TODAY IN HISTORY - JANUARY 20TH

1783 – The Kingdom of Great Britain signs a peace treaty with France and Spain, officially ending hostilities in the American Revolutionary War (also known as the American War of Independence).

1887 – The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.

1894 – Harold Gray, American cartoonist; created Little Orphan Annie (d. 1968) is born.

1896 – George Burns, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1996) is born.

1920 – The American Civil Liberties Union is founded.

1920 – Federico Fellini, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1993) is born.

1929 – In Old Arizona, staring Warner Baxter as The Cisco Kid and Edmund Lowe, the first full-length talking motion picture filmed outdoors, is released.

1930 – Buzz Aldrin, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut is born.

1936 – Frances Shand Kydd, English-Scottish mother of Diana, Princess of Wales (d. 2004) is born.

1949 – Point Four Program a program for economic aid to poor countries announced by United States President Harry S. Truman in his inaugural address for a full term as President.

1952 – Paul Stanley, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (Kiss and Wicked Lester) is born.

1954 – In the United States, the National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.

1968 – Melissa Rivers, American actress, television host, and producer is born.

1981 – Twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated, Iran releases 52 American hostages.

1986 – In the United States, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.

1993 – Audrey Hepburn, British actress and humanitarian (b. 1929) dies.

2006 – Witnesses report seeing a bottlenose whale swimming in the River Thames, the first time the species had been seen in the Thames since records began in 1913.

2007 – A three-man team, using only skis and kites, completes a 1,093-mile (1,759 km) trek to reach the southern pole of inaccessibility for the first time since 1958 and for the first time ever without mechanical assistance.