GMT

Today in History: January 20

1265
First English Parliament summoned other than by royal command, in this instance by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. Meets in Westminster Hall.

1783
Britain signs a peace agreement with France and Spain, who allied against it in the American War of Independence.

1908
The Sullivan Ordinance bars women from smoking in public facilities in the United States.

1935
Belgium arrests some Nazi agitators who urge for a return to the Reich.

1941
Hitler meets with Mussolini and offers aid in Albania and Greece.

1942
Nazi officials meet in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to decide the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question."

1945
Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated for his fourth term.

1954
Over 22,000 anti-Communist prisoners are turned over to UN forces in Korea.

1977
President Jimmy Carter is sworn in and then surprises the nation as he walks from the U.S. Capitol to the White House.

1981
Ronald Reagan is sworn in as president at the same time 52 American hostages are released from their captors in Tehran, Iran.

1997
Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in New Orleans LA on KKND 106.7 FM

2021
US President Joe Biden signs 15 executive orders on his first day in office, including: US re-joining the WHO, affirming the Paris Climate Agreement, revoking the Keystone XL Pipeline, mandating masks on federal properties, and halting construction of the southern border wall

2024
Large weekend protests begin across Germany against far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), after group's 'master plan' for mass deportation of migrants revealed

Born on January 20

1896
George Burns, comedian and actor in vaudeville, radio, television and film.

1930
Dr. Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin, second man to walk on the moon.

JOTD
A man dies and goes to hell.

Once there, he finds that there is a different hell for each country, so he tries to seek out the least painful one.
At the door to German Hell, he is told: "First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the German devil comes in and whips you for the rest of the day."
He does not like the sound of that, so he checks out American Hell, Russian Hell and many more. They are all similarly gruesome. However, at Nigerian Hell a long line of people is waiting to get in. Amazed, he asks, "What do they do here?"
He is told: "First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the Nigerian devil comes in and whips you for the rest of the day."
"But that's the same as the others," says the man. "Why are so many people waiting to get in?"
"Because of the power cuts, the electric chair does not work. The nails were paid for but never supplied, so the bed is comfortable. And the Nigerian devil used to be a civil servant, so he comes in, signs his time sheet and goes back home for private business.