On January 20, 1981, minutes after Ronald Reagan’s inauguration
as the 40th president of the United States, the 52 U.S. captives
held at the U.S. embassy in Teheran, Iran, are released, ending
the 444-day Iran Hostage Crisis.

On January 20, 1961, on the newly renovated east front of
the United States Capitol, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was
inaugurated as the 35th president of the United States.

It was a cold and clear day, and the nation’s capital was
covered with a snowfall from the previous night.

The ceremony began with a religious invocation and prayers,
and then African American opera singer Marian Anderson
sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and Robert Frost recited
his poem “The Gift Outright.” Kennedy was administered the
oath of office by Chief Justice Earl Warren.       
        

Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.)
(January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)

On January 19,  1972, 36-year-old Sandy Koufax, the former
Los Angeles Dodgers star, became the youngest player
elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. "This is the only thing
that’s made having to retire early a little easier," says Koufax,
who retired at age 30. "This is the biggest honor I’ve ever
been given, not just in baseball, but in my life."

Koufax made his Major League Baseball debut in 1955.

Koufax, nicknamed "the Left Arm of God,"
turned 90 in December.

                        
CAMILLE BOHANNON