Today in History: January 21

1189

Philip Augustus, Henry II of England and Frederick Barbarossa assemble the troops for the Third Crusade.

1648

In Maryland, the first woman lawyer in the colonies, Margaret Brent, is denied a vote in the Maryland Assembly.

1785

Chippewa, Delaware, Ottawa and Wyandot Indians sign the treaty of Fort McIntosh, ceding present-day Ohio to the United States.

1790

Joseph Guillotine proposes a new, more humane method of execution: a machine designed to cut off the condemned person's head as painlessly as possible.

1793

The French King Louis XVI is guillotined for treason.

1910

Japan rejects the American proposal to neutralize ownership of the Manchurian Railway.

1919

The German Krupp plant begins producing guns under the U.S. armistice terms.

1921

J.D. Rockefeller pledges $1 million for the relief of Europe's destitute.

1930

An international arms control meeting opens in London.

1933

The League of Nations rejects Japanese terms for settlement with China.

1941

The United States lifts the ban on selling arms to the Soviet Union.

1942

In North Africa, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel launches a drive to push the British eastward. While the British benefited from radio-intercept-derived Ultra information, the Germans enjoyed an even speedier intelligence source.

1943

A Nazi daylight air raid kills 34 in a London school. When the anticipated invasion of Britain failed to materialize in 1940, Londoners relaxed, but soon they faced a frightening new threat.

1951

Communist troops force the UN army out of Inchon, Korea after a 12-hour attack.

1958

The Soviet Union calls for a ban on nuclear arms in Baghdad Pact countries.

1964

Carl T. Rowan is named the director of the United States Information Agency (USIA).

1968

In Vietnam, the Siege of Khe Sanh begins as North Vietnamese units surround U.S. Marines based on the hilltop headquarters.

1974

The U.S. Supreme Court decides that pregnant teachers can no longer be forced to take long leaves of absence.

1976

Leonid Brezhnev and Henry Kissinger meet to discuss Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT).

1977

President Carter urges 65 degrees as the maximum heat in homes to ease the energy crisis.

1993

Congressman Mike Espy of Mississippi is confirmed as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.