Today in History: Opel Produced Its First Car

January 21 is the 21th day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. There are 344 days left until the end of the year (345 in leap years)

Railways

• 21 January 1902 The final concession contract for the construction and operation of Baghdad Railway was signed between the Ottoman State and the Anatolian Railway Company. The duration of the contract was decided to be 99 years. Route; Konya Karaman Ereğli Adana Hamidiye Kilis Habeş Nusaybin Mosul Tekrik Samarra was determined as Basra over Baghdad Karbala Najaf. A large number of branch lines will be laid on the line, the total length of which is 2467 km. The company was granted the right to build ports in Baghdad, Basra and Iskenderun Bays, and to operate ships between Sirkeci and Haydarpasa.
• 21 January 2017 Kartal Yakacık Pendik Tavsantepe Metro Line's Tavsantepe Station was opened with a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Events

• 1522 – Conquest of Rhodes by the Ottoman Navy.
• 1774 – Ottoman Sultan III. Mustafa is dead. Abdulhamid I came to the throne.
• 1774 – Pugachev Revolt: Kazakh rebel leader Pugachev is executed.
• 1793 - King XVI of France, who was convicted of treason. Louis was executed by guillotine.
• 1899 - Opel produces its first automobile.
• 1908 - By a decision of the New York City Council, women were banned from smoking in public.
• 1911 – The first Monte Carlo Rally begins.
• 1919 – The Irish War of Independence begins.
• 1920 – Martyr Mehmet Kamil was killed by the French soldiers with a bayonet.
• 1921 - The Italian Communist Party is founded.
• 1925 - The Republic of Albania was proclaimed.
• 1941 – II. World War II: Australian and UK troops launch an attack on Tobruk-Libya.
• 1942 – II. World War II: Rommel's attack on Cyrenaica at the North African Front.
• 1943 - It was the last day of the Wealth Tax payment. The properties of the taxpayers who did not pay their taxes were confiscated in their homes and workplaces, and then their taxes were collected by means of sales through execution.
• 1946 – Turkish Employment Agency was established.
• 1951 – The first group of sick and injured persons from Korea arrived in Ankara.
• 1952 – Army former deputy and humor magazine Vulture's owner Yusuf Ziya Ortaç resigned from the Republican People's Party.
• 1954 – The first nuclear submarine, Nautilus, is launched in Connecticut.
• 1958 – British soldiers intervened in the Turkish Cypriot youth demonstrating in favor of taksim in Nicosia; one youth was seriously injured, six people were arrested.
• 1959 - Nation newspaper's Editor-in-Chief Ülkü Arman and Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu were each sentenced to one year in prison; The newspaper was closed for a month. Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu's article titled “Nalıncı Keseri” was the subject of a lawsuit.
• 1967 – Five directors of the Turkish National Student Federation were arrested. Sencer Güneşsoy, Baykan Kalaba, Naci Özdemir, Hüsnü Temiz, Kazım Musa wanted to enter the federation building, which was sealed by the police the day before.
• 1970 - Jumbo-Jet Boeing 747 begins commercial flights.
• 1972 - Returning from the Hajj to Jeddah Marmara THY plane, named Turkish Airlines, crashed with a crew of five. Hostess Hülya Maviler was burned to death, the others were saved with injuries.
• 1976 – Concorde started commercial flights on London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio de Janeiro routes.
• 1977 - United States President Jimmy Carter pardons nearly all deserters during the Vietnam War.
• 1981 – Right-wing activist İbrahim Çiftçi, accused of murdering Ankara Deputy Public Prosecutor Doğan Öz, was sentenced to death for the third time by the Ankara Martial Law Court.
• 1981 – The National Security Council, chaired by Kenan Evren, ensured that teachers were given 1000 liras of education and training compensation per month.
• 1983 – Former Istanbul Mayor Ahmet İsvan was evicted. İsvan was on trial in the Revolutionary Workers' Unions Confederation (DİSK) case.
• In the case of the Writers' Union, which has been going on since 1985 – 1983, the defendants were acquitted.
• 1990 – Adnan Oktar and his disciple 66 men and 68 women alleged to have been detained were detained.
• 1992 – Natural gas started to be used in houses in Istanbul.
• 1997 – Kemalist Thought Association filed a criminal complaint against Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan for the dinner invitation he gave at the residence.
• 1999 – The largest drug operation in American history: 4.300 kg of cocaine is seized on a ship intercepted by the coast guard.
• 2001 – In the Philippines, Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo became President, replacing Joseph Estrada, under pressure from the street and the military.
• 2005 – SEKA workers, who closed the factory to protest the closure of the Izmit Plant, spent the Eid-al-Adha at the factory.
• 2008 – Turkey's population Address Based Population Registration SystemAs of the end of 2007, it was announced as 70 million 586 thousand 256 people. When the number of 98 thousand 339 foreign nationals residing in the country is deducted, it was reported that the number of Turkish citizens living in Turkey was 70 million 487 thousand 917.
• 2010 – Ümit Boyner was elected as the new President of TÜSİAD, becoming the second female President in the history of TÜSİAD.
• 2012 – The first face transplant was performed in Turkey.
• 2018 - Rocket Lab company launched the first satellite into space with the Electron rocket. 

Births

• 63 – Claudia Augusta, Second wife of Roman Emperor Nero (d. ?)
• 1338 – Charles V, king of France from 1364 until his death in 1380 (d. 1380)
• 1738 – Ethan Allen, American farmer, businessman, American Revolutionary War hero, philosopher, author, and politician (d. 1789)
• 1743 – John Fitch, American watchmaker and inventor (d. 1798)
• 1769 – Ignacio Allende, soldier of the New Spanish army (d. 1811)
• 1824 – Stonewall Jackson, American Confederate general (d. 1863)
• 1827 – Ivan Mikheevich Pervushin, Russian mathematician (d. 1900)
• 1829 – II. Oscar, king of Sweden and Norway (d. 1907)
• 1843 – Émile Levassor, French engineer (d. 1897)
• 1846 – Albert Lavignac, French teacher, music theorist, and composer (d. 1916)
• 1848 – Henri Duparc, French composer (d. 1933)
• 1854 - Karl Julius Beloch, German historian (d. 1929)
• 1858 – Mélanie Bonis, French late Romantic composer (d. 1937)
• 1860 – Karl Staaff, Swedish liberal politician and lawyer (d. 1915)
• 1866 – Marius Berliet, French automobile manufacturer (d. 1949)
• 1867 – Maxime Weygand, French general (d. 1965)
• 1868 – Felix Hoffmann, German chemist, inventor, and pharmacist (d. 1946)
• 1869 – Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (d. 1916)
• 1874 – René-Louis Baire, French mathematician (d. 1932)
• 1878 – Egon Friedell, Austrian philosopher, historian, journalist, actor, cabaret artist, and theater critic (d. 1938)
• 1882 – Pavel Florensky, Russian Orthodox theologian, philosopher, mathematician, and physicist (d. 1937)
• 1882 – Tadeusz Makowski, Polish painter (d. 1932)
• 1883 – Oskar Baum, Czech music educator and writer (d. 1941)
• 1884 – Roger Nash Baldwin, American human rights activist (d. 1981)
• 1884 – Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter, German political activist (d. 1923)
• 1885 – Seishirō Itagaki, Japanese soldier and politician (d. 1948)
• 1887 – Georges Vézina, Canadian professional ice hockey goalie (d. 1926)
• 1892 – Şerif Muhittin Targan, Turkish composer, oud and cello virtuoso and portrait painter (d. 1967)
• 1896 – Paula Hitler, sister of Adolf Hitler (d. 1960)
• 1897 – René Iché, French sculptor (d. 1954)
• 1898 – Ahmad Shah Qajar, Shah of Iran (d. 1930)
• 1905 – Christian Dior, French fashion designer (d. 1957)
• 1906 – Igor Moiseyev, Russian choreographer and founder of the State Folk Dance Ensemble of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (d. 2007)
• 1912 – Konrad Emil Bloch, American biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2000)
• 1922 – Telly Savalas, American actress (d. 1994)
• 1924 – Benny Hill, English actor and comedian (d. 1992)
• 1924 – Şefika Akhundova, Azerbaijani composer (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Franco Loi, Italian poet and essayist (d. 2021)
• 1933 – Ahmet Oktay, Turkish poet, writer and journalist (d. 2016)
• 1936 – Mithat Düden Camicioğlu, Turkish novelist
• 1938 – Jim Anderton, New Zealand politician (d. 2018)
• 1938 – Yıldırım Gürses, Turkish composer and sound artist (d. 2000)
• 1943 – Dinçer Çekmez, Turkish actor and theater actor (d. 2013)
• 1941 - Plácido Domingo, Spanish tenor
• 1942 – Edwin Starr, American musician (d. 2003)
• 1942 – Tuncer Sevi, Turkish theater and film actor (d. 2012)
• 1949 – Ümit Aktan, Turkish sports announcer, journalist and writer
• 1950 – Zelimhan Yakub, Azerbaijani poet and politician (d. 2016)
• 1953 – Paul Gardner Allen, American computer scientist and co-founder of Microsoft with Bill Gates (d. 2018)
• 1956 – Geena Davis, American actress
• 1958 – Enver Ercan, Turkish poet (d. 2018)
• 1962 – Aysun Kocatepe, Turkish pop music artist
• 1963 – Mehmet Akarca, Turkish lawyer and President of the Supreme Court
• 1965 – Robert Del Naja, English musician and lead singer of Massive Attack
• 1966 – Tuna Orhan, Turkish theater, cinema and TV series actress
• 1969 - Karina Lombard, American actress
• 1970 – Alen Bokšić, Croatian football player
• 1974 – Kim Dotcom, German-Finnish entrepreneur
• 1976 – Emma Bunton, English singer and member of Spice Girls
• 1976 – Lars Eidinger, German theater and film actor
• 1976 – Serdar Orçin, Turkish cinema and theater actor
• 1978 – Madita, Austrian singer and actress
• 1980 - Eve Mayfair, American pornographic film actress
• 1980 – Nana Mizuki is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and voice actress.
• 1981 – Jung Ryeo-won, South Korean-born Australian actress
• 1983 – Svetlana Hodchenkova, Russian theater, film and television actress
• 1983 – Maryse Ouellet, Canadian-French professional wrestler
• 1984 – Can Arat, Turkish football player
• 1985 – Aura Dione, Danish singer-songwriter
• 1986 – Javi López, Spanish football player
• 1986 – Sushant Singh Rajput, Indian actor, dancer, and philanthropist (d. 2020)
• 1988 - Ashton Eaton, American decathlete
• 1988 – Vanessa Hessler, Italian model and actress
• 1989 – Doğuş Balbay, Turkish basketball player
• 1996 – Marco Asensio, Spanish national football player
• 1997 – Jeremy Shada is an American actor, rapper and singer.
• 2004 – Ingrid Alexandra, eldest child of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit

Deaths

• 420 – Yazdegerd I is the 12th Shah of the Sassanid Empire
• 1118 – II. Paschalis, pope from 13 August 1099 to 21 January 1118 (b. 1050)
• 1531 – Andrea del Sarto, Italian painter (b. 1486)
• 1578 – Piyale Pasha, Ottoman statesman and captain of the sea (b. 1515)
• 1609 – Joseph Justus Scaliger, Italian-French historian (b. 1540)
• 1773 – Alexis Piron, French poet and playwright (b. 1689)
• 1774 – III. Mustafa, 26th sultan of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1717)
• 1775 – Yemelyan Pugachev, Kazakh leader (b. 1740 – 42)
• 1789 – Paul Henri Thiry d'Holbach, French philosopher and writer (b. 1723)
• 1793 – XVI. Louis, king of France (executed by guillotine) (b. 1754)
• 1831 – Achim von Arnim, German poet (b. 1781)
• 1851 – Albert Lortzing, German composer, singer and actor (b. 1801)
• 1870 – Alexander Herzen, Russian writer and philosopher (b. 1812)
• 1871 – Jan Jacob Rochussen, Dutch politician (b. 1797)
• 1872 – Franz Grillparzer, Austrian tragedian (b. 1791)
• 1888 – George Robert Waterhouse, English natural historian (b. 1810)
• 1891 – Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier, French painter and illustrator (b. 1815)
• 1892 – John Couch Adams, English astronomer (b. 1819)
• 1892 – Charles de Lalaisse, French lithographer, designer, and painter (b. 1811)
• 1894 – Guillaume Lekeu, Belgian composer (b. 1870)
• 1909 – Mezide Kadınefendi, II. Abdulhamid's wife (b. 1869)
• 1914 – Theodor Kittelsen, Norwegian painter (b. 1857)
• 1919 – Gazi Ahmet Muhtar Pasha, Ottoman statesman, grand vizier and soldier (b. 1839)
• 1924 – Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, founder of the Soviet Union (b. 1870)
• 1926 – ‎Camillo Golgi‎‎, Italian physician, pathologist, and‎‎ Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine‎ (b. 1843)
• 1937 – Udi Nevres Bey (Orhon), Turkish composer (b. 1873)
• 1938 – Georges Méliès, French filmmaker and director (b. 1861)
• 1938 – David Ryazanov, Russian Marxist and Marxist theorist (b. 1870)
• 1942 – Dorothy Wall, New Zealand-Australian writer and illustrator (b. 1894)
• 1950 – George Orwell, English writer (b. 1903)
• 1959 – Cecil B. DeMille, American film director (b. 1881)
• 1960 – Emin Sazak, Turkish politician and former deputy of Eskişehir (b. 1882)
• 1967 – Ann Sheridan, American actress (b. 1915)
• 1983 – Kemal Bilbaşar, Turkish writer (b. 1910)
• 1985 – Oktay Araıcı, Turkish playwright (b. 1936)
• 1988 – Cemal Reşit Eyüboğlu, Turkish politician and member of the Constituent Assembly (b. 1906)
• 1996 – Emin Bilgiç, Turkish academic and sumerologist (b. 1916)
• 2002 – Ege Ernart, Turkish poet, theater and film actor and advertiser (b. 1937)
• 2002 – Peggy Lee, American singer (b. 1920)
• 2006 – Ibrahim Rugova, President of Kosovo (b. 1944),
• 2008 – Marie Smith, last person to speak Eyak (b. 1918)
• 2010 – Orhan Alp, Turkish mechanical engineer and politician (b. 1919)
• 2013 – Ahmet Mete Işıkara, Turkish scientist, geophysical engineer, and educator (known as “Deprem Dede” in Turkey) (b. 1941)
• 2013 – İsmet Kür, Turkish literature teacher and writer (b. 1916)
• 2013 – Michael Winner, British film director (b. 1935)
• 2015 – Leon Brittan, British politician (b. 1939)
• 2016 – Mustafa Koç, Turkish businessman (b. 1960)
• 2016 – Mrinalini Sarabhai, Indian dancer (b. 1918)
• 2016 – Robert Sassone, French racing cyclist (b. 1978)
• 2017 – Ayberk Atilla, Turkish theater, TV series and cinema actor (b. 1946)
• 2017 – Jamshid Giunashvili, Georgian historian, diplomat and writer (b. 1931)
• 2017 – Vahit Melih Halefoğlu, Turkish diplomat and foreign minister (b. 1919)
• 2017 – Veljo Tormis, Estonian composer (b. 1930)
• 2018 – Yves Afonso, French actor (b. 1944)
• 2018 – Chartchai Chionoi, former professional Thai boxer (b. 1942)
• 2018 – Philippe Gondet, former French international football player (b. 1942)
• 2018 – Jens Okking is a Danish actor, singer and politician (b. 1939)
• 2018 – Connie Sawyer, American actress (b. 1912)
• 2019 – Marcel Azzola, French accordionist and musician (b. 1927)
• 2019 – Kaye Ballard, American actress, comedian, and singer (b. 1925)
• 2019 – Raghbir Singh Bhola, Indian ex-military and field hockey player (b. 1927)
• 2019 – Maxine Brown, American country music singer (b. 1931)
• 2019 – Henry, VII. Claimant to the defunct French throne as Henry of Orléans (b. 1933)
• 2019 – Charles Kettles, former high-ranking soldier in the United States Army (b. 1930)
• 2019 – Pedro Manfredini, former Argentine national football player (b. 1935)
• 2019 – Emiliano Sala, Argentine football player (b. 1990)
• 2019 – Shivakumara Swamigalu, Indian spiritual leader, philanthropist, philosopher, and educator (b. 1907)
• 2019 – Yıldırım Uran, Turkish coach (b. 1955)
• 2019 – Harris Wofford, American politician (b. 1926)
• 2020 – Hadi Bakkus, Tunisian politician and former prime minister (b. 1930)
• 2020 – Eugène Berger, Luxembourg politician, educator and mountaineer (b. 1960)
• 2020 – Terry Jones, British writer, actor, comedian, broadcaster, historian and director (b. 1942)
• 2020 – Ismet Ara Sadique, Bangladeshi politician and minister (b. 1942)
• 2021 – Yavuz Bahadıroğlu, Turkish novel and story writer, journalist, radio host (b. 1945)
• 2021 – Nathalie Delon, French model, film director and actress (b. 1941)
• 2021 – Jean Graton, French comics artist and writer (b. 1923)
• 2021 – Rémy Julienne, French stuntman, speedway and actor (b. 1930)
• 2021 – Jackson Mthembu, South African politician and activist (b. 1958)
• 2021 – José Pampuro, Argentine politician and physicist (b. 1949)
• 2021 – Oktay Yavuz, Turkish actor (b. 1943)
• 2022 – Louie Anderson, American actor and comedian (b. 1953)
• 2022 – Selahattin Beyazıt, Turkish businessman, industrialist and former president of Galatasaray (b. 1931)
• 2022 – Francesco Paolo Fulci, Italian diplomat (b. 1931)
• 2022 – Arnis Līcītis, Latvian actor (b. 1946)
• 2022 – Leonor Oyarzún, former First Lady of Chile (b. 1919)