On this day …
January 21, 2018
- In 1793, King Louis XVI of France was executed by guillotine.
- In 1908, New York City officials passed an ordinance making it illegal for women to smoke in public; it was soon overturned.
- In 1954, the first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, was launched in Groton, Conn.
- In 1961, more than 400 workers were buried alive when a mine collapsed in Coalbrook, Free State, South Africa.
- In 1968, the Battle of Khe Sanh began in Vietnam.
- In 1997, Newt Gingrich became the first Speaker of the House reprimanded for ethics violations.