January 20 is day 20 of the Gregorian Calendar year,
Setting Orange, Chaos 20, 3186 YOLD (Discordian)
And let us not forget 13.0.7.3.6 by the Mayan Long Count

We are getting ready to head out on yet another multi-week adventure in the near future. This means that I need to write, post and schedule a whole bunch of OTs for the period of my absence, as well as some to bridge the gap between now and the start date. This means, among other things, that you shouldn't expect too much from them and will need to provide content as well as commentary yourselves (as if you don't already, heh). So, here we go ...

On this day in history:

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1567 – Portuguese forces drove the French out of Rio de Janeiro for good.

1649 – Charles I of England went on trial for treason and other "high crimes".

1783 – Great Britain signed preliminary articles of peace with France, setting up the end of the American Revolutionary War
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1839 – In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeated an alliance between Peru and Bolivia and broke up that alliance.

1841 – Hong Kong Island was occupied by the British.

1887 – The US Senate allowed the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.

1949 – Truman announced the Point Four Program for economic aid to poor countries

1954 – The National Negro Network was established in the US with 40 charter member radio stations.

1981 – Twenty minutes after the inaugeration of Ronald Reagan Iran released 52 American hostages whose prior release had been held up by Iran at the request of the GOP to create a political campaign talking point.

1986 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is celebrated as a US federal holiday for the first time.

Born this day in:

1029 – Alp Arslan, sultan
1526 – Rafael Bombelli, mathematician
1573 – Simon Marius, astronomer and academic who made the first observations of the Galilean moons of Jupiter
1741 – Carl Linnaeus the Younger, botanist and author
1775 – André-Marie Ampère, physicist and mathematician
1856 – Harriot Stanton Blatch, suffragist and organizer
1882 – Johnny Torrio, Chicago businessman
1883 – Enoch L. Johnson, New Jersey businessman
1883 – Forrest Wilson, journalist and author
1888 – Lead Belly, legendary singer, songwriter, guitarist, prone to social commentary
1910 – Joy Adamson, painter and author
1918 – Juan García Esquivel, pianist, composer, and bandleader
1920 – Federico Fellini, director and screenwriter
1922 – Ray Anthony, trumpet player, composer, bandleader, and actor
1923 – Slim Whitman, country and western singer, songwriter and musician
1926 – David Tudor, pianist and composer (think Nash)
1931 – David Lee, physicist and academic
1931 – Hachidai Nakamura, pianist and composer (think Sukiyaki)
1952 – Paul Stanley, singer,songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1957 – Andy Sheppard, saxophonist and composer
1960 – Scott Thunes, bass player

Died this day in:

1900 – John Ruskin, painter and critic
1921 – Mary Watson Whitney,astronomer and academic
1947 – Andrew Volstead, can you say "Volstead Act"?
1962 – Robinson Jeffers, poet and philosopher
1965 – Alan Freed, DJ, not like "DJ badass whoop-de-do", but a real Disc Jockey
1996 – Gerry Mulligan, saxophonist and composer who was part of the birth of cool
2012 – Etta James, singer and songwriter
2012 – John Levy, bassist and manager

Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Leadbelly's Birthday (Unofficial)

Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies