On this day 21st January

Some notable facts about this date, for more, visit http://www.onthisday.com

Facts

1525 The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union

1793 Louis XVI of France is executed by the guillotine in Paris, following his conviction for high treason

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

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%.

Deaths

304 Saint Agnes (martyred) (b. 291)

1793 Louis XVI, French King (1774-93), beheaded during the French Revolution at 38

1924 Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin, Russian Revolutionary leader and Premier, dies of a stroke at 53

1926 Camillo Golgi, Italian physician and medical researcher (Nobel Prize in Medicine-1906), dies at 81

1950 George Orwell, British author (Animal Farm, 1984), dies in London at 46

1959 Cecil B. DeMille, American filmmaker (The Ten Commandments, Samson and Delilah), dies of heart failure at 77

1984 Jackie Wilson, American soul singer-songwriter and performer (I Get the Sweetest Feeling), dies at 49

1998 Jack Lord, American actor (Hawaii FIVE-O), dies at 77

2013 Michael Winner, English film director and producer (Death Wish), dies at 77

Sport

1920 14th Davis Cup: Australasia beats Great Britain in Sydney (4-1)