It happened today – this day in history – January 21

1276: Pierre de Tarantaise is elected Pope Innocence V.

1542: English Parliament passes bill of attainder against Queen Katherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII.

1793: Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine in Paris.

1905: Birth of fashion designer Christian Dior.

1919: Sinn Fein creates its own parliament in Dublin and declares Ireland independent of Great Britain, sparking the Irish War of Independence.

1921: Agatha Christie publishes her first novel “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” introducing the character Hercule Poirot.

1941: Australian and British troops attack Tobruk, Libya.

1952: Jawaharlal Nehru’s Congress party wins general election in India.

1966: George Harrison married Patti Boyd at Leatherhead Register Office in Surrey.

1968: The Battle of Khe Sanh – one of the most publicized and controversial battles of the Vietnam War – begins at the Khe Sanh Air Base. On the same day Jimi Hendrix recorded “All Along The Watchtower” at Olympic Studios in London.

1977: US President Jimmy Carter pardons almost all Vietnam War draft evaders.

1978: Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán becomes undisputed world lightweight champion with a 12th-round TKO of Esteban De Jesus at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.

1982: B.B. King donated his entire record collection of over 20,000 discs to Mississippi University’s centre for the Study of Southern Culture. On the same day he is inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

1984: Soul singer Jackie Wilson died aged 49. Wilson suffered a massive heart attack while playing a show in New Jersey on September 29, 1975, falling head-first to the stage and had remained in a coma until his death.

1990: John McEnroe becomes the first ever player to be expelled from the Australian Open.

1994: Lorena Bobbitt found temporarily insane when she cut off her husband’s penis.

1997: ‘Colonel’ Tom Parker, Elvis Presley’s manager and agent died of a stroke in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 87.

2002: Singer, songwriter and actress Peggy Lee died of complications from diabetes and a heart attack at the age of 81.

2003: David Palmer, former keyboard player for Jethro Tull changed his name to Dee Palmer after a successful sex change operation.

2008: Black Monday in worldwide stock markets. FTSE 100 had its biggest ever one-day points fall, European stocks closed with their worst result since 9/11, and Asian stocks drop as much as 15%.

BIRTHDAYS: Jack Nicklaus, golfer, 80; Placido Domingo, opera singer, 79; Martin Shaw, actor, 75; Billy Ocean, singer/songwriter, 70; Nigel Glockler, drummer (Saxon) 66; Geena Davis, actress, 64; Robert Del Naja, musician (Massive Attack) 55; Cat Power (Chan Marshall), singer/musician 48; Nicky Butt, former footballer, 45; Emma Bunton, singer/broadcaster (Spice Girls) 44; Phil Neville, England Women’s football manager, 43; Brian O’Droscoll, Irish rugby legend, 41; Benjamin Moody, guitarist (Evanescence) 40; Joe Ledley, footballer, 33; Laura Robson, tennis player, 26.