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Faustin-Archange Touadéra

Faustin-Archange Touadéra (pictured) is elected for a second term as President of the Central African Republic.
LauncherOne becomes the first liquid-fueled aircraft-launched rocket to reach orbit.
Yoweri Museveni is re-elected as President of Uganda.
Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte and his cabinet resign as a result of a childcare benefits scandal.

Today in History

January 21

763 – The Abbasid Caliphate crushed the Alid revolt when a rebel leader was mortally wounded in battle near Basra in present-day Iraq.
1789 – The Power of Sympathy by William Hill Brown, widely considered to be the first American novel, was published.
1968 – Cold War: A B-52 bomber carrying four nuclear weapons crashed onto sea ice near Thule Air Base, Greenland, causing localized radioactive contamination.
1981 – The DeLorean Motor Company completed the first production car of the DMC DeLorean (example pictured).
2011 – Demonstrations in Tirana against alleged corruption in the Albanian government led to the killings of three protesters by the Republican Guard.

Augustin Robespierre (b. 1763)
Olav Aukrust (b. 1883)
Trương Tấn Sang (b. 1949)

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Did You Know?

SS Edward L. Ryerson

... that the lake freighter Edward L. Ryerson (pictured) is not only the last steam-powered freighter built on the Great Lakes, but also the last built without a self-unloading boom?
... that most Russian cities were destroyed as a result of the Mongol invasion?
... that associate justice William Johnson was the first member of the U.S. Supreme Court who was not a member of the Federalist Party?
... that according to legend, Växjö Cathedral in Sweden was founded by an English saint?
... that Dominic Thiem, winner of the 2020 US Open, is the first player since the 2004 French Open to come back from two sets down in a Grand Slam final to win the title?
... that Veronica Maggio's 2011 song "Jag kommer" was accused of plagiarizing the Strokes' "Reptilia", but the singer denied any connection?
... that Charles G. Hopkins accompanied Queen Emma of Hawaii to Europe and the United States, where she visited Queen Victoria, Emperor Napoleon III, and President Andrew Johnson?
... that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Japanese cheer screenings, which encourage audience participation, have been replaced by viewers' text messages being superimposed on the screen?

Today's Featured Article

Sixteen grounds have hosted the Wales national football team in international association football competitions. The team played its first match in 1876 against Scotland before hosting its first home match the following year at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham, the world's oldest international football ground still in use. The ground hosted all of Wales's matches until 1890. Matches were held in several parts of the country, including Bangor, Cardiff and Swansea, over the following two decades. Ninian Park in Cardiff hosted its first international in 1911, and Vetch Field in Swansea hosted its first in 1921; they shared Wales's home matches with the Racecourse for nearly a century. In 1989 the team began playing at the National Stadium in Cardiff, and in 2000 the Millennium Stadium became the team's new home ground. After a gradual drop in attendance, Cardiff City Stadium (pictured) was designated Wales's permanent home venue. The Racecourse has held more matches (94) than any other venue. (Full article...)

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Today's Featured Picture

Daniel McCallum (21 January 1815 – 27 December 1878) was a Scottish-born American railroad engineer, general manager of the New York and Erie Railroad, and a brevet major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He is known as one of the early pioneers of management; in 1855, he designed an illustrative organization chart of the New York and Erie Railroad, considered to be the first modern organizational chart. It provides a plan of the organization, showing the division of administrative responsibilities and the number and class of employees engaged in each department.

Photograph credit: Brady National Photographic Art Gallery; restored by Adam Cuerden