica, CA)
1971: Brian Giles, baseball player (El Cajon, CA)
