| January 21, 1916 | January 21, 1976 |
| • The National Board of Review, founded in 1909 as the National Board of Censorship, agrees it will not accept nudity in films. In 1921, New York State passed a film licensing law, which deprived the board of much of its power. | • From London's Heathrow Airport and Orly Airport outside Paris, the first Concordes with commercial passengers simultaneously take flight. With a cruising speed well over the sound barrier at 1,350 mph, the innovative Concorde could cut air travel time by more than half. |
| January 22, 1901 | January 22, 1973 |
| • Queen Victoria dies. During her 63 year reign, she restored dignity to the English monarchy and ensured its survival as a ceremonial political institution. | • In its Roe vs Wade decision the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortions for the first six months of pregnancy. |
| January 23, 1849 | January 23, 1968 |
| • Elizabeth Blackwell is granted a medical degree from Geneva College in New York, becoming the first female in U.S. history to be officially recognized as a physician. In 1875, she became professor of gynecology at the London School of Medicine for Women, a medical discipline she had helped to establish. | • North Korea seized the U.S. Navy ship Pueblo, charging it had intruded North Korean territorial waters on a spying mission. The crew was released 11 months later. |
| January 24, 1848 | January 24, 1942 |
| • James Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter's Mill in northern California, a discovery that led to the gold rush of 1849. | • A special court of inquiry into America's lack of preparedness for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor placed much of the blame on Rear Adm. Husband Kimmel and Lt. Gen. Walter Short, the Navy and Army commanders. |
| January 25, 1915 | January 25, 1971 |
| • The inventor of the Telephone, Alexander Graham Bell , inaugurated transcontinental telephone service in the United States. | • Charles Manson and three female followers were convicted in Los Angeles of murder and conspiracy in the 1969 slayings of seven people, including actress Sharon Tate. |
| January 26, 1841 | January 26, 1950 |
| • Britain formally occupied Hong Kong, which the Chinese had ceded to the British. | • India officially proclaimed itself a republic as Rajendra Prasad took the oath of office as president. |
| January 27, 1943 | January 27, 1967 |
| • The first all American air raid took place against Germany during World War II. | • Astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee died in a flash fire during a test aboard their Apollo I spacecraft at Cape Kennedy, Fla. |